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Union Pacific says congestion cleared by Labor Day

BILL, Wyoming -- Union Pacific Railroad Chairman Dick Davidson said that the carriers’ most stubborn area of congestion -- Southern California -- should be relieved by Labor Day.

Davidson made his comment during a trip here as he explained the railroad’s latest service report. UP originally had not planned wide distribution of the reports because some company officers said information in the reports was responsible for the railroad's decline in business. The company said its position changed after demands for the information from customers and the media.

The report was the first issued since late July, when the STB lifted a service order that had required UP to open its tracks to other railroads. That order was issued at the height of UP's congestion problems late in 1997.

In the latest report, UP said business volumes rose by 7% from July levels even as service performance improved. Davidson said he expects further volume growth in the coming weeks due to additional automotive traffic as General Motors plants return to production after a strike of several weeks.

UP said the number of train delays at its West Colton yard near Los Angeles was reduced by 50% last week. Freight car switching at the yard also improved by 50% in the same period. The container backlog that had reached more than 3,000 units earlier this summer was reduced by 40% last week.

The company has suggested that its problems in California represent the last major area of congestion on a 35,000-mile system that was tied in knots at this time last year due to the service problems in the Houston area.

Davidson said Texas and Louisiana service was running without problems. However, he reiterated the railroad's wish to find more storage in transit space for plastics shipments. UP said service in its southern region that is concentrated in Texas now has a 70% on-time departure rate, compared with 34% two months ago. The latest report shows that the number of late train departures was reduced by 20% from July levels.

UP reported freight car handling in terminals improved to an average of 38 hours per shipment, which was among the best performances since the company began reporting service last Fall to the STB.

Another MTA bus driver attacked by passenger

LOS ANGELES -- The second MTA bus driver to come under attack in four days was stabbed while on the job in Inglewood on Tuesday.

The female driver, whose name was not released, was on a break at the corner of La Brea Avenue and Kelso Street, when a passenger boarded the bus about 1 a.m. and stabbed her in the arm and the thigh, said Sgt. R. McKoy of the Transit Services Bureau. The victim was treated at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital and released.

Last Saturday, an MTA driver was sexually assaulted when a suspect boarded the bus with a knife and told the other passengers to leave. Police said the suspect then hijacked the bus and crashed it into a storefront on West 8th Street before escaping on foot. That MTA driver was treated at a local hospital and released.

Friends of Amtrak weekly report

The rank and file of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) reached an agreement with Amtrak. One of the new work rules is that Amtrak trains can operate with a single engineer (no fireman) if the scheduled running time between two points is six hours or less. The effects in Kansas City were immediate. As of August 12, both trains between Kansas City and St. Louis will now operate with a single engineer.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) said it would withdraw a lawsuit against the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in the District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals. The suit aimed to reverse the Board's May 28th decision - confirming Amtrak's legal right to carry "express" business on its trains.

Word has it that Amtrak is planning on yet another new train following the start up of the daytime Ohio Pennsylvanian in November and a fifth day a week Texas Eagle. The new train would result from the break up of the existing Lake Shore Ltd. and would run from Boston to St. Louis via Cleveland - Columbus - Dayton - Cincinnati - Southern Indiana/Illinois. The Boston Lake Shore cars would be used for the consist. Amtrak would still maintain its Lake Shore Ltd. service from New York to Chicago. This new Boston to St. Louis train would be paid for 100% by mail & express service. Amtrak likes the idea of a St. Louis terminus because Chicago is quickly running out of space for the booming mail & express business.

Air Canada pilots strike looms

MONTREAL -- A strike by pilots at Canada's largest airline, Air Canada is looming after talks on a new labor contract broke down, the pilots' union said Tuesday.

The Air Canada Pilots Association, which represents the Montreal-based airline's 2,100 pilots, said it could be in a legal position to strike within two to three weeks.

Both sides will have to wait for a decision by the Canadian minister of labor on whether to release them from the conciliation process, which would allow the company to lock out its pilots and the pilots to strike.

"The minute we are released for a strike, seven days hence is the strike deadline. It's anywhere from a few days to a month, I guess," said Capt. Jean-Marc Belanger, chairman of the union's master executive council.

Air Canada spokesman John Hamilton told Reuters the company and union were "fairly far apart" on bargaining issues, but the airline was hopeful the dispute could be resolved without a strike.

The pilots have been without a contract since April 1, and in late July, they voted 97 percent to give their bargaining committee a strike mandate. Talks between the two sides continued with the help of a federal government appointed conciliator, but those ended at an impasse Monday night.

The union said wages, working conditions and contract rules were major stumbling blocks. It charged that Air Canada pilots are among the lowest-paid pilots flying for major air carriers.

Delta-United joint-marketing agreement scuttled

ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines' refusal to give its pilots union a voting seat on the board of directors has scuttled plans for a joint venture between Delta and United Airlines.

The union demanded the seat before it would agree to a contract change needed to allow the airlines to sell seats on each other’s flights in a practice called code-sharing. Atlanta-based Delta said in a statement that its board rejected the demand "because of its belief in the principle that an independent board best serves Delta and its constituents."