SEPTA's first step to warm a chilly relationship with workers came last year with the creation of an independent Railroad Operations division that separated the rail service from the city transit division, which has vastly different concerns. Michael Dobson, the 33-year SEPTA veteran tapped to head it, communicates daily with union leaders, gives his phone number to rank and file workers, and seeks worker feedback on new schedules — all ways to draw on workers' years of expertise and experience. Although years of adversarial relations can't change overnight, union leaders say the outreach is a marked change from the way they used to interact with management.