A look at Thursday news on the Union Pacific Railroad:
— The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has turned down a Union Pacific challenge to a U.S. Department of Transportation rule requiring railroads to share information with states and Native American groups about trains carrying flammable materials. Reuters reports the 2-1 ruling on Tuesday threw out UP’s petition for review of a 2019 regulation by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. UP had contended the rule failed to keep the data confidential.
— A Union Pacific employee at Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the North Platte Telegraph reports. The West Central District Health Department says the individual, a man in his 50s, recently was on a cruise and traveled to California. The employee and others who came in contact with him are under self-quarantine.
— Union Pacific has closed its Omaha, Neb., headquarters to the public and now has about 2,000 employees working remotely, leaving fewer than 500 people at work at the headquarters building, the Omaha World-Herald reports. Meetings are limited to no more than 10 people, and signs are posted reminding workers of the 6-foot social distancing guideline.
The picture I recall seeing from, I think, BNSF’s dispatch center in Fort Worth, was that the individual stations were far enough apart that they would be well outside the six foot radius from each other.
Anyone know how the Class Ones are running their centralized dispatching centers? Aren’t they usually in one big room?? I did see the earlier newswire regarding KCS spreading its dispatching out. Just asking.