Ex-NJT rail chief lands job with N.Y. MTA

NJ Transit’s former railroad chief, who was pushed out in March following two tumultuous years that included the flooding of nearly 400 rail cars and locomotives during Superstorm Sandy, has landed a job within New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Kevin O’Connor, [...]

Hazardous cargo rides rails in secret

Jodi Ross, town manager in Westford, Mass., did not expect she would be threatened with arrest after she and her fire chief went onto the railroad tracks to find out why a train carrying liquid petroleum gas derailed on a bridge in February. But as they reached the accident s [...]

Oil traffic may delay fertilizer shipments, farmers warn

Increasing use of railroads to ship crude oil could disrupt fertilizer cargo this spring as Midwest farmers prepare for planting, U.S. agriculture leaders warn, even as one railroad said on Monday (April 14) it will take steps to ensure timely deliveries. The planting season [...]

OSHA orders WC to pay $350,000 to conductor

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found Wisconsin Central Limited railway in violation of the Federal Railroad Safety Act for terminating a conductor following the reporting of a workplace injury that occurred in [...]

Feds revisit safety rules after Calif. bus crash

RED BLUFF, Calif. – Federal transportation authorities are investigating ways to minimize death and injuries in bus crashes following the fiery wreck leaving 10 dead when a FedEx truck slammed into a bus carrying high school students in Northern California. On Thursday (April [...]

Should the Ryan budget worry seniors?

A central element of the Congressional Budget process, established in 1974, is that policy proposals affecting the balance between spending and revenues must be scored by a philosophically neutral organization, one created for the purpose of making sure Congress clearly under [...]

NJ Transit to conduct rail safety review

New Jersey Transit is planning to conduct a sweeping safety review of its rail operations. The agency has hired an outside consultant and is forming a 17-member committee that will be made up of employees at all levels to take a hard look at maintenance procedures, work pract [...]

Union Volunteers Restore Views at Georgia’s Little Grand Canyon

By Kate Cywinski – Union Sportsmens’ Alliance A picturesque 550 ft. canyon made up of chasms, plateaus and pinnacles painted in hues of pink, orange, red and purple is something you might expect to see out West—not in southwest Georgia.  Yet that’s what visitors f [...]