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FATALATIES
In recent weeks we have had three rail workers killed, at least three more injured - one critically - and at least nine major derailments - plus three collisions - across the U.S. and Canada.
On February 13th Brother Randall M. Howell, 41 was killed as he worked as foreman of a track gang in North Carolina.
On February 1st Brother Chris Wilson, 55, was killed in Alabama when his locomotive was stuck by a string of runaway freight cars.
On January 15th a Brother (whose name has still not been released) was killed as he worked as a signal maintainer in Ohio.
DERAILMENTS
These recent derailments and collisions should be major embarrassments to the host railroads, and each derailment has its own externalized costs affecting train crews, the local community, the environment, and shippers!
Feb 17th - CSX train derails in South Carolina, leading to Amtrak cancellations - Sellers, SC - Seventeen cars of a CSX train derailed in South Carolina’s Marion County, blocking a highway and disrupting Amtrak operations.
Feb 17th - Two crew members injured as CPKC trains collide in British Columbia - Revelstoke, BC - Two crew members were injured when a CPKC train rear-ended a stopped train and derailed Friday night east of Revelstoke, the CBC reports. Meanwhile, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it was deploying to the scene of another CPKC collision in Field, B.C., that occurred on Saturday.
Feb 12th - CSX derailment in West Virginia leads to Capitol Limited cancellations - Magnolia, WV - A Monday afternoon CSX derailment in a remote area of West Virginia has disrupted operations of Amtrak’s Capitol Limited.
Feb 12th - BNSF intermodal train derails in south central Kansas - Seventeen cars of a BNSF intermodal train derailed east of Hazelton on the railroad’s Southern Transcon.
Feb 11th - Collision and derailment at CPKC’s Kipp Yard near Lethbridge, Alberta - CPKC officials said eight cars derailed Sunday while being moved at slow speed.
Feb 11th - Train derails in Northern California canyon, spilling coal into Feather River - The California Office of Emergency Services reported that 14 railcars were carrying coal and detailed. Officials said they are concerned about the possible smothering effects the spill could have on organisms in the river.
Feb 10th - NS train derails in eastern North Carolina - Fourteen cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed early Saturday morning near the town of Aurora, leading to a leak of molten sulfur from one car.
Feb 9th - BNSF coal train derails in Nebraska - Three locomotives and 57 cars of a BNSF coal train derailed which blocked crossings in a 3-mile stretch from High Street in Cairo to 110th Road southeast of the community.
Jan 29th - Amtrak train derails in Colorado - Four people were hurt – one of them the locomotive engineer with life-threatening injuries - after an Amtrak passenger train struck a semi-truck carrying 10,000 gallons of milk at an unprotected crossing on BNSF.
The typical response from the rail industry and government is playing out as usual... clean things up and move on, blaming workers for safety lapses instead of making institutional changes. The NTSB will issue reports with zero consequence and any truth buried in verbiage. Things will not change - except to get worse - until our national rail policy changes. North America's crucial rail assets require responsible stewardship, its shippers and passengers deserve good service, and its workers deserve a safe work place. And yet we cannot even get a watered-down piece of safety legislation through Congress. Public Rail Now.
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