Updated March 3

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern reached agreements in recent weeks with unions to pay workers for time off related to sickness.

In February, NS reached deals with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, one of the industry’s largest unions, and National Conference of Firemen and Oilers for up to seven paid sick days per year for members working at the railroad. The new benefit is available to approximately 3,000 BMWED railroaders who maintain the company’s track and infrastructure and 200 mechanical workers represented by NCFO.

UP announced Monday that employees represented by NCFO and Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC) will receive access to up to seven paid days to use for sickness, effective April 1.

“Union Pacific employees currently receive paid personal days off, and we will continue to work with other unions to address paid sick time solutions,” the company said on Twitter.

Updated Feb. 10, 2023

CSX said on Friday that it has struck deals with two additional railroad unions to provide paid sick leave to its employees.

The agreements were reached with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), which represents railroad machinists, and the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers (NCFO), which represents the company’s utility workers.

CSX said about 500 workers in the unions will get four paid sick days and be able to convert three of their personal leave days into sick days. 

Earlier this week CSX reached similar agreements with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way (BMWED), which represents engineering employees, and the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC), representing mechanical workers. About 5,000 workers are represented by the unions.

Retroactive to Jan. 1, every CSX maintenance of way employee will receive four paid sick days and up to three paid personal leave days per year, according to BMWED. Employees can contribute unused paid sick leave to their 401(k) or receive the pay out of unused paid sick leave each year, according to the agreement.

HILLSIDE, NJ — Atlas Model Railroad Co., Inc. announced today that it has purchased the HO-scale vehicle tooling along with designs for certain previously unannounced products from River Point Station Fine Scale Models. The deal follows Atlas’ purchase of RPS’s N-scale line two years ago.

HO vehicle molds acquired include the Ford Expedition EL and F-250 and F-350 pickups, plus others, Atlas said in a statement. In all, tooling was acquired for 23 models.

“Previously, in December of 2020, River Point Station announced that they would be streamlining their product line and would cease producing N-scale vehicles and we did not want to see a void left in the market, so we acquired the N-scale tooling,” Atlas CEO Paul Graf said. “After a successful launch of N-scale models utilizing this tooling, we are happy to announce that we have acquired RPS’ HO-scale vehicle tooling as well and look forward to continued success with the line.”

RPS, located in Warwick, RI, was founded in 2006 by Ron Elsdoerfer to supply HO accessory kits. In the 14 years that followed, the company grew its offerings to include HO- and N-scale vehicles.

Over the past two years leading up to the acquisition, RPS scaled back certain aspects of its business. In February, Elsdoerfer said in a letter on the company’s website that RPS was idling production and seeking a buyer.

RPS operated within ITI, a technology company founded in 1985. The founders, seasoned design engineers and long-time hobbyists, have expertise ranging from aerospace and automation, to cutlery, injection molding, machine tools and metrology, according to the website.

Amtrak entered a new era of passenger rail in October after ridership increased in FY2022 following two years of significantly lower boardings resulting from the pandemic.

Ridership grew 89 percent in the fiscal year ending in September, while the nation’s passenger railroad restored and expanded service plus launched major infrastructure projects across its network.

During the year, Amtrak hired a record number of employees and put the building blocks in place to modernize infrastructure, major stations and trains.

“We worked hard to restore service and grow ridership in the face of lingering impacts from the pandemic, all while modernizing our assets to make train travel a better experience for customers,” Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said.

Amtrak ridership increased in FY2022 because demand for service surged in the second half following last winter’s Omicron wave, with overall ridership reaching about 85 percent of pre-covid levels. Northeast Corridor, state-supported and long distance ridership grew 110 percent, 85 percent and 56 percent compared to FY2021 ridership.

Amtrak provided 22.9 million customer trips, including seven million first trips by new customers, a sign that passengers are again embracing rail travel, board Chair Tony Coscia said. Also, 11 services in collaboration with state and federal partners were restored or expanded, returning some service to nearly every route compared to pre-pandemic operations and helping to meet growing customer demand.

By TIM BLACKWELL/Cowcatcher Magazine

America is returning to the rails in earnest. U.S. passenger rail ridership is making a significant recovery from covid-19, which put the brakes on public transit and Amtrak in spring 2020.

Boardings on national, regional and local networks from coast to coast are closing in on pre-pandemic levels, despite gaps in service and equipment, according to the latest available data.

Public rail ridership through September had returned to 60 percent of pre-covid boardings, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), and Amtrak trips were up 52 percent through 10 months of its fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.

APTA’s latest quarterly data shows that rail ridership in June surged 36.4 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

Boosted by a $70 billion federal infusion last year, public transit is earning back riders on all transit modes. APTA reported in early October that ridership on trains, buses and other transit had returned to 72 percent of pre-pandemic levels.