Baton Rouge Votes to Ban Remote Control Locomotives 

CLEVELAND, September 27 -- By a vote of 10-1, the City Council of Baton Rouge, La., passed a resolution to ban the use of remote control locomotives in the city due to public safety concerns. 

The September 25 vote came after the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers made City Council members aware of the fact that the Kansas City Southern was using remote control locomotives within city limits, and that a remote control unit derailed in August. 

"The next derailment might be one where there’s chemicals (on the train) and we can’t get people out," Baton Rouge Mayor Pro Tempore Lorri Burgess said in a newspaper article published in the Baton-Rouge Advocate on September 26.  

The resolution, which is not legally binding, was passed in order to create public awareness of the practice and to make railroads more responsive to residents. 

"If the knowledge base has been expanded through this resolution, I think the mission has been accomplished," Mayor Pro Tempore Burgess said.

The city’s resolution also calls upon the Federal Railroad Administration to develop comprehensive regulations to govern the use of remote control locomotives. 

The lone dissenter on the Baton Rouge City Council said the measure was "reckless" and that the issue of remote control locomotives was one of union politics. In the name of public safety, however, he was outvoted by a 10-to-1 ratio. 

Rodney Stutes, a member of BLE Division 366 (Houston) and a member of the BLE’s National Mobilization Team, addressed members of the City Council’s Finance and Executive Committee on September 19 and told them about the KCS remote control derailment in August. He also informed the Council members that the Canadian National Railway, which pioneered the use of remotes in the early 1990s, has used the technology sparingly --if at all -- on its properties in the United States to due efficiency and safety concerns. 

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers has conducted a string of public safety rallies throughout the United States this summer in an effort to create public awareness of remote control locomotives and the safety concerns that arise from using employees other than locomotive engineers to operate the technology. 

On September 17, an employee of the California Northern Railroad was injured and lost his left leg while operating a remote control locomotive in Napa Valley, Calif. 

Michael F. O’Brien, Chairman of the Louisiana State Legislative Board, recognized several BLE members who participated in the lobbying effort, including: Sam Parker, General Chairman on the Kansas City Southern; Tim Windsor, Local Chairman of BLE Division 527 (Pittsburg, Kan.); Brother Stutes; and Bob Harvey of the BLE’s National Legislative Office in Washington, D.C. The Louisiana State AFL-CIO was also instrumental in opening doors to communicate with the City Council. 

"Thanks also to those who have taken the time to report and photograph remote control incidents and all those who have given their time to put on and participate in the information demonstrations held so far across this country," Brother O’Brien said. "Without your interest and participation this may not have happened." 

The full text of the resolution adopted by the Baton Rouge City Council is as follows: 


A RESOLUTION PROVIDING THAT NO RAILROAD SHALL OPERATE REMOTE CONTROLLED LOCOMOTIVES WITHIN THE BOUNDRIERS OF BATON ROUGE UNTIL CERTAIN SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS ARE MET.


Whereas: the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge have a duty to provide for the public safety of its Citizens; and

Whereas: railroads operate within the geographic boundaries of Baton Rouge, over public and private highway rail crossings and on property accessible to persons of all ages and abilities; and

Whereas: railroad equipment is known to present significant danger to persons and property from collision, derailment, and possible release of hazardous materials; and

Whereas: a significant bulk of Kansas City Southern (KCS) Railroad’s cargo is petrochemical and hazardous materials traveling through and being switched in Baton Rouge; and

Whereas: the United States Government has issued a safety alert against vandalism and terroristric threats against railroads:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Metropolitan Council of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, that no railroad shall operate remote controlled locomotives within the boundaries of Baton Rouge until all of the following safety considerations are met

1. Any railroad operating a remote control locomotive must notify the Office of Mayor-President before implementing such operations.

2. Remote control locomotives cannot be used to transport hazardous materials, switch cars containing hazardous materials, or switch other cars on or near tracks occupied by hazardous materials.

3. Remote control locomotives cannot be operated over a public or private highway rail crossing without a person occupying the cab of the locomotive who has the required skills to stop the locomotive and its attached equipment.

4. A railroad must provide effective and reliable protection at the point of movement in any location accessible to the general public for any remote control operation.


Be It Further Resolved, That the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge requests that in the interest of the safety of the Citizens of Baton Rouge that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) develop comprehensive regulations for the use of remote control locomotives.

Be It Further Resolved, That all remote controlled operations in Baton Rouge cease and desist until such time as Baton Rouge Emergency Preparedness can study and have a plan in place for evacuation before such
remote control in implemented.