RAILROADS

Railroads, Union Reach Tentative Accord: Freight railroads reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with the last of their 13 major unions, three hours before the end of a cooling-off period ordered by President Clinton. John Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the Assn. of American Railroads, said negotiators for the Transportation Communications International Union representing 32,000 clerks and inspectors and the industry’s National Carriers’ Conference Committee reached the accord. While the contract dispute involved only freight railroads, a shutdown could have affected thousands of travelers and commuters since Amtrak and other passenger lines operate over tracks owned by the freight companies.