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The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Rail Conference recently launched a "Safe Rails Secure America" campaign designed to encourage Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) members to provide information on U.S. railroads' safety and security practices.

Conference and BLET officials plan to use members' reports to address "dangerous practices by the carriers, and communicate our concerns to the general public and federal authorities," according to a prepared statement.

"Railroad employees now have an opportunity to share what they see and know about lapses in rail security by filling out [a] Safe Rails survey," union officials said.

Since September 11, 2001, the U.S. government has spent billions of dollars to improve airline security, but the Bush administration has ignored Federal Bureau of Investigation warnings about likely future attacks on freight and passenger railroads, and left security improvements up to the railroad industry itself, officials claim.