Unions urge Amtrak to put 2nd crew member in locomotives

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By MICHAEL R. SISAK

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The union for Amtrak's locomotive engineers urged the railroad on Tuesday to put a second crew member at the controls of trains on the busy Northeast Corridor, where a derailment killed eight people and injured more than 200 others.

"The public would never accept an airline operation with a single person in the cockpit," the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen said in a statement. "There is no reason that rail employees and rail passengers' lives should be viewed any differently."

Brandon Bostian, 32, was alone in the locomotive of Train 188 when it derailed May 12, about 10 minutes after departing Philadelphia for New York.

Train 188 had a five-member crew — including a conductor who is still hospitalized with serious injuries — but they were in the passenger coaches, closed off from the locomotive.

FULL story at link.



Bruce Nagel, attorney for Amtrak conductor Emilio Fonseca who was working on the first car of last week's train wreck in Philadelphia, speaks during a news conference, Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in Roseland, N.J. Fonseca has sued Amtrak, claiming negligence and carelessness on the part of the rail carrier. Eight people were killed in the May 12 derailment and more than 200 injured. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150519/us--amtrak_crash-8b952b71ba.html

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From the NJ.com story: Also blamed by the union were lawmakers for deep funding cuts, which meant fewer employees and technology setbacks, including the system not installed along the northbound tracks used to slow speeding trains.

[MicaelS]

1. Damn right..there should have NEVER been one man crews...

In a passenger locomotive.

[Backwoodsrider]

2. yes thats crazy laying the resonsibility of a passenger train on one man

Plane don't do that, theres 2 guys up front. Sure theres more to navigation but 2 people watching out for each other are less likely to make errors.

[mike dub]

3. What did I know until I read this story?...

...I thought there were always two people (an engineer and a brakeman ????, in old times vernacular) in any locomotive...passenger or freight.

Should definitely have a 2nd crew member in every locomotive. Seems like a common sense move.

[Omaha Steve]

6. Unions are fighting the railroads on wanting only ONE person crews on freight trains

http://www.valleynewslive.com/news/headlines/Railroads-Want-One-Man-Crews-on-Massive-Freight-Trains-302802631.html

Railroads Want One-Man Crews on Massive Freight Trains
Posted: Wed 1:48 PM, May 06, 2015

NBC News Monday's fiery oil train crash in West Virginia was the latest in a string of explosive wrecks that have sparked fears about America's surge in oil train traffic. And soon those trains may be rumbling through populated areas with just a single person at the controls, a change that railroad workers say presents an unacceptable risk.

Railroads have proposed eliminating the job of on-board conductor on most trains, leaving just an engineer aboard. The workers argue that one-person crews will mean more out-of-control trains, like the runaway that caused the Lac-Mégantic disaster in 2013. An oil train rolled downhill in the tiny Quebec town and exploded, killing 47 people. The company that owned the train had just downsized to a one-man crew, and that engineer failed to set the brakes properly, according to regulators.

Railroad executives counter that a new GPS-based braking system—required by Congress by the end of this year—will be enough to blunt that risk. But railroad workers, environmental groups, and people in the communities along the tracks strongly disagree.

"It's a recipe for disaster," said Mark Voelker, a switchman for BNSF Railway and an organizer for the SMART union, which represents conductors nationwide.

FULL story at link.

[murielm99]

4. It used to be that way.

My dad and brother are both retired railroaders. I remember when there were firemen in the engine with the engineer. The term "fireman" was a holdover from the days when the engines were coal powered. The fireman was there to assist the engineer, and for safety. He may have had other duties that I don't remember, but it was a good idea to have more than one person, always.

Anything to save a little money.

[FailureToCommunicate]

5. Seems logical, but still didn't work out so well in the Germanwings Flight having two

in command.

[jmowreader]

7. They said two IN THE COCKPIT

Ol' Andreas didn't get a chance to crash the plane until the captain left the flight deck to take a piss. And tell me you didn't know when Dim Son decided to put a locked door between the flight deck and the latrines that there was going to be at least one disaster directly attributable to bathroom breaks.

[FailureToCommunicate]

8. That kinda was my point.

Failsafe minus bathroom break still equals problem.