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Railroads

Amtrak Doesn’t Understand Why Elon Musk Wants To Privatize Amtrak

March 18, 2025 Ryan Erik King, Jalopnik. , , ,
Elon Musk has eagerly positioned himself as a chainsaw-welding horror movie slasher with government agencies as his victims, instead of promiscuous high schoolers. The Tesla CEO set his sights on privatizing the USPS and Amtrak, but the federally-owned railroad released a response last week stating that it can't understand why it needs private ownership. Amtrak has turned a lemon from the 1960s into a decent lemonade by the 21st century. Musk spoke at a Morgan Stanley technology conference last week and advised travelers visiting the country to stay away from Amtrak.

Federal Personnel Cuts Could Further Delay Languishing Rail Initiatives

March 8, 2025 Bob Johnston, Trains. , , ,
Disbursement of funds from grants awarded under a variety of Federal Railroad Administration continue to be held up by a lengthy approval process involving FRA personnel. These investments are threatened by potential staff reductions at the agency, as well as possible vetos by overseers invoking new Trump administration ideological criteria. Concerned about such a prospect, the Rail Passengers Association and 22 other public transportation advocacy organizations on Friday, Feb. 28, sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, urging him to “preserve mission-critical personnel to avoid further delays in the administration of these passenger and freight projects.”

Court Strikes Down Federal Rule That Would Have Allowed ‘Bomb Trains’

January 22, 2025 Earthjustice. , , , , ,
A federal court today struck down a 2020 rule that would have allowed trains to travel the country filled with an unprecedented amount of explosive liquefied natural gas (LNG). The liquefied natural gas from just one rail tank car — without even considering a whole train — could be enough to destroy a city. “We’re pleased that the court saw the danger this rule posed to our nation’s communities,” said Earthjustice attorney Bradley Marshall. “As we pointed out, it would only take 22 tank cars to hold the equivalent energy of the Hiroshima bomb.” The federal effort to cut critical safeguards for liquefied natural gas started on April 10, 2019, when President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to initiate rulemaking to allow liquefied natural gas transport by rail.

From Dream To Reality: Go-Op, Britain’s First Cooperative Railway

January 5, 2025 Jack Simpson, The Guardian. , , ,
The idea for the country’s first cooperative rail service came to Alex Lawrie in 2004 after another frustrating trip across Somerset. Having moved to Yeovil four years earlier with his young family, his job as a cooperative development manager involved daily trips across the south-west trying to set up member-owned businesses. A reluctant motorist, he quickly became frustrated with the rail service he was depending on to get around. “It baffled me, trains came at seemingly random intervals, there were only a few trains serving a big town like Yeovil, hours would pass without a train coming,” Lawrie says.

Teamsters: Government Should Stay Out Of The Bargaining Process

December 17, 2024 Bill Stephens, Trains. , , , , , , ,
Toronto – Teamsters Canada union leaders are urging federal officials in Ottawa to stay out of the collective bargaining process and back railway workers’ right to strike. “The transportation industry’s most powerful chief executives have developed a way to sidestep union negotiations,” Francois Laporte, national president of Teamsters Canada, and Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, wrote in an op-ed in Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper this week. “Here’s their playbook, as we see it: Make unreasonable demands, accuse unions of being unreasonable for refusing to accept them, instigate job action, lock workers out to disrupt supply chains, and use the resulting outcry to press Ottawa to impose binding arbitration. We believe this to be bad faith bargaining.

Railroads And Unions Divide And Scramble

December 15, 2024 Joe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes. , , , ,
As the Trump administration prepares to take power, the nation’s freight railroad companies are at the bargaining table with rail craft unions representing 115,000 freight workers who move essential goods across the country. Already the bargaining looks very different from the last round of negotiations, which finished in 2022. For the first time since 1963, multiple railroads have gone rogue, breaking with the employer association in which they typically present a united front. Under the Railway Labor Act, the Trump administration can affect both bargaining and the federal rules under which the railroads operate.

Are Railroads Slowly Committing Suicide?

October 29, 2024 David Sparkman, Material Handling and Logistics. , , ,
North America’s remaining six major freight railroads appear to be committing slow motion suicide, according to testimony offered by rail customers, industry analysts and labor to regulators on the Surface Transportation Board (STB) at two days of public hearings held last month. STB Chairman Robert E. Primus contended that the industry’s growth has not measured up to all of the opportunities that were presented to it over the past seven years, after Wall Street activist investors ignited the fad of Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), an operations model sold to investors as a Holy Grail by prioritizing squeezing out costs over growing the business, and which has persisted since gaining widespread acceptance among investors in 2017.

A New Frontier For Rail Labor: Why Not?

October 10, 2024 Jason Doering, Railway Age. , , , ,
For decades, rail labor has been content with incremental changes, celebrating small victories that feel more like stopgaps than real wins. We’ve traded away larger gains for short-term stability, often without realizing the long-term costs. Just as past generations gave away firemen, brakemen and cabooses with little to show for it, we now find ourselves at another crossroads—staring down a future where one-person crews and automation loom large. The question isn’t if these changes will happen, but when. Why not seize this moment to rethink our approach? Why not stop asking how we can hold onto the scraps of what we once had, and instead demand a bigger seat at the table for the future?

Study: The Economic Case For A Public Rail System

September 24, 2024 Kira McDonald, Public Rail Now. , , , , , , , ,
Public Rail Now is excited to announce their second research report in their campaign for public rail ownership. “From Margins to Growth: The Economic Case for a Public Rail System,” lays bare the economic facts for the current state of the US rail system is in a downward spiral, facts working railroaders have been espousing for decades. Public rail ownership has the potential to save up to $140 billion annually for US consumers, provide an estimated 180,000 new rail road jobs, avert $190 Billion in public health, environmental and fiscal cost, while helping to meet climate goals by avoiding 180 metric tonnes of carbon emissions.

Rail Crew, Environmental Justice Organizations Win Clean Air Rule

September 17, 2024 UE Union. , , , , ,
Rail crew drivers from UE Local 1077 joined environmental justice organizations in persuading the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) board to pass a life-saving regulation for rail yards in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, and Orange County. In response to overwhelming public support, including a letter signed by the UE local and its allies, the rule passed unanimously at the board’s meeting in August. Rule 2306 will limit toxic emissions from the 25 rail yards in operation and any new rail yards built in the region. According to SCAQMD, “The rule is expected to reduce Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions associated with freight rail yards by about 10.5 tons per day between 2027 to 2050.”

Union Challenges Government Order That Sent Rail Contract Talks To Binding Arbitration

September 3, 2024 Bill Stephens, Trains. , , , ,
Montreal — The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference is refusing to take no for an answer. The union, which represents 9,300 locomotive engineers and conductors on Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, has filed appeals challenging the decisions that led to binding arbitration being imposed on their failed contract talks with the railways. The union argues that the decisions — made on Aug. 22 by the labor minister just hours after an unprecedented work stoppage shut down freight rail traffic in Canada, and then affirmed by the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Aug. 24 — stripped the workers of their right to strike.

‘Anti-Worker’ Trudeau Forces Arbitration On Rail Union

August 27, 2024 Edward Carver, Common Dreams. , , , , ,
The Canadian government on Thursday moved to end a lockout of workers at the country's two major rail corporations by forcing the two sides into arbitration, drawing sharp criticism from the union, which is challenging the move, and left-leaning political figures, including an ally of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) locked out about 9,300 engineers, conductors, and yard workers starting Thursday morning, shutting down the vast majority of the country's freight operations—a major disruption to the national economy and supplies chains across North America. The two sides had failed to reach a labor agreement after months of negotiating.

Campaign For Public Rail: Private Rail Companies Put Profits Over Safety

August 26, 2024 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. , , , , ,
Private railroad corporations are failing their workers, their clients and the public in general. Their drive for profits means fewer workers, longer hours and neglecting basic safety protocols, unpredictable schedules for freight customers, which is devastating for farmers, and delays for passengers as well as deterioration of railway infrastructure. Clearing the FOG speaks with Maddock Thomas, the author of a new white paper, "Putting America Back on Track: The Case for a 21st Century Public Rail System," who explains the problems with the current system and how a public, electrified rail system would cost less, have a lower carbon footprint, and benefit workers and customers. Thomas is part of a new campaign, Public Rail Now.

Canada Ends Lockout Of Rail Workers

August 23, 2024 Joe DeManuelle-Hall, Labor Notes. , , , , ,
Ten thousand Canadian railroad workers were locked out early this morning after two sets of major contracts expired. Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) forced out locomotive engineers, conductors, and yard workers who are organized under the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. The major issues for the unions are scheduling and rest period protections in the contracts—areas where they say the railroads are demanding concessions. Through contracts and governmental regulations, union members have maintained some level of protection against increasingly demanding schedules. Workers have the right to rest periods between shifts and protections around how many hours they can be forced to work.

Teamsters Deliver Strike Notice; Canada Rail Delivers Lockout Notice

August 19, 2024 David Lassen, Trains. , , , ,
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference today (Aug. 18) served a 72-hour strike notice to Canadian Pacific Kansas City, saying the union will walk out at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, barring a last-minute labor agreement. Canadian National Railway, meanwhile, announced it had delivered a formal 72-hour lockout notice, following up on plans it had announced on Aug. 9 [see “Canadian rail strike could begin …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 9, 2024]. CPKC had also said it would institute a lockout on Aug. 22. The 72-hour notifications are required under Canadian law. Strike notice at CPKC The TCRC said it was issuing the strike notice after CPKC served notice it would lock out union members and change the terms of the collective agreements.
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