President's Message

Passenger rail engineers play vital role in economy, history

by Edward Dubroski

International President

Approximately 10 percent of BLE members serve the United States and Canada in passenger rail service. These brothers and sisters are often overlooked while they go about their important task of delivering people safely to their destinations each and every day.

BLE members have served our nations' passengers from the earliest days of the railroad industry. These brave men and women have become a part of the folklore of our nations.

Passenger rail has, throughout its history, conjured up romantic notions of transcontinental travel. Many movies and books were written about train travel. Many of our ancestors experienced their first trip across the country or across town on a train. Our members were an intrinsic part of that romance - without BLE members, the trains would not have traveled at all.

In the latter part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, we had many members in passenger service, but passenger train travel began to dwindle dramatically after World War II. The automobile and air travel had taken over and our membership in passenger service declined.

Now, our membership in passenger service is increasing again, thanks in large measure to the expansion of commuter railroads. Even though the automobile is still king, many people tired of sitting in traffic for hours have opted for public transportation and commuter railroads as an increasingly viable option.

Our members are playing a central part in this growth, although it is a largely anonymous part.

People usually only hear about these vital BLE members when something goes wrong - such as a grade crossing accident, a derailment or the loss of a life. The same is true about our members in freight operations; however, the commodities that they carry - while important to the life blood of our countries - are not actually flesh and blood.

Working as a passenger service engineer brings with it a difficulty that most other jobs in the railroad industry do not bear. Not only do these engineers need to answer to their bosses at the various railroads, they also have to answer to each customer who thinks that they know best how to do the engineer's job.

Passenger railroads in North America are usually run by a government agency or an outside entity of the government. This factor is often a double-edge sword. The people who run the railroads are not only accountable to each rider, but they are accountable to the voters and taxpayers. This accountability puts extra pressure on each engineer and magnifies the scrutiny under which they operate their trains.

At the same time, the fact that executive decisions involving passenger railroads often are made by elected or appointed public officials, makes bargaining a little different than it is in freight service. Pressure can be placed on public officials to settle a contract so as not to disrupt service to the voting public. However, the public also may not be sympathetic to the needs of the employees who are spending their tax dollars.

There is often a tendency to overlook the valuable contributions made by passenger engineers. There are fewer of them than there are members in freight service. This fact does not make their presence in the organization any less worthwhile. Each member of the BLE brings something important to the organization.

With an increase in passenger operations as a reaction to the congestion on our continent's highways and airports, we hope that our membership in passenger service will continue to increase. With the addition of each of these important members, the BLE will grow stronger and more diverse.

The strength of the BLE has always been its members and, in spite of the changes that may be taking place in the organization, our members will remain the top priority. Each member has to take an active role in his or her future and we hope that all members, including those in passenger service, will continue to do so.

Back to Fall 2001 Journal

© 2001 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers