UTU News Digest - Tuesday, January 26,1999

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Tuesday, January 26, 1999

Journal of Commerce: Questions over mergers and safety rise
after four deaths aboard Conrail

(Note: This article was written by RIP WATSON in today’s JOURNAL OF COMMERCE. Following this story is a statement from Conrail and a story from Toledo on the funeral of BLE member Roger Bell.)

WASHINGTON -- Questions about the relationship between rail mergers and safety again are being raised in the aftermath of four on-duty employee deaths at Conrail Inc.

The United Transportation Union is pressing the Federal Railroad Administration for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding three separate fatal incidents between Jan. 14 and Jan. 22 at the railroad that was acquired by CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. last year.

Efforts by UTU to step up the pressure on Conrail are identical to union efforts in the summer of 1997 to force changes in safety practices on Union Pacific Railroad.

CSX and NS are to take over their respective portions of Conrail on June 1. Until then, the railroad is being operated independently. Prior to their acquisition, both carriers submitted detailed plans meant to enhance post-merger safety and avoid a repetition of past problems.

A string of accidents that killed nine persons on the UP in less than two months triggered an FRA safety audit and compliance proceeding in which the agency concluded that UP's merger with Southern Pacific eroded safety on that railroad.

The latest request came in a letter sent Monday by UTU president Charles Little to FRA Administrator Jolene Molitoris.

In his letter, Mr. Little said "four deaths in nine days demands that fast action be taken to intensely investigate safety and training procedures at Conrail. These incidents are every bit as serious as the UP problem, and deserve the same scrutiny."

"The number of accidents within such a short time span ... is of such a character that it must be immediately learned whether there is a systemic operating deficiency at Conrail that degrades safety," Mr. Little wrote. "Our members and the public are entitled to know now the status of operations on Conrail."

FRA spokeswoman Pam Barry said: "On the face of it, there is no obvious linkage between these collisions."

She said FRA will take a more detailed look at the safety issues in light of the accidents, including a Friday meeting in Philadelphia that involves agency safety officials and representatives of NS, CSX and Conrail.

That meeting will review issues such as operational, training and supervision issues raised by the acquisition of Conrail, she said. After that session ends, FRA will brief rail union representatives.

In the most recent accident on Jan. 22, a Conrail employee and UTU member in the Buffalo area died in a derailment.

Two more rail workers, a UTU member and a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, died Jan. 17 near Toledo, Ohio. Three days before, a UTU member working in the rail yard at Port Newark, NJ died in a switching incident.

Since the acquisition was completed last summer, most of Conrail's senior operations management have left the company to work for the buyers.

However, both NS and CSX have hired at least 90% of the field supervisors at Conrail and pledged those persons will remain on duty after each company begins operating its own portion of Conrail.

Conrail Mourns Losses of Four Employees

(Note: Conrail issued this press release after the UTU called for a FRA investigation.)

PHILADELPHIA -- Timothy T. O'Toole, President and Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Rail Corp. (Conrail) issued the following statement today:

"Along with their families and coworkers, we mourn the tragic losses of four of our colleagues this month in accidents. We need to learn from each of these events to make sure similar accidents do not happen again.

"Despite our achievements last year, when we were the only major U.S. railroad without a single on-the-job fatality, these sad events remind us that we can never let down our guard when it comes to safety. I am asking everyone at Conrail to rededicate themselves to safety with increased vigilance, so that we can keep these tragedies from being repeated."

Toledo Blade: Railroad employee is remembered

TOLEDO -- Scores of Toledo-area railroaders mourned the loss of a colleague and friend yesterday afternoon at a funeral service for Roger Bell, a Conrail train engineer from Oregon who was killed Sunday in a three-train crash near Stryker.

"He was an engineer everybody wanted to work with and a person everybody wanted to be around, on and off the job,'' said Terry Jessee, a childhood friend who worked on the railroad with Mr. Bell for 33 years.

"Roger always kept his positive attitude,'' said fellow Conrail engineer Bob Lillye, who in a second eulogy described his colleague as a beloved prankster. "If I can take his outlook on life with me, I'll be very happy.''

Mr. Bell, 57, a BLE member, and Raymond Corell, 52, of Angola, Ind., a UTU member, died when the train they were operating struck another Conrail train from behind shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, several miles west of Stryker. Wreckage from the collision derailed a third train that was passing on a parallel track. No one aboard the other trains was injured.

Ted Lopatkiewicz, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said no new information was available from the board's investigation of the crash. Except for a team testing the train signaling system in the crash area, which will remain at the scene through tomorrow, all fieldwork was completed yesterday, Mr. Lopatkiewicz said.

More than 200 people attended Mr. Bell's funeral, with many standing in the hallways at the Hoeflinger Funeral Home in Oregon.

A service for Mr. Corell, the train's conductor, is scheduled for Friday morning in Huntington, Ind.

In his eulogy, Mr. Jessee said the throng was a testament to Mr. Bell's human value. The train engineer was one who "always answered the bell,'' whether to fulfill his own duties or to help others, he said.

Mr. Jessee harkened in particular to Mr. Bell's recovery from a 1981 traffic collision in which Mr. Bell was burned severely.

"He was the only person who knew he was supposed to come back to work after the car accident,'' Mr. Jessee said.

And he and Mr. Lillye both alluded to Mr. Bell's sense of humor, which they said was welcome in railroading's world of 12-hour workdays and irregular duty times.

Robert Godwin, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers' general chairman for Conrail employees, questioned afterward why the Conrail line between Toledo and Chicago is not equipped with a cab-signal system, which he said might have prevented the fatal crash.

Widespread fog was reported in northwest Ohio early Sunday, which may have hindered train crews' ability to see signal lights along the tracks that warn of trains ahead.

A cab-signal system uses electrical circuitry to transmit signal displays continuously into the cabs of train locomotives, reducing the potential hazard from fog.

Federal regulations require cab signals on tracks upon which trains travel at 80 mph or faster, and such systems also are in use on some other rail lines. On a Conrail line between Alliance, Oh., and Rochester, Pa., cab signals have replaced most of the trackside signaling.

"This is stuff that's been around for 30, 40 years,'' Mr. Godwin said. "They have the technology to stop things like this.''

"We certainly agree with Mr. Godwin that we need to learn from tragedies like this one,'' said Robert Libkind, a Conrail spokesman. "We may disagree along the way about certain points of how to do it.''

And Jay Kivowitz, the NTSB investigator in charge of the crash inquiry, on Monday described the signal and train dispatching system in use west of Toledo as "pretty standard in the industry.''

Mr. Godwin was one of an estimated 20 union officials attending Mr. Bell's funeral. Only three Conrail management officials, all local, were believed to have attended.

Mr. Libkind said that because of Conrail's imminent takeover by CSX Transportation Corp. and the Norfolk Southern Corp., it has few executives remaining in its headquarters who have not transferred to one of the acquiring railroads.

Status of major high-speed rail projects

WASHINGTON – Here’s a look at 10 high-speed rail corridors in various stages of discussion, planning or construction in the United States:

CALIFORNIA: The corridor covers 676 miles and links Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley, Los Angeles and San Diego. Cost estimates range from $21 billion for standard high speed to $29 billion for magnetic levitation trains. The California Intercity High-Speed Rail Commission is studying the proposal and trying to obtain financing. A statewide vote is expected by 2000.

CHICAGO-DETROIT: The corridor covers 279 miles and links Ann Arbor, Mich., and Kalamazoo, Mich., with Detroit and Chicago. The estimated cost is $800 million for an incremental approach to rebuilding stations and improving signals along the line. Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation hope to begin service on part of the corridor this year and along the full route by 2006.

CHICAGO-MILWAUKEE-MINNEAPOLIS: The corridor covers 418 miles and links Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis, and possibly Madison, Wis., and Wisconsin Dells. Incremental improvements are planned. The estimated cost for the stretch between Chicago and Milwaukee is $471 million. There is no firm price tag for the overall project. Wisconsin is working with a nine-state coalition to find funding.

CHICAGO-ST. LOUIS: The corridor covers 282 miles and links Springfield and Bloomington-Normal, Ill., to Chicago and St. Louis. The estimated cost is $350 million. Engineers are working on incremental improvements, including developing a net to prevent accidents at railroad crossings and a new system to control trains. Once completed, Illinois would seek a private-sector partner. The states hope to begin service in 2003.

GULF COAST: The corridor covers 719 miles from Houston through New Orleans to Birmingham, Ala. Incremental improvements are planned, but currently there is no estimated cost. A ridership and feasibility study is underway. Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are working together to obtain funding.

NORTHEAST: The corridor runs 457 miles between Boston, New York and Washington. There has been a $4 billion improvement project underway, electrifying the track between New Haven, Conn., and Boston, and buying 20 new trains capable of traveling at 150 mph. The improvements are scheduled to debut in October.

PACIFIC-NORTHWEST: The corridor covers 466 miles and links Portland and Seattle with Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, BC The estimated cost is $1.865 billion. The project would entail a series of incremental improvements to push train speeds up to 125 mph. No timetable yet for starting the service.

SOUTHEAST: The corridor covers 390 miles between Washington and Charlotte, N.C. The work would involve a series of incremental changes such as straightening curves to push existing rail speeds up to 110 mph. There is no cost estimate, although Virginia said it would cost $350 million to add a second track to the corridor. There is no starting date for the 110-mph service.

TEXAS TRIANGLE: The corridor runs in a 436-mile triangle between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The estimated cost is $4 billion. In 1989, the state awarded a franchise to build the line, but the franchise was terminated in 1994. While the project is now dormant, the state Transportation Department has been talking with private investors and rail companies about making incremental improvements along the corridor.

UPSTATE NEW YORK: The corridor covers 431 miles and links Rochester, Syracuse and Albany, N.Y., with New York and Buffalo. The estimated cost is $315 million, much of which is for improving the condition and technology of the existing rail lines. The work should be completed by 2004.

SOURCE: General Accounting Office

Union Pacific Railroad is 'on Track' for the Y2K

OMAHA -- Union Pacific Railroad has certified its mainframe computer systems and all of its critical client-server systems Y2K ready. This includes the railroad's Transportation Control System (TCS), the glue for railroad operations.

Union Pacific began early on its Year 2000 project with research in 1994, and expects to spend a total of $46 million on the project. The Y2K effort started in earnest in 1996 and is a number one priority at the railroad, involving every department in the effort to provide normal railroad operations on January 1, 2000.

The railroad's mainframe and critical client-server systems contain more than 140,000 programs. Each program was tested for compliance with Y2K standards, updated if needed, re-tested, implemented, and certified as Y2K ready, completing the effort in December, 1998.

"1999 will be a year of extensive testing of our certified systems with customers, trading partners, and other railroads," said Al Reinberg, senior director on the Y2K project. "We want to do everything possible to be sure we have a smooth transition into the year 2000."

"Union Pacific prefers to use the term 'Y2K ready' instead of 'Y2K compliant,'" said Reinberg. "Some vendors may not certify their products to be Y2K compliant, but there are no Year 2000 issues involved in the way that the Union Pacific uses the products. Therefore, Union Pacific can be Y2K ready even though some vendor products may not be compliant."

Union Pacific provides public information on its Y2K compliance progress on its web site (www.uprr.com/y2k). That site has links to worldwide Y2K sites, which have additional information on the Year 2000 challenge.

Moving the world's computer systems to the new millennium has been complicated by the once-standard practice of limiting computer codes to two digits, such as "98," which will be confusing to computers when January 1, 2000 arrives and "00" could be read as 1900 or 2000.

CN: Torrance Wylie appointed senior vice-president, public affairs

MONTREAL -- Torrance Wylie, currently chairman, Government Policy Consultants, will become Senior Vice-President, Public Affairs, of Canadian National effective Feb. 1, CN President and Chief Executive Officer Paul M. Tellier announced today.

Mr. Tellier said the appointment follows the retirement of Wes Kelley, who joined CN's public relations department at Moncton, N.B., in 1961 and has led CN's communications department since 1995.

Mr. Wylie was an executive assistant to former Prime Ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau. His experience includes serving as President and Chairman of Public Affairs International (now Hill and Knowlton Canada), and a Vice-President, Senior Vice-President, Executive Vice-President, and Director of Imasco Limited. He is a Director of CT Financial Services Inc., Royal Aviation Inc. and the Public Policy Forum, and a member of the advisory board, faculty of administration, University of Ottawa.

Mr. Wylie will be responsible for public and government relations at CN and will be a member of the executive and senior executive committees of the Company. He will report to the chief executive officer.

Mr. Tellier said: "Torrance Wylie worked closely with CN on its privatization and proposed merger with Illinois Central. He brings a unique blend of communications and business experience to the executive table. His counsel and leadership will be significant in advancing CN's North American agenda."

Mr. Tellier also thanked Mr. Kelley for his contribution to CN. "I am grateful to him for his role in the privatization of CN and for transforming CN's image from that of a Crown operation to that of a dynamic enterprise. I particularly appreciate the fact that he assembled and leaves us with a first-class corporate communications department."