Railfanning.org News Wire

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff: Dec. 12, 2006, Press Conference WASHINGTON – Proposed rules by the Transportation Security Administration ignore necessary employee training and protections against employer retaliation, Teamsters say. However, the Teamsters Union is still reviewing the rules, but so far has determined that the proposals are inadequate, according to the union. “The White House has failed again to recognize that the true eyes and ears of the rail system are its employees,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “Our members are working on the rails night and day. They know about the security lapses on the rails, yet

GREENWICH, Conn. – Genesee & Wyoming Inc. has offered up a “rebalancing” of its North American operating regions, which company officials say is needed as a result of growth. “The value of our regional structure is its responsiveness to customers and business opportunities in each of our operating units,” said Mortimer B. Fuller III, Chairman and CEO of Genesee & Wyoming. “This realignment, effective Jan. 1, 2007, reflects our focus on maintaining these advantages.” Under the “rebalancing,” a new Southern Region will consist of 13 railroads that were formerly part of the company’s Rail Link Region, which has grown significantly

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. – Norfolk Southern is asking a federal judge to approve a class settlement to a lawsuit filed after a Jan. 6, 2005, derailment that left nine people dead. The Norfolk, Va. -based company filed a motion in South Carolina federal court proposing a settlement that “would provide varying levels of compensation for people who were injured and who received medical treatment or were hospitalized as a result of the derailment and subsequent release of chlorine,” the railroad said in a news release. On Jan. 6, 2005, a northbound Norfolk Southern Railway freight train encountered an improperly lined switch