Class I Briefs: UP, CPKC, CN

(Top) Last year, members of UP’s Engineering Department met to discuss safety accomplishments and opportunities to continue reinforcing a “safety mindset.” The nearly 600-member group—including employees in Tucson, Ariz., (bottom left) and Tucumcari, N.Mex. (bottom right)—recently marked one year injury-free. (Caption and Photographs Courtesy of UP)

Union Pacific’s (UP) Southwest Maintenance-of-Way team reaches a safety milestone. Also, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) distributes iPads to conductors; and CN celebrates Pride month (June) with specially designed containers.

UP

UP’s nearly 600-member Southwest Maintenance-of-Way team recently marked one year injury-free, the Class I railroad reported on the Inside Track section of its website. “Propelled by the collective safety mindset of employees across California, Nevada, and Arizona, the accomplishment illustrates the team’s dedication to vigilance while performing critical work involving the use of heavy-duty equipment to maintain, inspect, and strengthen rail infrastructure,” UP reported.

UP General Director-Maintenance-of-Way Jeremy Ritch attributed the success to relationships. “Our team truly cares and looks out for one another,” he said.

“Seeing an entire regional Engineering team hit the one-year mark is a powerful example of what’s possible on our journey to world-class safety,” noted UP Vice President and Chief Safety Officer Rod Doerr.

According to UP, smaller teams on the territory have multi-year achievements of their own. In 2023, Sparks, Nev., and Tucson, Ariz., employees were honored for working injury-free since September 2020 and November 2019, respectively.

UP also reported that the regional team last year helped keep operations running smoothly across the territory during back-to-back extreme weather systems, including Hurricane Hilary, atmospheric rivers, record snowfall, and an intense series of monsoon rains.

“With the weather events and the size of the work gangs and territory, seeing everyone going home safe each day is exceptional,” Doerr pointed out.  

CPKC

For decades, conductors used hard copies of essential resources—from operating practices and safety books to timetables. Five years ago, about three-quarters of crews across the CPKC network, especially in smaller yards, built their trains by reading railcar and train consist information off paper that was either faxed to their terminal or printed from a yard kiosk, according to the Class I. “Today, more than 2,500 iPads have been deployed to conductors across Canada and in portions of the United States providing a real-time database, which enables fluid decision-making,” CPKC reported. “It keeps everyone informed and up to date as conductors have access to all pertinent, ‘on-duty’ documents electronically.”

With an iPad, a conductor can access exactly what equipment is in the yard or customer facility and use the device to optimize work orders. In the past, a trainmaster or yardmaster would tell the crew what cars to put where, CPKC pointed out, and that often meant train crews would have to wait on verbal instructions, potentially causing delays.

“Our teams worked with Apple to roll out the devices while building a new mobile platform-enabled solution to serve the unique needs of our rail business,” said Caryna Pinheiro, CPKC Assistant Vice President Applications and Digital Services and Assistant Chief Information Officer. “We created a custom enterprise solution by putting the conductors in the room with our developers to create a vision for how and where we can use the iPad to increase efficiency, productivity and safety.”

Pam Arpin, CPKC Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer and one of 10 Railway Age reader picks for Most Influential Leader in 2023, said this CPKC program “gives thousands of our railroaders with boots on the ground the latest technology and tools they need to do their jobs the best they can. That is precision scheduled railroading.”

Both Road Foreman Brandon Kaufman and Conductor Steve Channa have been pleased with the technology.

“I strongly believe that a digital interface, such as the iPads, is the way to go in railroading,” said Kaufman. “With the iPads, our conductors have access to everything related to their train, their territories, and their work in general. With time, I have no doubt we will see more innovative apps arrive on the iPads that will continue to make our jobs more efficient, and less costly, which will only benefit our employees, our customers, the company, and shareholders in the long run.”

Added Channa: “I’m looking forward to what’s in store for railroading with our digital access.”

CN

A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion not only defines CN but also guides its collaborative efforts with customers like Lindt Canada and Pet Valu, who share the same values, the Class I reported on its website June 5. Both customers were among the first to utilize CN’s specially designed containers in celebration of Pride month. “With every journey our Progress container makes, it carries not just cargo, but also a powerful message of unity and respect,” CN said. “Thank you to the Lindt Canada, Pet Valu and CN teams for joining our vibrant photo shoot!”

According to CN, diversity is about “embracing differences to make us stronger and succeed together.” Sharing values with customers, it noted, “fosters strong and enduring commercial partnerships” and “creates a sense of trust, empathy, and understanding, which facilitates effective communication and collaboration.”