Railroads Want One-Man Crews on Massive Freight Trains

[Eugene]

Source: NBC News

Railroads Want One-Man Crews on Massive Freight Trains
BY TONY DOKOUPIL

First published February 20th 2015, 6:51 am

Monday's fiery oil train crash in West Virginia was the latest in a string of explosive wrecks that have sparked fears about America's surge in oil train traffic. And soon those trains may be rumbling through populated areas with just a single person at the controls, a change that railroad workers say presents an unacceptable risk.

Railroads have proposed eliminating the job of on-board conductor on most trains, leaving just an engineer aboard. The workers argue that one-person crews will mean more out-of-control trains, like the runaway that caused the Lac-Mégantic disaster in 2013. An oil train rolled downhill in the tiny Quebec town and exploded, killing 47 people. The company that owned the train had just downsized to a one-man crew, and that engineer failed to set the brakes properly, according to regulators.

Railroad executives counter that a new GPS-based braking system—required by Congress by the end of this year—will be enough to blunt that risk. But railroad workers, environmental groups, and people in the communities along the tracks strongly disagree.

"It's a recipe for disaster," said Mark Voelker, a switchman for BNSF Railway and an organizer for the SMART union, which represents conductors nationwide.

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Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/railroads-want-one-man-crews-massive-freight-trains-n308541

[In_The_Wind]

1. IMO: That would be a huge mistake.

[B Calm]

2. Local switch train here uses one man to deliver train cars to factories. He walks along side of the

train with a remote control to run the engine.

[TwilightGardener]

3. My husband is a conductor for a big freight railroad. If you knew what I knew,

the one-man-crew suggestion would make the hair stand up on the back of your head. It's simply dangerous.

[hedgehog]

4. Give the railroads credit - it'll cut down on worker deaths

if the crew is limited to one person.

BTW - read the article closely and you'll see a real problem - workers can be called in for a 12 hour shift at any time. This has to change.

[TwilightGardener]

6. It's that way now. Crews get 10 hours of mandated rest, and then

it's fair game to call them at any time, day or night, for up to six days in a row. New rules are that for 6 straight days of work, they have to have two days of rest, but the railroads work around that, of course.

[Brickbat]

7. And it's not two days of rest. It's 48 hours.

[ND-Dem]

5. K&R. America is turning into a sacrifice Zone.

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. And if that's not enough, just look at this -

This young fellow will work right through his nap time, and not complain a bit.

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