Category: Transportation
Lac-Megantic testimony finds lack of safety culture at MMA
The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic (MMA) employee in charge of safety and training at the railroad testified that a minimum of nine handbrakes should have been used on the train that destroyed the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in 2013. Michael Horan testified that only seven ha [...]
SMART TD against Trump’s nominee for Amtrak chair
SMART TD opposes the recent nomination of former U.S. Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland of Georgia by the Trump administration to serve on the Board of Directors of Amtrak. As a longtime member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and H [...]
Rail Safety Alert: It is time to lead
In early 1998, a Federal task force was created to examine railroad switching fatalities. Coordinated by the FRA, this working group consisted of representatives from both rail labor and carrier industry management. For 22 months they poured over data from the 76 switching de [...]
Risch appears before STB, discusses excessive CSX train length
Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers’ Transportation Division National Legislative Director John Risch appeared this morning (Wednesday, Oct. 11) before the Surface Transportation Board (STB) at a listening session about service disruptions caused by CSX’s [...]
Railroaders: MasterChef wants you on their show!
Do you love to cook? MasterChef is looking for railroaders who love to cook in their free time and who have never cooked professionally. Judged by award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay along with two others, the show is currently looking for contestants for season nine. The top 40 [...]
Calendar photo submissions due Oct. 9
Photo submissions for the 2018 SMART TD Alumni Association calendar are due by 9 a.m. EST, Monday, Oct. 9, so that the SMART TD PR department may get to work on choosing which photos to feature in the 2018 calendar. SMART Transportation Division is seeking quality railroad, b [...]
National Negotiations update: Coordinated Bargaining Group unions reach tentative national contract agreement
Independence, Ohio, October 5 — Rail Unions making up the Coordinated Bargaining Group (CBG) announced today that they have reached a Tentative National Agreement with the Nation’s Freight Rail Carriers. The CBG is comprised of six unions: the American Train Dispatchers Assoc [...]
SMART TD announces regional meeting information
SMART Transportation Division is proud to announce that the 2019 regional meeting will be held in San Diego, Calif. More information will be forthcoming as it becomes available. 2018 regional meetings — Archived presentations in PDF form NOTE: Slide presentations given [...]