• July 21, 2017
• Class I

What’s going on at CSX?

Hunter Harrison, what exactly is going on at CSX? I’m hearing lots of voices. They’ve become loud and frequent and as such are nearly impossible to ignore. They’re the voices of railroaders, from the executive to the train and engine service level. They’re former and present CSX employees. They’re people who have worked for you at other railroads. And they’re all saying basically the same thing: That the changes you are making at CSX aren’t the right thing to do, or aren’t working.

• July 10, 2017
• Class I

FELA: Durable and still going

It was an accessory to the jailing of three labor union presidents. It may encourage bad decision-making by rail managers. Its lottery-like jury awards seduce plaintiff attorneys. It can send an injured rail worker to the poor house. And it encourages adversarial relationships in the workplace.

• July 06, 2017
• C&S/IT

Rail labor talks await logic, reality

Nineteenth century economist Thomas Malthus is associated with a failure to recognize improved productivity as a tide lifting humankind’s standard of living.

• June 26, 2017
• Commuter/Regional

Summer of the angry bear

The news coming out of New York City hasn’t been very good lately: Daily, almost, service disruptions on the subway system. “Minor” derailments that injure passengers. A fatal injury to an LIRR maintenance-of-way employee. Forced service reductions at Pennsylvania Station to accommodate extensive maintenance of the interlocking plant.

• June 21, 2017
• Class I

Book Review: “My Life with Trains: Memoir of a Railroader”

In his just-published “My Life with Trains: Memoir of a Railroader,” the late Jim McClellan (June 10, 1939 – Oct. 14, 2016) left us with a detailed description of how difficult leadership can be.

• June 19, 2017
• C&S/IT

Industry committees provide vital services

Each year, hundreds of executives, technical experts, engineers and safety officers from across the railway supplier universe engage in an activity that, while largely unheralded, is enormously important to our industry and the North American economy.

• June 16, 2017
• Class I

STB update: Waiting for Godot

As a perfect scene does not a great movie make, ideal legislation cannot deliver its intent absent proficient administration.

• May 24, 2017
• Class I

Defending the rail industry from falsehoods

Railroads and their customers must not leave fate in the hands of a misinformed public.

• May 04, 2017
• Class I

Trump beware: Banquo’s ghost lurks

“Fire burn and caldron bubble … something wicked this way comes”—and it’s neither Shakespeare’s Macbeth nor his lady.

• April 24, 2017
• High Performance

Jeff Morales has probably stomached enough lunacy

For reasons unspecified other than he may have had enough of dealing with hostile politicians like Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Rail Subcommittee, California High Speed Rail Authority CEO Jeff Morales announced April 21 he is stepping down as of June 2. Officially, he said it is time for him to move on, now that construction is under way on the $64 billion, voter-approved project.