Obama Administration to Unveil Stricter Fuel Regulations for Trains: WSJ

[elleng]

Source: nyt/reuters

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce new regulations related to more stringent safety standards on trains carrying flammable fuels on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported citing a source on Capitol Hill familiar with the process.

Reuters had earlier reported that the Obama administration was due to unveil a suite of safety reforms that would rewrite standards conceived long before the rise of the shale oil renaissance.

The rules are expected to be announced on Wednesday morning by U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, according to the Wall Street Journal. (http://on.wsj.com/1rzwrF1)

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014/07/22/us/22reuters-usa-oil-railways.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=WireFeed&module=pocket-region&region=pocket-region&WT.nav=pocket-region

[babylonsister]

1. Rec'd and hot damn! nt

[elleng]

2. :-)

[neverforget]

3. The FRA is going to mandate 2 person crews for oil trains which is awesome.

If the railroads have their way, those will be the only trains with 2 person crews (engineer and conductor). They want to move to engineer only trains and have a roaming "master conductor". Technology called Positive Train Control is how they want to do it. It's kind of like an auto pilot for trains.

[elleng]

5. Breaths have been held for a long time on PTC.

'To implement the law, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published final regulations for PTC systems on January 15, 2010.[8]

In December 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that Amtrak and the major Class I railroads have taken steps to install PTC systems under the law, but the work may not be complete by the 2015 deadline. The railroads and their suppliers are continuing to develop software to test various system components, which could delay equipment installation. GAO also suggests that publicly funded commuter railroads will have difficulty in obtaining funds to pay for their system components.[9]

As of January 2012, the U.S. Congress is considering bills that would extend the 2015 deadline of the Rail Safety Improvements Act, possibly granting the railroads an extension of several years. The AAR has indicated its support of the extension; at least one commuter rail operation, the SCCRA's Metrolink, has indicated opposition to any extension.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) proposed amendments to its published rules on December 11, 2012.[10]'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_train_control

[neverforget]

7. The railroad I work for has started to implement it. It has some kinks to work out

but they are hell bent on going to PTC. I believe PTC is not safe for 1 person crews on ANY train but it's another way to slash labor costs and destroy the unions.

Here's the proposed FRA rule on 2 person crews for oil trains.
http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L04999

[elleng]

9. Thanks. Interesting.

Which railroad?

[neverforget]

10. I'll just say a large Class 1 national railroad.

I plan on composing an OP about what the company is trying to do to us regarding the union, etc. There's a contract in the works that is no good for the workers plus has major safety issues to the workers and the general public. Some good in it but that is far outweighed by the bad.

[elleng]

13. No surprise.

Any help from national unions?

[neverforget]

14. The union's national leadership is the one that agreed to this new contract.

The union is outmatched when it comes to negotiating. The company retains lawyers that do nothing but come up with these new contracts (and look for loopholes in the existing contract) with the help of some MBA types that think this work can be done with less people. The unions can't afford to retain the necessary high priced lawyers to fight them.

Anyway, the company flies the union heads to HQ to wine and dine them and then give them the new contract and say "sign this" because if you don't, we're going to start taking stuff away. So they sign it. It even happens with the local unions. One union will agree to a new contract that affects them specifically but has ramifications for everyone else in the division. What the company is doing in this case is dividing and conquering. Unfortunately, it works by pitting one union against another. In the case I'm talking about, one local union agreed to it while the union covering the engineers didn't so they worked for a year without a contract and getting screwed. Last month, the engineer union signed the new contract after negotiating and got some of the wrongs fixed for them but they still lost a lot.

[elleng]

15. Damn. 'Divide' and conquer,

built into the system.

Worked at ICC for 20+ years, so particularly interested.

[neverforget]

16. The company is playing the long game to weaken and destroy the unions while the union

is constantly playing defense in the short term and has no long game. Once this new contract goes through, I don't expect to have a job within a year or two. Maybe I'll apply at Montana Rail Link and head back home....

[elleng]

17. Hey, I (and others) represented MRL!

(YEARS ago!!!)

Good luck.

[onehandle]

4. Great news!

What Domestic Terrorists Are Teaching Our Children

[Cha]

8. that's a compelling graphic, onehandle.. but

what does it have to do with the OP?

[onehandle]

12. It was locked in a post on me yesterday.

So I'll be inserting it into each of my replies for a day or two.

[Cha]

18. Just so you know.. I was on a jury when it had been alerted on as spam.. we

voted to leave it alone even though.

[Cha]

6. Good news, ellen.. mahalo!

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, elleng.