Northern Lines Railway recognized for safety practices

Northern Lines Railway (NLR) has received a 2018 Jake with Distinction Award from the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) to recognize the railroad's safety standards.

The honor is the railroad's fifth consecutive award for operating with a personal injury, NLR officials said in a press release.

"Our employees have done an outstanding job working together to be injury-free every day for more than 1,800 days," said NLR President Justin Chalich.

A subsidiary of Anacostia Rail Holdings, NLR operates on 25 miles of track in the St. Cloud, Minnesota, area. The short line serves aggregate, agricultural and manufacturing customers with links to BNSF Railway Co.'s national network.

The Jake Awards were established in 1999 and are named for Lowell "Jake" Jacobson, who was president and chief operating officer of Arizona's Copper Basin Railway. Known for his emphasis on safe rail operations, Jacobson helped ASLRRA to create the award to recognize short lines for their safety practices.

Jake Award winners have to demonstrate that they outperformed the short-line and regional railroad industry's average injury frequency rate as reported by the Federal Railroad Administration.

The ASLRRA announced earlier this month that 330 member railroads earned Jake Awards this year, and of those, 282 railroads received the "Jake with Distinction" designation.