Railroads warned about the problems long trains can cause

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JOSH FUNK 2 hours ago

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal regulators are warning railroads that the long trains they favor can cause all kinds of problems and contribute to derailments, so they want the railroads to ensure their training and operating procedures account for that.

The Federal Railroad Administration stopped short of recommending in its latest safety advisory issued Thursday that railroads limit the size of their trains, which can routinely stretch more than 2 miles long. However, they did suggest a number of precautions including making sure engineers know how to handle them and that locomotives don’t lose communication with devices at the end of trains that can help trigger the brakes in an emergency.

Currently, there aren’t any restrictions on train length but members of Congress and state lawmakers in at least six states have proposed establishing limits particularly in the wake of the fiery Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment in Ohio. The major freight railroads have pushed back against that idea because they have increasingly come to rely on longer trains to help them move cargo with fewer crews and mechanics as they overhauled their operations over the past six years. Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz said recently that he doesn’t think accident data shows that long trains are riskier.

But the Federal Railroad Administration cited three derailments involving trains longer than 12,250 feet (3,734 meters) where train length was a factor in its advisory. That agency and the National Academies of Sciences are both in the middle of studying the impact of long trains, and they expect to issue reports next year on whether they are a problem.




Read more: https://apnews.com/article/railroad-safety-derailments-long-trains-fra-ceaf4f56fedbdba6ce9374166b41b895

[msongs]

1. well in that case they might as well make them longer. nt

[cstanleytech]

2. " as they overhauled their operations" Short for mass firings and demanding workers do a job

that +3 should be doing like in retail including some of the supposed better chains like Pubix?

[CrispyQ]

6. Yesterday there was a news story about a companies giving $15 an hour workers manager titles

to avoid paying them overtime pay & then working them 50-60 hours a week.

The corporations & the wealthy who control them have too much power, but Sanders & Warren are two of the few who ever discuss that. It should be a democratic party issue.

Today I'm picking Bernie's new book up from the library, "It's Okay to be Angry about Capitalism."

This is pretty dated. 2014, I think. Where is the democrats updated version of this? You know it hasn't gotten better, especially after the pandemic.

[Tetrachloride]

3. I am glad the railroads warned us.

[Puppyjive]

4. Sure as shit

I resigned my railroad job because I felt it was unsafe for them to call me back to work only after 5 1/2 hours of rest. Having been prior aircrew, I realized the importance of uninterrupted rest. I just couldn't get enough rest and I didn't want to be the cause of a disaster. I witnessed train crews falling asleep. I wanted no part. About a month after I resigned, a crew fell asleep and derailed. My intuition was spot on. They've changed somethings since, but it's all about the shareholders. Crew safety gets put on the back burner. Crew fatigue is awful. I told them that these trains are ticking time bombs going thru our towns. The longer trains block every crossing in my town for more than 10 minutes. It's so annoying.

[sanatanadharma]

5. Article talks about trains more than two miles long

"... three derailments involving trains longer than 12,250 feet (3,734 meters)"

But corporate profit trumps safety and civilized life in cities and towns.

[Bayard]

7. This is a personal concern for us

There are tracks that run pretty close to our property. You can wait forever at a crossing for a whole train to get through, and they frequently haul chemical tankers.