Letter: Railroad safety diminishing with focus on profits

Thursday, May 5, 2005 | 9:36 a.m.

I applaud Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman for his concern over rail safety in and around his fair city. It is appalling that Union Pacific officials and the Federal Railroad Administration are so unwilling to address the concerns of local municipalities as to the placement, arrival and departure of hazardous and toxic materials in cities and towns.

Mayor Goodman is not alone, as many local officials around the country have the same concern. Case in point: In Washington, D.C., local officials are feuding with the CSX Railroad Co. over hazardous materials going through their city and the threat of a possible terrorist wreaking havoc on that city by exploiting the weakness of hazardous material transportation. This case is in the courts and it looks like the CSX is going to win out because of the rights of interstate commerce.

Now another situation has raised its ugly head that ought to scare everyone who is within a breath of railroad tracks. The National Carriers' Conference Committee, which is the bargaining group for most of the nation's railroads, is demanding to be allowed to eliminate another position on board trains. In other words, it wants to be able to operate over-the-road trains with one person, in effect eliminating the conductor, so that just an engineer is operating the train for long distances, sometimes in excess of 350 miles.

It is unbelievable the disregard that railroads have for the public and faithful employees. Railroad executives are just fattening the bottom line and lining their pockets with huge bonuses and lucrative stock options, with an attitude that says, "Public safety be damned."

ROD NELMS Winnemucca

Editor's note: The writer is a train conductor and also represents Nevada railroad workers for the United Transportation Union.