Rail systems brace for shutdowns, Amtrak cancels routes as strike threat nears

a push for single-person crews

To touch on this some, the NPRM for mandatory two-man crews is out now and it's AWFUL. FRA admits in the text that zero research was done on the safety aspect (ie - are two-man crews actually, verifiably safer than one-man crews?), NO financial impact analysis was done for short lines (a SBREFA violation, which should make it unlawful in itself), and they did zero impact research. FRA claims only 7 short lines would be affected as only 7 short lines run one-man crews, but ASLRRA polled their members and at least two HUNDRED run one-man crews.

This reg. is going to get sued into oblivion by almost all non-labor parties if it moves past the NPRM stage. You can't force a new regulation on the industry without research, without following SBREFA, and without an impact/cost analysis.

The Class Is are assholes and run like garbage and treat their employees as such, they've earned a labor strike, but the Class II and III railroads are the polar opposite and the majority run one-man crews - if they're forced to go two-man crew, it will cripple the supply chain in this country when most of them go belly-up and there's no last-mile option other than trucking.

/r/news Thread Parent Link - ashingtonpost.com