Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

For

UTU, BLE talks to continue into May

CLEVELAND – In a joint press statement released Monday, the principal officers of the United Transportation Union (UTU) and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) announced they will reconvene joint discussions in mid-May.

Former AFL-CIO President Tom Donahue served as chairman of discussions during a meeting between the two operating rail unions on April 9 here and has agreed to continue in that role. Donahue has scheduled further meetings with each union separately before holding new joint meetings in mid-May.

For the present time, both unions have agreed to a news blackout of the substance of the discussions.

Union Pacific coal service improves as system slows

WASHINGTON – While the Union Pacific Railroad reduced its track congestion in Texas last week, its central corridor became more clogged.

UP’s delivery of coal to electric utilities improved slightly, but its average train speed system-side deteriorated, according to the carrier’s weekly filing with the Surface Transportation Board.

Ongoing congestion in its central corridor, which converges at North Platte, S.D., remains a big problem area. The UTU is receiving many calls to its UP hotline about operating problems in the North Platte area and central corridor.

Last week it took coal trains an average of 6.7 days to make a round trip, down from 6.9 days. The latest figure is still much slower than the benchmark of 5.4 days.

For the week ended April 10, overall system speed slowed to 12.4 mph from 13.3 mph.

UP reported improvements at gateways between Houston and the Mississippi River, but delays in getting trains into Memphis.