UP report outlines last year's sustainability improvements

Union Pacific Railroad yesterday issued its "2015 Building America Report," which highlights the Class I's progress toward its safety, social, environmental and economic sustainability goals.

The report uses the Global Reporting Initiative's G4 Guidelines to outline UP's "most relevant" sustainability issues and opportunities, said Scott Moore, senior vice president-corporate relations said in a press release.

According to the report, UP's accomplishments in 2015 included:
• operating 100 locomotives that meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Tier 4 emissions standards. Tier 4 locomotives reduce particulate emissions by as much as 91 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by as much as 90 percent.
• promoting rail safety in communities, which helped improve the crossing accident rate by 3 percent to 2.28 accidents per million train miles.
• becoming the safest Class I in the United States based on improvements made in the employee injury rate.

The 2015 report marks the seventh year UP has reported its sustainability business practices and goals.