New Orleans, Louisiana FELA Lawyers
Rome, Arata and Baxley is proud to protect the the rights of New Orleans area railroad workers. We have successfully handled railroad injury cases in Orleans and Jefferson and other surrounding parishes against Kansas City Southern, Amtrak and Union Pacific, CSX Transportation, Canadian Northern and Illinois Central, Norfolk Southern and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad
We are extremely proud of the results we have achieved for our New Orleans area clients. The New Orleans area railroads recognize our name and know that it means that the injured worker is represented by one of the best FELA attorneys in the country. Please feel free to ask us for a referral and we will put you in contact with one or several of our satisfied FELA clients from New Orleans or the surrounding areas.
Orleans and Jefferson Parishes as Venues
The jurors and population of New Orleans reflect its status as a popular international tourist destination and major port city. New Orleans is home to one of the largest and busiest ports in the world. The Port of New Orleans is the 5th-largest port in the United States based on volume of cargo handled and along with the nearby Port of South Louisiana it forms the 4th-largest port system in the world by volume handled. New Orleans is a also center for higher learning, with over 50,000 students enrolled in the region’s eleven two- and four-year degree granting institutions. A top 50 research university, Tulane University, is located in New Orleans’ Uptown neighborhood. The New Orleans region also accounts for a significant portion of the nation’s oil refining and petrochemical production including 17 petroleum refineries with a combined crude oil distillation capacity of nearly 2.8 million barrels per day, the second highest in the nation after Texas.
The large presence of railroads in Greater New Orleans give jurors in the New Orleans area a unique perspective on railroads. Residents of the Marigny and Bywater drive over the New Orleans Public Belt railroad tracks on a daily basis. The Amtrak terminal is within blocks of the Superdome. CSX’s Gentilly Yard is well known to residents of New Orleans East. Residents of the West Bank are familiar with Union Pacific’s large switching yard in Avondale. Even Canal Street and St. Charles have railroad tracks for the Streetcars. Getting a close up view of the work involved in moving freight and passengers by rail familiarizes people in Greater New Orleans with the dangers of railroad work and the importance of railroad safety. These personal experiences that many people in New Orleans have with railroads can be very important in any case where the railroad has put profit before safety.
Railroads currently operating in New Orleans
With the strategic benefits of both a major international port and one of the few double-track Mississippi River crossings, the city is served by six of the seven Class I railroads in North America and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad provides interchange services between the railroads. Passenger rail service is of course provided by Amtrak, the national passenger railroad.
Amtrak
The city is served by rail via Amtrak. The New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal, located at 1001 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, LA, 70113 is the central rail depot, and is served by three trains: the Crescent, operating between New Orleans and New York City; the City of New Orleans, operating between New Orleans and Chicago; and the Sunset Limited, operating through New Orleans between New Orleans and Los Angeles.
Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad
Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad, BNSF, is a Class I railroad that is the corporate heir to the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad which has been operating railroads in New Orleans since before 1900.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Southern Railroad
CPKC (formerly KCS) is a Class I railroad that has historically connected Northern markets to the port cities on the Gulf of Mexico, like New Orleans. KCS operates two major railyards in the New Orleans area. In the New Orleans area, KCS stores and makes outbound trains in West Yard off Airline Highway. They also operate a yard in Norco and operate and store empties in nearby Reserve.
Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I railroad that is the corporate heir to the Southern Pacific and Missouri Pacific railroad systems among others. As such they have been operating railroads in New Orleans since before the turn of the last century. Residents of the West Bank are familiar with Union Pacific’s large switching yard in Avondale.
Canadian Northern and Illinois Central Railroad
CN is the largest railroad in Canada, and is currently Canada’s only transcontinental railroad company, spanning Canada from the Atlantic coast in Nova Scotia to the Pacific coast in British Columbia. CN purchased the Illinois Central in 1998 to give it extensive trackage in the central United States along the Mississippi River valley from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans.
Norfolk Southern Railroad
Norfolk Southern is a Class I railroad that owns approximately 22,000 miles of railroad track and connects New Orleans to the East Coast and Midwest of the United States. Norfolk Southern’s Oliver Yard Terminal, located at 2101 Ferdinand St., New Orleans, serves local industrial customers and interchanges freight with the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad.
CSX Transportation
CSX is a Class I railroad that owns approximately 21,000 miles of railroad track and connects New Orleans to the East Coast and Midwest of the United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Gentilly Yard located in New Orleans East is well known to residents on the other side of the high rise.
New Orleans Public Belt Railroad
The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad is a non-profit terminal switching railroad, owned by the City of New Orleans. It connects with six Class I railroads serving the city, and provides switching and haulage service. It is estimated that 1/3 of the United State’s east-west rail freight crosses the Mississippi on the Huey P. Long Bridge segment of the railroad. The Huey P. Long bridge is a dual use bridge that carries both automobiles and trains across the Mississippi. In fact, it is one of the few double track railroad crossings of the Mississippi River.
Rome, Arata and Baxley has prosecuted scores of FELA claims on behalf of Shreveport area railroad workers. We are extremely proud of the results we have achieved for our Shreveport and Bossier City FELA clients. The Shreveport area railroads recognize our name and know that it means that the injured worker is represented by one of the best FELA attorneys in the U.S.A. Please feel free to ask us for a referral and we will put you in contact with one or several of our satisfied FELA clients from Bossier, Caddo or surrounding parishes.
Shreveport Area Railroads
The two major freight railroads currently operating in the Shreveport area are:
Kansas City Southern Railroad
Shreveport is a major hub for the KCS Railroad where freight bound to or from Dallas, Mexico and the Gulf Coast is sorted and stored before coming to or from Kansas City and the Northern half of the railroad. Historically, KCS Railroad connected the port cities on the Gulf of Mexico to Northern markets. Freight from to and from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Beaumont/Pt. Arthur, and Houston all passed through Shreveport’s Deramus yard before heading on to its ultimate destination. In 1996, after passage of NAFTA, KCS bought the Tex-Mex and Ferro Mexico which dramatically increased the importance of their Texas lines through Houston and Beaumont. Purchase of the Mid-south tied in Mississippi Alabama and even Tennessee, and today all of that railroad traffic, inbound and outbound, passes through KCS’s Deramus yard. Other KCS yards in the area are Harriet St. Yard and Bossier Yard. KCS also has its claims office and main office building at 4601 Shreveport Blanchard Hwy.
Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad is the corporate heir to the Southern Pacific and Missouri Pacific railroad systems among others. As such they have been operating railroads in Shreveport since before the turn of the last century. In Shreveport, UP’s main yard is Hollywood on Jewella Avenue.
Shreveport, Louisiana Area FELA Client Testimonials
- Mr. Everett C. Gladney, Grade Crossing Collision Client, Shreveport, Louisiana
- Mr. Reginald Hobley, Grade Crossing Collision Client, Natchitoches, Louisiana
We Handle Cases for Injured Railroad Employees Across the United States
Because of our extensive experience in FELA law, Rome, Arata & Baxley has had the privilege to handle cases nationwide. Our attorneys are licensed in Texas and Louisiana and the bulk of our cases are in states along the gulf coast. We represent or have represented injured railroad workers across the United States, especially in these cities:
Texas
- Beaumont
- Houston
- Dallas
- Fort Worth
- San Antonio
- Laredo
- El Paso
- Corpus Christi
- Austin, Belton/Temple, Galveston, Longview, Lubbock, Lufkin, Marshall, Orange, Port Arthur, Tyler
Louisiana
- Lake Charles
- Shreveport
- New Orleans
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Alexandria, Lafayette
Nationwide
- Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Illinois, New York City, New York, Boston, Massachusetts, St. Louis, Missouri, Atlanta, Georgia, Kansas City, Missouri, Denver, Colorado, Salt Lake City, Utah, Jackson, Mississippi, Jacksonville, Florida, Charlotte, North Carolina, Birmingham, Alabama, Washington D.C., Sacramento, California, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Chickashaw, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Little Rock, Arkansas, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Wichita, Kansas