Chicago South Shore earns ASLRRA safety award

Written by Stuart Chirls, senior editor, Railway Age
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Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad President Todd Bjornstad/ Photo by Stuart Chirls of Railway Age

Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad’s safety record in 2017 was recognized with the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s (ASLRRA) prestigious President’s Award.

The award was presented at the 2018 ASLRRA Eastern Region Meeting, held in Burlington, Vt., Oct. 8-9. CSS Vice President Mike Shore accepted the award on behalf of the railroad’s 53 employees.

Based in Michigan City, Ind., CSS&SB is a subsidiary of Anacostia Rail Holdings and operates 127 route miles of line providing rail freight service between Chicago and South Bend, Ind., and connecting with all Chicago railroads and serving the Port of Chicago.

“South Shore Freight is honored to be recognized for the on-going safety success we’ve had,” said CSS President Todd Bjornstad. “We work hard to ensure that our employees go home safe, as well as provide safe service for our customers and the communities we work in and travel through. I’m proud of the entire CSS team for their dedication to safety and our 100% focus on rules compliance.”

Presented annually, ASLRRA’s President’s Award recognizes smaller Class II and Class III railroads posting the best safety rate, as reported by the Federal Railroad Administration. CSS won in the category for railroads with a maximum of 150,000 man-hours.

“Our short line members work each day with safety in the forefront of their minds,” said ASLRRA Chair Judy Petry, president and Chief Executive of Farmrail System, Inc. “Safe operations are good for our customers, good for our employees, good for the public interest, and good for business,”

To qualify for a President’s Award, a railroad must also earn ASLRRA’s Jake Award for achieving a better-than-industry-average safety performance during the prior year.

South Shore’s award is a Jake With Distinction, which is achieved by railroads operating without a personal injury in 2017. Of 330 ASLRRA member railroads receiving the Jake Award, 283 were Jake With Distinction.

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