Union Files Formal Complaints Over Union Pacific's Eugene Handoff

Twenty-two Oregon shippers lost their Union Pacific service crews in a lease covering 27.58 miles of track and Eugene Yard, and within roughly 18 months the union whose warnings regulators dismissed is now pressing two federal agencies over a reported near-collision, a locomotive collision, and skipped brake tests at the replacement operator.

The Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers union (SMART-TD) has escalated its dispute over Union Pacific's transfer of local operations to Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad (CORP), a non-union subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming. In a November 11, 2026 letter, Deputy National Safety and Legislative Director Donald Roach asked the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to examine CORP's service performance since the transfer and to coordinate with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

The union split its complaints between agencies: safety and compliance allegations went to FRA, while customer service, interchange reliability, and supply-chain concerns went to STB.

What did the STB say in April 2025?

The union's objections were on the record before the deal took effect. SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson filed a petition on February 3, 2025, challenging CORP's staffing, training, and territorial qualifications. Oregon State Safety and Legislative Director Dan Garrison filed supporting comments on February 5, warning of training gaps, differences in hazardous-material inspections, and added interchange complications. Garrison works as a conductor based in Eugene and knew the territory firsthand.

The Board was not persuaded. On April 8, 2025, it denied the petition and requests for additional scrutiny, calling concerns about CORP employee experience and training "merely speculative" and "unsupported by the current record." The Board cited common federal safety requirements, CORP's access to corporate training resources, and support from several current CORP customers. It concluded the arrangement could improve efficiency and local service.

That conclusion now faces a test against operating data. Roach's letter asks the STB to obtain operating records and compare service before and after the transfer, examining missed switches, delays, cancellations, equipment outages, and interchange disruptions across the 22 customer relationships.

What has FRA reportedly been told?

The safety allegations forwarded to FRA, none of which the agency has publicly confirmed, include:

• communication failures allegedly producing a near-collision;
• required air-brake tests allegedly skipped or inaccurately documented;
• concerns about training and qualifications;
• improper equipment securement, including alleged air "bottling";
• track entry without an adequate job briefing, followed by a locomotive collision;
• concerns about locomotive condition and braking performance.

Roach's letter to the STB also states that FRA has already issued recommendations for violations across multiple safety areas. The FRA has not publicly detailed those recommendations, and the union's account is the only description of them so far.

SMART-TD argues the two dockets belong together. "Safety failures often become service failures," the union's filing contends: a damaged locomotive cannot move freight, and a crew without adequate qualifications cannot deliver dependable service.

What is at stake for shippers?

The union frames the 22 affected companies as significant to the local economy. "If these industries are being starved out, the people of Oregon have a right to know why," Roach's letter states.

SMART-TD goes further, arguing the episode should caution any Class I railroad considering offloading local work. Cutting labor costs or the operating ratio, the union argues, does not prove a deal serves the public interest or excuses failures to meet common-carrier obligations. The union also draws a distinction between CORP's operation and the broader short-line sector, noting it represents thousands of short-line railroaders and that "quality short lines with trained, organized workforces do excellent work."

UP and CORP have not publicly responded to the specific allegations, and the STB has not indicated whether it will open the service review Roach requests. Until the agencies obtain operating records and compare pre- and post-transfer performance, the claims from both sides remain assertions rather than measured results.