Brian Thompson, general chairman of the Allied Federation of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, and Jason Graham, general chairman of the Alliance System Federation of the BMWED, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss CSX Transportation's plan to cut its maintenance of way workforce by approximately 29 percent. They also speak about CSX’s plan to defer capital track maintenance despite the railroad reporting quarterly revenue of $3.94 billion, which is a 17 percent increase in operating income and approximately $1 billion in quarterly net earnings.
Thompson said approximately 900 system production employees will be furloughed by Nov. 15, with most cut by Nov. 1 and no return before March at the earliest, putting production work six months behind. The cuts come after the Trump administration granted CSX a Federal Railroad Administration waiver to reduce human track inspections by 50 percent, resulting in an immediate 20 to 22 percent reduction in the number of track inspectors.
Thompson said human track inspections on CSX have since been reduced by 40 percent over the past 90 days. Graham, who lives near East Palestine, Ohio, said the implications are clear.
- CSX has notified the BMWED of plans to furlough approximately 900 system production employees by Nov. 15, with most cut by Nov. 1 and no projected return to work before March 2027. This creates a six-month gap in capital production work including rail installation, tie installation and track surfacing. The company has provided no clear explanation beyond what Thompson described as operational discipline. The cuts follow a leadership change in which a CEO brought in to pursue a merger with another Class 1 railroad departed after potential merger partners declined.
- The Trump administration granted CSX a Federal Railroad Administration waiver to reduce human track inspections by 50 percent resulting in the immediate elimination of 20 to 22 percent of track inspectors. Thompson said human track inspections across the CSX system have since been reduced by 40 percent in the past 90 days. Workers are being pressured by supervisors not to report defects they find, and simultaneously pressured to validate false defects identified by automated track inspection equipment to support the case for replacing human inspection.
- Neither Thompson nor Graham has seen comparable workforce cuts or capital maintenance deferrals at other Class 1 railroads including Union Pacific and BNSF, though both said limited Automated Track Inspection (ATI) waivers are appearing elsewhere. Thompson warned that if CSX succeeds in this approach, other railroads whose boards are watching will adopt the same model. He also noted that diesel prices are currently at historic highs, which historically drives freight from trucks to rail and increases train traffic at exactly the moment CSX is reducing the workforce maintaining the track.
Two General Chairmen, One Company, One Very Serious Problem
Brian Thompson covers CSX territory east of the Mississippi, excluding the Northeast Corridor — from New York to Tucumcari, N.M., through to Miami and New Orleans — across four Class 1 railroads. Jason Graham covers Ohio and the Midwest, with 20 years of experience at CSX, beginning as a trackman in 2005. Between them, they represent workers doing the work that determines whether trains stay on the track.
The BMWED represents the workers who maintain the physical infrastructure of America's freight railroads: the track, the ties, the switches and the crossings. Their work is not glamorous and not visible to the public. It is, however, the reason trains do not derail.
Record Profits, Workforce Cuts and Deferred Maintenance
CSX Transportation reported a second quarter revenue of $3.94 billion, a 17 percent increase in operating income, a 6 percent increase in freight volume and approximately $1 billion in second quarter net earnings. On that same financial footing, CSX notified the BMWED of plans to cut its maintenance-of-way workforce by approximately 29 percent and to defer capital track maintenance simultaneously.
Thompson said the company has provided no coherent explanation for the cuts. The only language coming from CSX notifications is operational discipline. He connected the cuts to a recent leadership change: the railroad brought in a new CEO from Ford, reportedly to pursue a merger with another Class 1 railroad. When potential merger partners publicly declined, the new direction became unclear. What followed, Thompson said, appears to be a strategy of pumping stock value through cost cuts and deferred maintenance, with no clear account of what comes next.
The announcement effects approximately 900 system production employees — the workers who do large-scale capital work, including rail installation, tie installation and track surfacing — who will be furloughed by Nov. 15, with most cut by Nov. 1. CSX says it expects to begin bringing some of them back in March. That creates a minimum six-month gap in the production work that keeps the tracks in serviceable condition.
What Deferred Maintenance Actually Means
Graham then explained what the term deferred maintenance means. It covers defective rail — both short plug sections of about 39 feet and continuous welded rail. It covers tie replacement, which, when neglected, leads to a deteriorating track surface. It covers surfacing work itself, which restores the geometry that keeps trains running smoothly. It also covers interlocking components: switches, crossovers and frogs — the cast components where rail lines intersect — which deteriorate under repeated pounding from heavy freight trains and typically trigger speed restrictions when defects develop.
Graham continued by explaining that when trains weighing thousands of tons run at 50 to 70 miles per hour over deteriorated track, the pounding further accelerates deterioration. Defects compound. Speed restrictions accumulate and the gap between where the track is and where it needs to be widens with every passing week.
Graham lives near East Palestine, Ohio, and has seen firsthand what happens when a train goes on the ground.
The FRA Waiver and the Inspection Reduction
Prior the announcements of the workforce cuts, CSX petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration for a waiver to reduce human track inspections by 50 percent. The Trump administration granted the waiver, and within days, CSX eliminated 20 to 22 percent of its track inspectors. Thompson said human track inspections across the CSX system have since been reduced by 40 percent over the past 90 days.
The minimum Federal Railroad Administration standard requires a visual inspection of most track twice a week. Thompson and Graham said track inspectors are already stretched to the limit meeting that standard, fighting for track time to get over the miles in their territory. When they do find defects, they are facing pressure from supervisors not to report them.
The story does not end there. CSX is simultaneously rolling out automated track inspection technology: devices in train consists, drones and other non-human inspection systems. Thompson described a two-part pressure campaign on BMWED members. When a human inspector finds a real defect, they're being told not to report it. When an automated device flags what turns out to be a false positive, workers are being pressured to confirm the defect anyway, to build the case that the automated systems are performing reliably. Thompson said the equipment produces false positives roughly 90 percent of the time it's checked.The effect is to suppress the reporting of real defects while inflating the apparent reliability of replacement technology.
Washington, the Legislative Fight and What Is Not Happening
Thompson said the BMWED's legislative department is meeting with members of Congress and senators, with a particular focus on transportation committees. The message is direct, but the response, he said, is not. The general sense coming back from Washington is that corporate America has been given a “free-for-all” under the current administration, and there is very little political appetite to push back.
Rail safety legislation with bipartisan support has been in discussion since East Palestine. It has not advanced. Graham said the Federal Railroad Administration has the authority to inspect tracks, issue fines against railroads and hold individual track inspectors who suppress defect reporting accountable. That authority exists. It is not currently being exercised.
Thompson said the only things that will change the trajectory are Washington acting or the public demanding action, and historically, neither happens before a catastrophe makes it impossible to ignore.
The Broader Risk and Why Other Railroads Are Watching
The cuts at CSX are currently unique in scale. Thompson said Union Pacific and BNSF have received limited ATI waivers but are not deferring capital maintenance at the system level or cutting production workforces to a comparable extent. However, he cautioned that railroad boards watch each other. If CSX gets away with this approach and the financial results look good in the short term, Thompson said, that he expects the other boards to begin pushing for the same model.
He also raised a timing concern. Diesel prices are currently at historic highs by approaching $7 a gallon in some areas. High diesel prices historically push freight from trucks to rail, increasing train traffic and loads on the track infrastructure at exactly the moment CSX is reducing the workforce that maintains it.
BMWED members working on CSX are not just numbers, they are real people. Thompson described them as military veterans, scout leaders, pastors and volunteer firefighters. They are woven into the fabric of small towns and rural communities along every rail corridor CSX operates. The trains that run through those communities carry hazardous materials, and the people who maintain the track that keeps those trains upright are being sent home.
More information on the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes is available at bmwe.org. The Allied Federation is at alliedfed.org. The Alliance System Federation is at asf-bmwed.org.
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