DOT announces proposed rules for crude transport

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation today released the details of its comprehensive rulemaking proposal to improve the safe transportation of large quantities of flammable materials by rail – particularly crude oil and ethanol – in the form of a Notice of Propo [...]

UP representative shares Operation Lifesaver tips

Union Pacific Railroad’s Operation Lifesaver is a rail safety program that’s been in place for 42 years, but railroad officials are hoping to broaden their outreach to more than just city council presentations. Israel Maldonado, a Union Pacific risk management rep [...]

Ex-employees claim BNSF ignored key safety checks

One of the largest freight railroad companies in North America, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway, is accused of forcing workers to skip critical safety checks and firing employees who blow the whistle on unsafe practices. A former BNSF employee named Curtis Rookair [...]

Oil trains face test in new safety rules

North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch has thrived thanks in large part to the once-niche business of hauling fuel on U.S. rail tracks. New safety rules may now test the oil train model. Within weeks, the Obama Administration is due to unveil a suite of reforms that will rewri [...]

Will U.S. railroad service ever get better?

“I just returned from a trip to Europe, and really enjoyed riding the high-speed Eurostar and TGV. Why can’t we have something like that here in the U.S.?” So asked a reader, and the fundamental answer is simple: The United States, as a nation, does not and [...]

Strong, Proud, United

The theme of the SMART Transportation Division’s Convention in San Diego, Calif., June 30-July 2, was “Strong, Proud, United,” and videos were presented to the delegates and attendees each day during the convention that embodied those concepts. SMART Transportation members fr [...]

Train collision at Slinger, Wis., injures two

SLINGER, Wis. – A southbound Canadian National freight train was rounding a curve in Slinger when it struck the cars of another train Sunday night shortly after 9:00 p.m. The incident happened where CN and Wisconsin and Southern Railroad tracks cross. Two people in the train [...]