UTU News Digest - Wednesday, October 6, 1999

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Wednesday, October 6, 1999

PENNSYLVANIA: Railroads lose bid to block Teamsters

PHILADELPHIA -- Freight railroads lost their bid for a restraining order to block any job action by their employees if there is a strike against Overnite Transportation Co., a major motor carrier, the Journal of Commerce reported.

There was widespread speculation last week that the Teamsters union would launch a national strike against all of Overnite's 166 terminals. The union claims representation at 37 terminals, but Overnite disputes the union's status at 16 facilities.

Nine major rail unions, including the UTU, pledged to support any job action against Overnite by the Teamsters, which has been trying to organize the motor carrier's work force for nearly five years.

The National Railway Labor Conference, which negotiates labor contracts on behalf of major railroads, had sought the order from U.S. District Court Judge Edward Ludwig on grounds that the rail workers would violate their contract if they refused to handle any Overnite shipments that move by train.

Prospects for another strike against Overnite appear to have dimmed this week both sides agreed on the concept of a nationwide representation election. Details about such an election have not been released.

ENGLAND: Commuter train crash creates new safety fears

LONDON – Two commuter trains crashed during the morning rush hour today in a fiery accident that killed at least 26 people, hospitalized another 150 and raised new safety fears for a nation where millions ride the rails every day, the Washington Post reported.

The collision, about two miles west of London's Paddington Station, ignited diesel fuel tanks on both trains, and the resulting firestorm was so intense that parts of the two trains were fused in a single molten mass. Rescuers spent 13 hours digging through the twisted and smoldering wreckage; they suspended the search for bodies tonight when darkness made the effort dangerous.

Supt. Tony Thompson of the British Transport Police said the search for victims would continue Wednesday morning. All surviving passengers were believed to have been rescued, he said. But as for the dead, "We cannot say how many bodies are left."

The trains crashed on the same stretch of track where another collision two years ago killed seven passengers. A passenger rail company, Great Western Trains, was fined $2.47 million for safety violations in that crash. Great Western operated one of the trains involved in today's disaster.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced a public inquiry after visiting the scene.

Initial indications suggested that today's smash-up was due to human error – the same error that caused the 1997 crash. That is, "Signal Passed at Danger," the railroad equivalent of running a red light. And in both accidents, an engineer evidently missed the same red light: Signal 109 on the main line linking London to Reading and points west.

Media reports on today's crash said that a two-car local train, operated by Thames Trains, ran through two yellow warning signals and the one red danger light at Signal 109 as it headed westward toward the main line. The local was headed from Paddington to Bedwyn. It evidently curved onto the main line at 8:11 a.m., just as a high-speed Great Western train, heading eastward from Cheltenham to Paddington, reached the crossing.

The smaller train reportedly smashed into the Great Western express, knocking the locomotive and the first passenger car off the track and igniting the fuel tanks.

Government and railroad officials would not comment on these reports.

Hundreds of passengers, mainly those in rear cars, got out unscathed or with minor injuries. Those who survived said they could hear the screams of other passengers who were trapped in burning cars and unable to open doors or windows to escape.

Hospital officials said victims had fractures, lacerations and severe burns. Many suffered burns on the lining of their lungs from breathing superheated air.

Since Britain's national railroad was privatized three years ago, passenger service has been divided among 25 companies, while additional companies own the rolling stock and the track. Passenger groups have complained ever since that coordination problems among these competing companies and budgetary concerns have undermined safety.

"There are suggestions that privatization of the railways . . . may have been responsible for these crashes and may have led to a relaxation of safety standards," said Christian Wolmar of Rail Magazine.

Statistically, railroads here have far fewer fatalities per passenger mile than car or bus travel. But cold statistics can't compete with grisly TV pictures of smashed and burning train cars surrounded by bodies of the dead and wounded. Today's crash, accordingly, is likely to revive concerns about the impact of privatization.

Britain's worst previous crash occurred in 1988, when an express train hit a stationary commuter train, killing 35 passengers. A signal fault was blamed for the collision.

ENGLAND: UK rail union says it will strike unless safety improved

LONDON -- U.K. train drivers union ASLEF said Wednesday it will ballot its members on strike action unless rail companies respond within seven days on improving safety, the BBC reported Wednesday.

ASLEF said it has written to the rail companies and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott calling for urgent action on introducing new safety systems after Tuesday's train crash in London that killed 27 people.

The safety systems ASLEF is calling for include a fail-safe automatic train protection system and in-cab radios.

NEBRASKA: Union Pacific orders 1,000 new locomotives and replacement plan

OMAHA -- Union Pacific Railroad (NYSE: UNP) today announced a new locomotive replacement program that will greatly enhance the productivity and reliability of its fleet, a company press release said.

Under an agreement with the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors Corporation, UP will lease 1,000 new locomotives over the next 3-4 years.

"The new model SD70 locomotives will allow us to retire about 1,500 of our older, less efficient units," said Dick Davidson, Union Pacific Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "For every three older units, we will operate two high-horsepower units. This 3-for-2 replacement will enable us to perform the same amount of work with fewer locomotives, a real boost in our productivity."

"The program will significantly lower our operating expenses in the years ahead," said Davidson.

As examples:

The average age of the UP road fleet will be lowered by five years.

The number of different locomotive models in the UP fleet will be reduced from 33 to 18.

Savings from existing maintenance and rebuild programs.

Improved fuel efficiency.

"Our overall locomotive strategy is geared toward boosting the reliability of our service and reducing our operating costs. This new program goes a long way to achieving both of these goals," said Davidson.

ILLINOIS: GM Electro-Motive announces largest locomotive order in company history; company to build 1,000 locomotives for Union Pacific

LaGRANGE -- General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) today announced that it will build 1,000 new locomotives over the next three to four years for lease by the Union Pacific Railroad, the company announced in a press release.

This is the largest single order for locomotives ever placed with Electro-Motive -- and the largest order in Union Pacific history. The new model SD70 locomotives are slated to form the core of the Union Pacific fleet, replacing as many as 1,500 older, less efficient units with GM's higher-horsepower, more fuel-efficient models.

According to EMD General Manager R. William Happel, "This order represents an historic opportunity for Electro-Motive and we look forward to demonstrating that Union Pacific's confidence in our product is well-placed."

Under terms of the agreement, Electro-Motive will manufacture the 4,000 horsepower, six-axle locomotives -- featuring EMD's patented radial self- steering truck and EM 2000 microprocessor control technology -- over the next three to four years. The SD70 model is known worldwide for its high reliability, proven technology, and solid maintenance record. In fact, these new units will join existing SD70 locomotives already in service as part of Union Pacific's fleet.

WASHINGTON: House approves rail accident bill

WASHINGTON -- Victims of Amtrak accidents and their families would receive more coordinated help under a bill the House passed Monday, the Associated Press reported.

The Rail Passenger Disaster Family Assistance Act would require rail companies to come up with a written plan of action for dealing with accidents. Attorneys would be prohibited from soliciting the victims' families for 45 days following an accident.

The measure, introduced by Rep. Bud Shuster, R-Pa., was passed by voice vote with little debate. The Senate has not yet acted.

It would require the National Transportation Safety Board to assign a person to help the families of passengers involved in an accident. That person would serve as a contact person in the federal government and act as a liaison between the families and the rail carrier.

The bill also would require the board to designate a nonprofit organization to provide counseling and other support to the families.

Rail companies also would be required to provide as complete a passenger list as possible to the board.

Currently, Amtrak is the only rail passenger service that would be affected by the legislation. The bill would apply only to accidents within the United States involving interstate, intercity rail carriers or intrastate high-speed rail carriers.

It would not apply to accidents involving tourist, historic or excursion rail carriers.

Rep. Thomas Petri, R-Wis., said the bill was modeled on a system of family support enacted after the crash of TWA Flight 800. That jetliner, en route to Paris, exploded off the coast of Long Island shortly after takeoff from New York on July 17, 1996.

NEBRASKA: 63 Union Pacific execs buy 1 million shares of stock

OMAHA -- Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) said 63 senior executives bought one million common shares under a new stock purchase incentive plan.

In a press release Tuesday, the company said the participants assumed interest-bearing, full-recourse loans from the company to buy the stock. Deferred cash payments will be awarded to repay portions of the loans if certain performance targets are met within a 40-month performance period that ends Jan. 31, 2003.

The targets include continuous employment and annual earnings of $5 per share. Participants get additional benefits if the company reports annual earnings of at least $6 a share and if the company stock achieves an average of $100 a share for 20 straight days.

Union Pacific, which has 247.8 million shares outstanding, said it sold shares in the program out of treasury stock and plans to replace the shares through open-market purchases over time.

CALIFORNIA: MTA asks for delay in new bus purchase

LOS ANGELES--Arguing that it is impossible to comply, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority asked U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. on Monday to stay his own order requiring the agency to immediately put 248 temporary buses into service, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Last month, Hatter gave the MTA until Oct. 23 to put the extra buses on the streets in Los Angeles County. He concluded that the transit agency had violated a landmark consent decree that requires reductions in overcrowding on its bus system.

MTA attorneys said there is no way the agency can increase its bus fleet or hire and train the necessary drivers or mechanics in such a short time. The agency also said it has "not yet succeeded in securing" the funding needed to operate the additional buses. Unless a stay is issued, the attorneys said, the agency risks being found in contempt of court.

Richard Larson, attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which sued the MTA on behalf of bus riders, said he will file legal papers today opposing the MTA's request.

While approving the filing of an appeal and a request to stay the judge's order, the MTA board last week also directed that immediate steps be taken to buy 297 new buses.

The board said 195 of the new natural-gas-powered vehicles should be delivered as soon as possible, with 102 buses to be delivered no later than June 30, 2002. The consent decree requires that by that date, no more than an average of nine passengers must stand on board MTA buses during any 20-minute peak period.

A $3-billion appropriations bill passed by the U.S. Senate and sent to President Clinton on Monday includes $3 million to help the MTA comply with the consent decree.

The spending bill also provides $4 million to the MTA for preliminary engineering, design and environmental work on future transit projects to serve the Eastside and Mid-City areas of Los Angeles, where subway extensions were halted.

CALIFORNIA: Metrolink finalizes deal to order 28 new passenger cars

LOS ANGELES -- Seeking to ease crowding for Metrolink suburban riders, the Southern California Regional Rail Authority signed a $47 million contract with Bombardier Transportation for the purchase of 28 new passenger cars, Metrolink said in a press release.

"We are literally running out of seats on some routes during the rush-hour,'' said Bill Davis, Metrolink Board Chairman and Simi Valley Mayor. "Riders will see relief in early 2001 when the sleek new cars are scheduled to arrive.''

The new passenger cars will have the same general characteristics of the existing fleet, which feature a bi-level design capable of seating 138 and up to 160 standing passengers. They are among the world's largest commuter rail coaches, with an arrangement of two full decks and intermediate end decks, which permit higher ceilings and better seating. The low-level platform doors allow full carloads of passengers on or off the cars within 90 seconds and minimize boarding congestion.

The 28 passenger cars will be manufactured by Bombardier Transportation at its Barre, Vermont and Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada plants. Deliveries are expected to begin in January 2001 and will be spread over a five-month period.

Federal, state and local grants will be used to build the new cars, so fares will remain the same.

More than 28,000 average daily riders take Metrolink from outlying Southern California suburban communities into urban business centers. The commuter rail service operates 130 daily trains serving 46 stations throughout the 416-mile passenger railroad network.

CANADA: CN’s Kroeger says rate cut proposal unjustified

WINNIPEG: Canadian National said today Arthur Kroeger's recommendations for grain logistics reform would only partially achieve the objective of a more commercial, effective and accountable grain handling and transportation system.

"As a consequence, Canada's competitiveness in world grain markets would not improve as needed and the grain logistics system would continue to experience critical system failures," said Sandi Mielitz, CN's vice-president, grains and fertilizers.

Kroeger, in a letter to federal Transport Minister David Collenette, calls for a 12 per cent reduction in regulated railroad grain revenues on Aug. 1, 2000. Kroeger also recommends only a partial -- and prolonged -- reform of the Canadian Wheat Board's role in grain transportation over three years.

Mielitz said: "As Justice Willard Estey concluded in his report earlier this year, reform of day-to-day grain handling and transportation is the critical issue in the grain system. The current structure is a significant barrier to an efficient, commercially driven system. It blurs accountabilities, decreases competition and blunts market forces.

"Reducing railroad revenue -- before removing the barriers to a more commercial, contract-based system -- would limit rail productivity improvements and discourage investments by railroads to improve their grain infrastructure. This outcome would be detrimental to all stakeholders in the system, including producers."

Canadian National Railway Company spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.

WASHINGTON: At rails, too, pride goeth before a fall

WASHINGTON -- Market leaders never plan to fail. That may partly explain what has happened to Norfolk Southern Corp., arguably the best managed in the industry, as it struggles to integrate 58% of Conrail's system into its operations, a Journal of Commerce commentary by former transportation editor Lawrence H. Kaufman said today.

(A disclosure: the writer was a consultant to Norfolk Southern on the Conrail acquisition.)

Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation, which has the other 42%, are two proud railroads that stubbed their toes (to put it mildly) dividing Conrail operations between them. The eastern service screw-up is the latest example that railroads just do not execute big mergers smoothly:

Union Pacific botched the integration of Chicago & North Western into its system during the peak grain movements of 1995. The resulting congestion led to a letter of apology to shippers from the then-UP president.

Burlington Northern & Santa Fe didn't do much better the same year when the former Burlington Northern and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads combined.

Union Pacific did it again following its acquisition of Southern Pacific Rail Corp. in 1996. The 1997-1998 service meltdown nearly brought the U.S. rail system to a halt as congestion spilled far beyond the western half of the nation.

Norfolk Southern's service difficulties appear more severe than those at CSX. But considering that the two carriers are joined at the hip serving the Conrail shared-assets areas in the gigantic North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia and Detroit markets that may be a difference without a distinction.

The current agonies are humbling for Norfolk Southern, particularly as NS executives studied the earlier rail mergers, benchmarked against them, and thought they would avoid exactly what has happened.

NS was confident it would avoid a service crisis such as UP experienced. It became an NS mantra that the East is not the West, and Conrail is not the Southern Pacific. That was NS's way of saying the meltdown at UP was unique to the western railroad and Conrail was not the capital-starved property that SP had been.

In a perhaps prescient December 1997 filing with the Surface Transportation Board in support of the acquisition, NS acknowledged that, while there was no reason to anticipate the kind of problems UP then was having, unforeseen circumstances would occur. The fact that they were unforeseen, however, was no reason to delay the Conrail transaction as some customers were asking, NS said.

So what went wrong? With apologies to Socrates, in life you don't get what you want or need, but a third factor you didn't even think of. NS planned for all contingencies save the one with which it had no experience: failure.

With more than a year to plan for the division of Conrail, NS thought it had considered all the factors and was satisfied before the June 1 implementation date that it could run a smooth railroad even though it would be 50% larger with its share of Conrail's business.

What the operating and information technology departments didn't do was ask: "What if this doesn't work?"

Data failures on Day 1 have been blamed for much of the ensuing service failure. NS computer technology was up to the task, but the people running it developed a plan that required data to be entered perfectly and on time.

It's important to note that NS and CSX originally thought they would have six months to plan the Conrail integration, rather than the year they did have. Had the IT gurus known the time they had, they probably would have done things differently -- and more simply.

As it happened, the problems that occurred destroyed people's confidence in the data and exacerbated the service crisis.

The railroad ran blind for a while, and, to no one's surprise, railroads don't run blind at all well. For lack of crews and locomotives -- the computerized crew-calling system was part of the problem -- trains were held in terminals. That led to congestion and that begat more crew and power shortages.

NS's difficulties were compounded by its pride. Where CSX brought Conrail operating executives into the highest levels of its management -- former Conrail operating chief Ron Conway now is president of CSX -- NS did not.

Also, many Conrail managers saw a brighter future for themselves in Jacksonville, Fla., than in Norfolk, Va. Some wags say the originally proposed 1996 CSX-Conrail merger has taken place, with Conrail taking over CSX management.

This is not to suggest that things ran smoothly at CSX. They didn't. But CSX didn't have the reputation for efficiency going in that NS had, and expectations weren't as high.

MAINE: Guilford rail seeks delay in Maine line

PORTLAND -- Guilford Rail System has backtracked on a plan for the creation of an east-west rail link in Maine, an initiative state officials hoped would produce a vital new shipping path, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Guilford, of North Billerica, Mass., owns an unused nine-mile stretch of track between Lisbon and Lewiston that the state wants to buy. The state then hopes to open the track to companies so they don't have to rely solely on costly trucks to go east and west or on a circuitous train route. Instead of the time-consuming haul north to Canada or south to Massachusetts, the new rail link would allow goods to be shipped straight across Maine to New Hampshire.

"Guilford has had a chokehold on east-west traffic through this area for a long time," says Kevin Sheys, an attorney representing the state. "The reality is, they want to continue to block the east-west routings of traffic."

David Fink Jr., executive vice president of Guilford, responds, "It's just not true we're a chokehold. We're the major railroad in the state. If the state is going to rewrite the rail map, we want to be a part of it."

In 1998, Guilford, in filings with the Surface Transportation Board, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, sought to abandon the track -- a move the state saw as the first step in obtaining the property. If approved, the abandonment designation would have eliminated some of Guilford's federal obligations in owning the rail and providing service to companies along the line. It also would have allowed the state to take the track by eminent domain. "It gives Guilford the right to go away," Mr. Sheys says of the abandonment. "We want them to do that."

But then in an about-face on Aug. 31, Guilford, Maine's largest rail owner, asked to withdraw its request for abandonment. Mr. Fink says the company wants to hold off because the state hasn't been forthcoming with its plans for the rail.

"We said, 'Let's pull back and see what the state's plans are,'" Mr. Fink says. Mr. Fink says Guilford was troubled by Maine's announcement in February that it would like to purchase the line and possibly connect it to a Guilford competitor, St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad Co. Despite his repeated oral requests and a written request under the Freedom of Information Act for information about the transportation department's plans for the rail and the value of the track, Mr. Fink says the state hasn't responded. James Smith, counsel for the state, says that information about the value of the track is privileged.

The deterioration in relations between Guilford and state officials is a far cry from the sanguine mood a few years ago, according to filings with the STB made between Aug. 31 and Sept. 29. Both sides say they were on board with the concept in 1997: Guilford agreed to abandon the line, then the state would buy it, pay to rehabilitate it and contract with carriers to provide service.

At the time, it was a solution to a more specific problem as well. Pejepscot Industrial Park Inc., a Topsham, Maine, company located along the unused line, complained several times to the state that Guilford wouldn't provide it service.

If the plan had been carried out as agreed, Guilford wouldn't have to bear the cost to upgrade the line and the state could solicit other carriers to provide service to Pejepscot and create the east-west link.

Moving ahead, Guilford in July 1998 filed with the STB to abandon the track. The board, which is made up of three members all appointed by the President, approved the abandonment with the exception that Guilford ensure the rail line didn't have any significant historical landmarks on the property. The board gave Guilford one year to complete this task.

Mr. Fink of Guilford now says that one year has passed and the historical work is "significant" in volume and too burdensome to complete.

Earle G. Shettleworth Jr., director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, says Guilford submitted some photos and information about the line. But when the commission asked for more information in February 1999 about two bridges located along the line that may have historical significance, Guilford never responded. "What they initially submitted was not sufficient information," Mr. Shettleworth says.

Mr. Fink, however, says if the state really wanted the abandonment, it should have worked with the commission to get the historical requirement approved. "It became a much more drawn-out process. They were the people who slowed it up," he says.

It didn't help, Mr. Fink says, that soon after receiving the letter requesting more information, he found out about the state's plans to possibly connect the rail line to his competitor's line. "We weren't sure what was going on," he says.

Mr. Sheys, the state's attorney, doesn't buy Guilford's claim the historical work is too burdensome. "Even Guilford can't take this argument seriously," the state's filing says.

The real reason, the filing asserts, is Guilford "really seeks to manipulate the board's process for it own private advantage, regardless of the impact on the public interest."

Mr. Fink says that on the contrary, Guilford's business has grown over the years, to the benefit of the state. "The state should be working with us not against us," he said.

The Pejepscot issue brought the matter to a head. In April, Pejepscot sued Guilford in U.S. District Court in Portland, saying it failed to provide service.

Guilford denied Pejepscot's claim, saying it did attempt to provide service. Guilford won a dismissal of the suit, but Pejepscot has appealed that ruling.

In the meantime, the state is stuck with the bill. This year, Maine spent $150,000 on track renovations, and the state argues, Guilford will get "something for nothing" if the company maintains ownership of the nine-mile track.

Guilford, however, replies that without more information from the state, "surely they cannot claim Guilford is acting without justification

VIRGINIA: Half of all Americans run red lights

NORFOLK -- Virtually all American drivers agree that running red lights is dangerous -- but more than half say they've done it, according to a new study.

Drivers who run red lights are involved in 89,000 crashes a year, causing 82,000 injuries and nearly 1,000 deaths, according to the U.S. Transportation Department.

Researchers at Old Dominion University found that 55.8 percent of the licensed drivers they questioned admitted running red lights, even though 98 percent acknowledge that it's hazardous.

"There are enough red light runners out there that when you come up to an intersection and you stop, your first worry should be what's coming the other way," said the chief researcher, psychology professor Bryan Porter. "I tell you, if you do this research long enough, you will get frightened."

Porter said he expected to find frustration and road rage to be the primary causes of running red lights. Instead, only 15.8 percent of the people surveyed cited those reasons, while 47.8 percent said they ran red lights simply because they were in a hurry.

"Everybody does it, all demographics, all types of people," Porter said Monday. "We've all run red lights."

The telephone survey of 880 drivers ages 18 and older was conducted from June to August. It had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

Police officers said the findings reflect what they've seen.

"It's a constant problem," said Mark Summerell, a sergeant in special operations in charge of traffic in Virginia Beach. "They're thinking about getting from point A to point B, forgetting about point B in between. It's such a fast-paced world we're living in now."

CANADA: DaimlerChrysler, CAW Reach Tentative Labor Pact

TORONTO -- The Canadian Auto Workers reached a tentative three-year labor agreement with DaimlerChrysler AG's (DCX) Canadian unit late Tuesday, averting a strike against the automaker, Dow Jones reported.

The agreement was reached after the union gave in on some key issues, including demands that the company add support to the union's efforts to organize workers at a DaimlerChrysler truck plant in Canada and at a plant operated by parts supplier Magna International Inc. (MGA), a major DaimlerChrysler supplier.

Hours before the agreement, CAW president Buzz Hargrove had vowed the union would call a strike if the Magna issue wasn't settled in the union's favor. After the settlement was reached, he said he decided the issue wasn't worth a strike, acknowledging "we are walking away empty handed on the Magna issue." In recent months the CAW had vowed to make progress unionizing Magna during talks with the Big Three, but CAW officials acknowledged this week that some union members were opposed to that strategy.

The CAW did win its demand for new investment at a van assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario. DaimlerChrysler agreed to invest about US$400 million in a paint shop at the facility, to begin construction during the three-year agreement.

On monetary issues, the agreement with DaimlerChrysler's Canadian unit follows the pact reached last month between the CAW and Ford Motor Co.'s (F) Canadian unit. Both agreements call for an estimated 4.5% wage increase in each of the three years, which includes a cost-of-living allowance, and a signing bonus of 1,000 Canadian dollars (US$681).

About 14,000 DaimlerChrysler Canada workers are represented by the CAW, and assemblers earn an average of about C$24 per hour, excluding benefits. The company's Canadian operations produce several DaimlerChrysler vehicles, including minivans, large vans and various sedans, and parts for engines, transmissions and interiors.