Union Pacific 2nd railroad to drop push for one-person crews

By JOSH FUNK
AP Business Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific has become the second major freight railroad in the past week to back away from the industry’s longstanding push to cut train crews down to one person as lawmakers and regulators increasingly focus on rail safety following last month’s fiery derailment in Ohio. The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad said Saturday that it had reached an agreement with the union that represents conductors to drop its proposal to take those workers out of the cabs of locomotives. Norfolk Southern made a similar announcement several days earlier. The Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train that forced the evacuation of roughly half the town of East Palestine, Ohio, is what sparked the renewed interest in rail safety.