Cleveland passes ‘emergency measure’ on
remote control
CLEVELAND, February 13 -- The City Council of Cleveland, Ohio, adopted
an “emergency measure” on February 10 that encourages members of the Ohio
State Legislature to pass legislation addressing security and safety
concerns surrounding the use of remote control locomotives.
The
measure also calls upon state and federal agencies that regulate railroad
operations to work with the Department of Homeland Security to establish
regulations to address remote control locomotives.
Cleveland is
now the sixth U.S. city to adopt a resolution calling for improved safety
regarding remote control trains.
The Cleveland City Council’s
resolution is, “an emergency measure for the immediate preservation of
public peace, property, health, or safety.”
According to the
resolution, No. 194-03, the federal government recently identified
railroad shipments of hazardous materials as potential terrorist targets,
and noted that various railroad operators in Cuyahoga County, where
Cleveland is located, have recently begun using or are considering the use
of remote control trains.
The City Council determined that, “the
use of remote control locomotives raises a number of safety and security
concerns, particularly with hazardous cargo.”
Cleveland now joins
five other U.S. cities in adopting resolutions that call for improved
safety regarding remote control locomotives -– Boston, Mass., Baton Rouge,
La., Shreveport, La., Detroit, Mich., and Marysville, Mich. The Boston,
Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Detroit resolutions call for an outright ban
of remote control trains until certain safety requirements have been met.
James F. Ong, Chairman of the BLE’s Ohio State Legislative Board,
played the lead role is securing passage of the resolution. In addition to
members of the Cleveland City Council, Brother Ong thanked First
Vice-Chairman Tim Hanely and Second Vice-Chairman Tim Price for their
efforts. He also recognized Bill Ellert, Legislative Representative of BLE
Division 3 (Cleveland).
Thursday, February 13, 2003
bentley@ble.org
http://www.ble.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=3679
© 2003 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
http://www.ble.org
