CLEVELAND – Ohio’s Democratic Senator urges CSX to reconsider its decision to reduce its crew base at Collinwood Yard in Cleveland and reassign workers to terminals at Willard, Ohio, and Buffalo, N.Y., saying the decision is bad for railroaders and operations.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, in a letter to CSX President and CEO Joseph Hinrichs, says doing away with Collinwood Yard as a crew base will disrupt railroaders’ lives, requiring longer drives for engineers and conductors to report to work. Willard is about 80 miles west of Cleveland and Buffalo is about 180 miles east.
The letter also says the decision to remove crews in Cleveland will hurt the reliability of operations and cause more train delays, as trains will have longer distances to travel without the availability of an intermediary recrew, according to the Senator. He also voiced his concerns about the increased risk for blocked road crossings due to stopped trains.
Trains News Wire reached out to CSX for comment on the Senator’s letter.
“CSX constantly evaluates our train operations to optimize network fluidity and service to our customers. We’ve streamlined some of our train starts at Collinwood Yard in Cleveland, Ohio, to reduce train delays, balance crew availability, improve terminal dwell, and our overall customer service,” says railroad spokesperson Sheriee Bowman.
“To date, this has impacted a small number of employees who will be reassigned to a nearby yard in Willard, Ohio. We will continue to engage with union representatives throughout this process as we assess the success of this operating change and any future adjustments,” she adds.
Collinwood Yard is on CSX’s former New York Central main line and is a main freight artery between Chicago and the Northeast.
I would sometimes relieve a crew on the Chicago line. They often required two taxis’ because one would go home to Buffalo and the other to Collinwood.
Politics aside, and I don’t like it, CSX is streamlining it’s operations based on just how things are. After the Conrail split we picked up additional trains running Cleveland-Cincinnati via Columbus. We swapped in Columbus with a crew from Collinwood and we took the train to Queensgate. Two crews to get the train from one corner of Ohio to another. We also knew it was only temporary as CSX was constructing a connection between the Cleveland-Indy line and the Cincinnati-Toledo line at Sydney. When this was finished the trains were rerouted and it takes only one crew. Barring any delays, trains can run Willard to Buffalo in a decent amount of time. It only makes business sense. I believe there will still be some engineers and conductors based at Collinwood.
Sen. Brown is of the “D” persuasion and is up for re-election this year.
I suspect the Political Operative(s) of one or more RR Unions wrote the comments for a busy Senator and the Hon’s staff released them.
Well then wouldn’t it be nice if the other Ohio Senator, of the “R” persuasion, would chime in on this? No, he’s too busy making life miserable for the citizens of Springfield. So it’s nice that the Ohio Senator, of the “D” persuasion, is trying to take care of his constituents while the other one runs around the country lying.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown Is doing exactly what he was elected to do. That being to look out for the best interest of his constituents. I feel certain that he has taken the time to talk with the affected employees and done his research before he approached CSX. It would be nice if more of today’s politicians did the jobs they are paid to do rather than looking out for their own best interests. I for one hope he’s able to get these men and women some relief.
Wouldn’t Ohioans in Willard also be his constituents?
His constituents in Willard have nothing to loose if operations remain the same as they are today.
Wildwood, Florida, was a crew change point for many, many years. Trains go through without stopping now. This is railroading.
Normally I don’t like politicians telling a private corporation how it should run its business. In this case, the Senator may be correct.
No the politician is not correct… As this senator has no inside on CSX crew cycle, and availability. In fact less crew changes is what’s needed to move the needle on transit, and equipment cycle times.
Charles,
I disagree on this one. I suspect his interest is due to his running for election to his 4th term this year.
Steve Foster — Both can be correct. Not mutually exclusive. Sen. Brown can be a typical Democrat up for re-election, and he can be right about the crew base.
FWIW just came off the Providence Local at Sharon, Massachusetts. The New Haven Railroad lives! In an idle moment, I had to wonder how many people on the train (including the Keolis crew) ever heard of the New Haven Railroad. I was impressed at how Amtrak Northeast Regional, Amtrak Acela, and MBTA Providence trains mix on a two-track railroad, especially that the stopping trains don’t have the advantage of electrification for acceleration.
The former New Haven freight yard in Readville (southernmost point of the City of Boston) is still active, apparently for boxcar storage. I did see a CSX locomotive. The on-line light industrial park south of Rte. 128 still has the freight spurs the New Haven installed in the 1960’s, but it looks like the area is mostly apartment buildings now.