Just remember that the BLET has an agenda. It is the union which represents Locomotive Engineers on most railroads, and Trainmen on some. So, their press releases, while they contain a lot of good information, should not be considered to be devoid of bias. BLET is a good organization with a long and distinguished record. Read their statements with the knowledge, though, that they are not neutral.
My oldest son, who is in Engine Service, informs me that his railroad is sanitizing locomotive cabs whenever locomotives go to service facilities, but there are many step on/step off crew changes at intermediate terminals where there is no Company servicing or cleaning of cabs, and this has been the case for decades. Therefore, he, and many other Engineers, have always routinely carried sanitizing wipes in their grips, and they wipe down the control stand, door handles, window frames, and the seat, every trip. As he points out, he could be relieving an inbound Engineer who adheres to good standards of hygiene, or he could be relieving a crude individual who wipes the tobacco juice from his lips with his hand, sneezes on his hand (or on the control stand), and never cleans his hands after using the toilet. So it is not just the railroad who has responsibility in the sanitary cab issue.
My son reports that he has never seen the railroad take any measures to sanitize register rooms or crew lobbies at either his home, or away-from-home, terminals. That does not mean that they never do it, but it appears that -- if they sanitize at all, they do not do so often. He always wipes computer keyboards with sanitizing wipes, before use. It is necessary to register on and off duty, print lineups, and, sometimes, print Track Warrants and Track Bulletins, himself by use of a keyboard.
Since the pandemic began, he has been opening his cab window to be sure that there is some ventilation and changing of the air inside the cab. This creates a minor nuisance by requiring the use of hearing protection which is not required in closed-window comfort cabs, but it is a case of doing the right thing for the right reason.
