MONITORING CABOOSELESS TRAINS.

While Canadian roads continue to struggle with the caboose problem, U. S. roads are continuing to benefit from more enlightened regulation and from labor agreements providing for elimination of cabooses. Overall, the U. S. -railroad experience has been extremely positive. In terms of safety, the National Railway Labor Conference studied the numbers for 1984-85, numbers that added up to more than 450 million train-miles of cabooseless operation. NRLC's study found, first, that accident rates did not seem to be affected by the presence or absence of a caboose; accident rates actually declined, 1984 to 1985, while the number of cabooseless trains was increasing. NRLC's study of casualty rates was even more telling. The total casualty rate in operation without a caboose came in at 38% less than the rate for operations with a caboose. By the measurement of safety in terms of days-lost, cabooseless operation was an even bigger winner, with a rate less than half the rate for operation with caboose.