WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are summoning executives from the six Class I freight railroads to a rare public hearing to explain how their companies plan to invest in and grow their business amid concern over recent negative volume trends. In a notice published today (Friday, July 12), the Surface Transportation Board said it also welcomes […]
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ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state has begun work on a new rail bridge across the Hudson River in Albany to replace a structure with portions dating to 1865, and also awarded funding to tear down a deteriorating, vacant warehouse that led to interruptions of rail service in 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced today. The […]
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WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has postponed the start of a plan by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific to contract out dispatching of Southern California’s Alameda Corridor. In a decision announced Thursday, the board postponed the move — which was to be effective today (Friday, July 12) — “to provide sufficient time for evaluation […]
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX has become the fourth Class I railroad to join RailPulse, the telematics joint venture that aims to put GPS equipment and sensors on freight cars to monitor their location and health in real time. The announcement, made today, leaves BNSF Railway and Canadian National as the only major systems sitting on […]
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MONTREAL — The Montreal Port Authority has completed a multi-year flagship project to improve its logistics services and increase rail capacity to “substantially contribute to the local and regional economy,” port leaders said. The $62.4 million project, which took three years to complete, extends from Bourbonnière Avenue to Panet Street, near the Jacques-Cartier Bridge. Officials […]
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The British postal service, Royal Mail, has announced it will stop using its dedicated fleet of mail and parcel carrying trains in October, giving the rail freight company that runs the trains on its behalf, DB Cargo, three months’ notice. Royal Mail has told DB Cargo that its rationale for the decision is because of […]
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LOS ANGELES — The Port of Los Angeles has announced completion of the Pier 400 rail expansion, a $73 million program to expand the on-dock yard at the container terminal operated by APM Terminals. The project added five new storage tracks totaling 31,000 linear feet, new crossovers and turnouts, a concrete rail bridge with […]
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Throughout their history, railroads have been under the spell of the Not Invented Here Syndrome. If a rival railroad — or, worse still, an industry outsider — found a better way to do something, railroads would heap scorn on the idea. “Why, fill-in-the-blank would never work on our railroad!” Actually, it probably would. And examples […]
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WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic began the second half of 2024 the same way it ended the first half — with increased volume compared to 2023. For the week ending July 6, U.S. railroads handed 421,817 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.3% increase over the same week a year earlier, according to statistics from […]
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ATLANTA — National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy had harsh words for Norfolk Southern at the conclusion of last month’s hearing on the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, hazardous materials derailment. But today, after a visit to the railroad’s headquarters, Homendy praised CEO Alan Shaw for pledging to exceed the safety recommendations that the NTSB […]
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CHICAGO — Metra, which has a long-range goal of adding dedicated train service between O’Hare International Airport and downtown Chicago, will provide a sampling of what that service could be like during the upcoming Democratic National Convention. The commuter rail operator will offer shuttle service between its O’Hare Transfer station and Chicago Union Station on […]
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