SMART Transportation Division Alternate Vice President J. Scott Chelette, general chairperson of GO 927, was featured in a television news report about the rail industry’s intention to eliminate the conductor from the cab of freight trains in the wake of Class I freight carriers implementing Positive Train Control (PTC).
Chelette was featured alongside West, Texas, Police Chief Darryl Barton on the report, broadcast Jan. 30 on KWTX-TV in Waco, Texas.
“The industry wants to take it a step further and thinks that because they have Positive Train Control that we don’t need a conductor on the locomotive anymore. That’s not the case,” Chelette said. “It’s just a failsafe. It’s just like your vehicle having an alert system.”
Our members know that PTC is not a cure-all and that its operational performance has been sporadic. If technology such as PTC impedes your ability to operate a train, then a Technology Event Report should be filed with SMART-TD.
Video of Chelette’s appearance is available above. The entire article from KWTX can be read on the station’s website.
Related News
- Alabama Port Authority learns a lesson in solidarity
- In Loving Memory of Donald H. Wolff II
- Railroad Safety Day on the Hill 2025
- Victory in Colorado: SMART-TD Secures Permanent Funding for the Office of Railroad Safety
- Union officers go the extra mile, but Brian McWilliams literally went 65 of them!
- Tentative Agreement with Keolis Approved by 92%
- CO Senator Byron Pelton wants railroaders to pay for the state safety office. Seriously.
- 3rd Annual Railroad Day on the Hill: SMART-TD leads a growing force for rail safety and labor solidarity
- Rash of Transit Funding Crises May Impact Members from Coast to Coast
- Tesla sparks safety showdown with nation’s rail workers