Commentary

BNSF, SMART seek historic crew consist revision

A gutsy, proactive, and far-sighted collaboration between BNSF and a general committee of its largest labor union has produced a tentative agreement to allow freight trains equipped with Positive Train Control (PTC) to operate as early as next year with a lone engineer in the cab and no conventional on-board conductor between specific territories in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.

NS releases latest sustainability report

Norfolk Southern Corp. released its latest “Connections” sustainability report Wednesday, July 16, 2014, detailing its ongoing efforts to contribute to a cleaner environment, a healthier economy, and stronger communities.

AAR Associate Membership grows by five

Five companies joined the Association of American Railroads as Associate Members in June 2014.

MUNI employees ratify SFMTA contract

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) said Tuesday, July 15, 2014 that “Transport Workers Union Local 250-A, which represents Municipal Railway (MUNI) transit operators, voted to ratify a new three-year agreement that increases wages, strengthens pension benefits, and is in line with the budget needs of the agency.”

Strike hits Bombardier Thunder Bay plant

Roughly 900 workers at Bombardier Transportation’s Thunder Bay, Ontario, rail production plant walked off the job on Monday, July 14, 2014, following a breakdown in contract talks with management.

Survey: Shippers expect business to grow

The average growth rate by which shippers anticipate their businesses to grow has increased, the pricing and employment outlook remains solid, and ongoing rail traffic strength has been aided only in small part by freight pulled forward in anticipation of a West Coast port strike, according to Cowen and Company Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl.

CSX completes five-state Maintenance Jamboree

CSX has performed annual Maintenance Jamborees since 1999, when a machine operator coined the term “Jamboree” to describe the mass gathering of maintenance-of-way crews and equipment in one area. The most recent Jamboree, a $25 million project encompassing five states, concluded over the 2014 July 4 holiday weekend.

Richard W. Sprague, 1929-2014

Richard Wilder Sprague, 85, retired senior vice president, Bangor & Aroostook Railroad, died July 5, 2014, at Malvern, Pa.

Rebuilding an empire

BNSF is expanding its Northern Corridor to meet increasing demand.

CBR obstacles vary, but multiply

Pushback against crude-by-rail (CBR) oil shipments continues to develop in a variety of ways, from local protests to looming action from the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

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