A $5,000 arrest warrant has been issued in Richmond for a BNSF freight train conductor over an incident in December when the railroader was cited by Richmond police for blocking a roadway with his mile-long train. The warrant was issued after the conductor failed to show up for his arraignment. The Richmond City Attorney's office has been cracking down on the railroads over noise and blocking intersections in the industrial city 15 miles northeast of San Francisco.

The BNSF conductor was under the control of a Union Pacific dispatcher at the time, who gave two BNSF trains permission to proceed over UP tracks, a BNSF spokeswoman said. When the way was blocked, the second train got stuck in the road crossing.

BNSF officials say the situation was the result of a misunderstanding and that city officials acted improperly in citing the railroad employee instead of the company. Public Utilities Commission rules say municipalities have to cite the company, not the employee, she said.

 - The Cunningham Report