As Rail Safety Week (RSW) (Sept. 19-25), a collaborative effort among Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI), state OLI programs and rail safety partners across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, continues to be observed, North American carriers and organizations are mobilizing to raise awareness about rail safety and to help stop track tragedies during this annual week-long event. Here is a roundup of the week’s initiatives.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently stated in a report that the probable cause of a November 2021 collision between towing vessel Baxter Southern and a BNSF coal train was the tow’s pilot and captain “incorrectly identifying” a caution area on the vessel’s electronic chart system (ECS) before pushing the tow up against a riverbank too close to a railroad track, leading to a train derailment near Galland, Iowa.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has selected 26 projects—nine rail/intermodal-related—to share $1.5 billion in INFRA (Infrastructure for Rebuilding America) grants.
Topping the list of reasons to attend Railway Age’s inaugural Rail Insights: Women in Rail Conference are headliners Katie Farmer, President and CEO of BNSF; Corina Moore, President and CEO of Ontario Northland; and Jean Savage, CEO and President of Trinity Industries, Inc. Need more reasons to participate in this virtual event, to be held Nov. 10? Here are five.
The six Class I freight railroads participating in national bargaining will begin taking steps as early as Sept. 12 to manage and secure shipments of hazardous and security-sensitive materials “in light of the possibility of a rail labor strike,” the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said the evening of Sept. 9. The SMART-Transportation Division (TD) and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen spoke out on embargoes* on Sept. 11.
Master’s Degree students in the University of Denver’s (DU) Transportation and Supply Chain Institute toured short line railroad Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) for an entire week in July to “experience the transportation industry at one of its critical nerve centers.”
Nordic Unmanned collaborates with BNSF Railway (BNSF) to test the Staaker Railway Drone. Also, Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity (CARE) invests in a sustainable future through partnership with Reinventure Capital.
Following a 45-day public comment period that ended on Sept. 8 on CN’s waiver request to use virtual 3D simulation as an alternative to hands-on training required by 49 CFR 232.203(b)(8), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is extending the comment period for an additional 60 days “to ensure all interested parties have ample time to provide their comments following a demonstration of the software scheduled for the second half of September.”
In a Sept. 2 update to intermodal customers, BNSF said its “aggressive service recovery efforts are generating improved network performance as we move into September.”
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has found five U.S. Class I railroads to be revenue adequate for 2021: BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Soo Line (the U.S. affiliate of Canadian Pacific) and Union Pacific. Railway Age Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner weighs in.