UTU News Digest - Tuesday, January 12, 1999

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Tuesday, January 12, 1999

VIA Rail Canada announces changes to its commission system

MONTREAL -- VIA Rail Canada is making changes to its commission policy for travel agencies. As of February 1st, 1999, the rate of commission paid on ticket sales will be proportional to the volume of sales.

According to Christena Keon Sirsly, VIA's Vice-President, Marketing and Information Services, the new system will be fairer for travel agencies. " These changes are desirable, since we will now be able to pay more compensation to the highest sellers."

Previously, agencies received fixed rates of commission, which did not always take into account their volume of sales. With these changes, VIA is introducing an incentive component that will encourage agencies to sell more tickets.

Under VIA's new commission structure, travel agencies will be categorized according to their volume of sales. Each category will have its own commission rate, the percentage rising with higher sales.

With this new system, VIA is responding to a desire for change expressed by many travel agencies. It is worth noting that most airlines in the United States and Canada have also modified their commission policies in recent months.

VIA is confident that these changes will help to establish a degree of fairness, allowing agencies that sell more tickets to make higher profits. The new policy will be implemented on an experimental basis and the results assessed at the end of 1999.

With approximately 3,000 employees, VIA Rail Canada carries close to four million passengers per year on its 430 weekly departures. VIA serves over 450 Canadian communities along a national network stretching some 14,000 kilometres from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Great Lakes to Hudson Bay.

Georgia freight line reopened after 10 years

ROCHELLE, GA -- A Georgia Southwestern Railroad freight line between Rochelle and Ailee that closed almost 10 years ago has been reopened after the Georgia Department of Transportation provided funds to rehabilitate the line.

There was an inauguration trip over the weekend, which made stops in Abbeville, Rhine, Milan, Helana/McRae, Alamo, Glenwood, Mt. Vernon and Ailee. Georgia Southwestern has also extended its Preston to Rochelle line 67 miles to Vidalia, connecting towns on the route into the national rail network.

Japanese train driver gets suspended prison term for collision

SHIZUOKA, Japan -- The Shizuoka District Court on Tuesday sentenced a train driver to two years in prison, suspended for four years, for negligence in a rail accident that injured 35 people in Shizuoka prefecture.

Presiding Judge Kazuyo Inomata sentenced Kuniyuki Sawaki, 53, for causing bodily injury through negligence on Aug. 12, 1997, when the passenger train he was driving on the Japan Railways Tokaido Line collided with a freight train.

The judge said in handing down the sentence, "The defendant bears heavy responsibility for damaging public confidence in railroad transportation. However, he has shown deep remorse over the incident and sincerity toward the victims."

According to the ruling, Sawaki was negligent when his four-car passenger train, bound for Shizuoka from Mishima and carrying some 300 passengers, rammed into the rear of the 18-boxcar freight train bound for Osaka from Fukushima.

Sawaki pleaded guilty, but said he thought there was no train ahead because he could not hear clearly a message on the radio communication system which warned of the stalled freight train ahead. He also said he thought it would be all right to proceed forward because the red signal had turned to green.

CANAC enters U.S. remote control market with Vectran acquisition

HOUSTON -- CANAC INC., North America's pre-eminent supplier of comprehensive rail solutions, announced today the acquisition of Vectran Corporation. Vectran is a leading developer and supplier of digital radio technology for the remote control of locomotives, heavy vehicles and cranes.

CANAC President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Trotter said: "CANAC's highly sophisticated proprietary locomotive remote control technology (LRC) -- Beltpack -- already sees broad application in the classification yards of major railroads across Canada. Today, the LRC market in the United States is poised to expand strongly. With the acquisition of Vectran and its LRC product line, CANAC stands ready to enter the rapidly growing U.S. LRC market with a unique family of remote control products, a well-established U.S. market presence and important base from which to expand."

CANAC will use its strong engineering and technology base to continue to improve and enhance Vectran's existing LRC products.

Vectran President Robert O'Farrell said: "We have been one of the founding companies in the U.S. remote control industry. To expand beyond our current size, Vectran needed to strengthen its financial, production and marketing base. CANAC's acquisition of Vectran positions the combined business well for growth in the expanding U.S. market place. With its solid base in Canada, its size, financial stability, expertise and excellent reputation, CANAC has a tremendous opportunity for expansion in the LRC business."

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Vectran has developed, produced and sold more that 850 remote control units in recent years with its VR10, VR10MX, VR21, VR30 and VR40 family of products. It employs 60 engineers, technicians, customer service, marketing and support staff. Incorporated in 1976, Vectran is a privately held company purchased by its current owners in 1990. Vectran will become a wholly owned subsidiary of CANAC INC.

CANAC, based in Montreal and incorporated in 1971, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian National Railway Company. CANAC provides knowledge-based products and services to railroads, rail-related industries, companies operating on-site railroads, potential railroad investors and governments. CANAC, with operations and sales offices in 14 cities in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, markets a complete range of rail operations and planning, training, engineering, mechanical and asset management services, and technology products.