Railroad's plan to test idea to cut train crews put on hold

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific's latest attempt to move toward cutting its train crews down to one person remains on hold because of the longstanding safety concerns of the union that represents conductors.

The railroad had wanted to start a pilot project this year in the western end of its home state of Nebraska to test out how quickly a conductor based in a truck could respond to train problems and compare that to how fast the conductor aboard the train could address them.

But the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers union refused to agree to the plan because it believes train conductors play a crucial safety role.

UP executives told the Federal Railroad Administration that their plan would have helped them determine how feasible it would be to reduce train crews down to just an engineer and might give the agency valuable information to consider as it weighs whether to issue a rule requiring two-person crews.

The pilot program wouldn't have actually reduced the train crew down to one because Union Pacific would have kept conductors on their trains while adding ground-based conductors to test out their response.

Union Pacific has been undaunted in pursuing one-person crews even after the FRA proposed a rule last summer that would require two people in the cab of a locomotive in most circumstances. The railroad argues that modern technology — particularly the automatic braking system railroads were required to install in recent years — makes the conductor unnecessary on a train and executives believe that moving conductors off of trains would improve their quality of life by giving them more predictable schedules and keeping them from going on the road.

UP spokeswoman Kristen South said the...