CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific will waste no time officially combining with Kansas City Southern. CP said today that it will create Canadian Pacific Kansas City on April 14, the earliest date CP could take control of KCS under the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the $31 billion merger. “Under the leadership of the exceptional […]
Train Topic: Railroad Operations
News photos: BNSF delivers first 737 fuselages to Boeing Everett plant
EVERETT, Wash. — BNSF Railway on Thursday, March 16, delivered two Boeing 737 Max 8 fuselages to the aircraft manufacturer’s Everett Plant, the first such delivery up the Boeing Plant Spur, which features a 5.7% grade and is said to be the steepest active freight line in the U.S. (The line features three derails that […]
Amtrak launches ultra-low-fare promotion on Northeast Corridor
WASHINGTON — Amtrak is now offering late-night and early-morning fares ranging from $5 to $20 on portions of the Northeast Corridor under a “Night Owl Fares” promotion announced Thursday. The coach fares are good for travel between Washington, D.C., and New York only, for select departures between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. More information, including […]
Metra to launch expanded service on UP Northwest Line
CHICAGO — Metra will expand service on its UP Northwest Line as of Monday, April 3, increasing operations beyond pre-pandemic levels by adding 12 weekday trains. The new schedule will provide service at least every 30 minutes during morning and evening rush hours, and hourly service during off-peak periods. It will increase service to 78 […]
MBTA lifts blanket speed restriction on Mattapan Trolley Line
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has lifted its 25-mph speed restriction on the Mattapan Trolley Line, leaving the Green Line as the only transit route still under a blanket speed restriction. The agency announced the change Thursday on Twitter. The Mattapan Line is still subject to restrictions at specific locations The MBTA briefly instituted […]
BNSF derailment spills fuel in Washington state
ANACORTES, Wash. — Two locomotives and at least one railcar of a BNSF Railway train derailed early Thursday morning near Anacortes, leading to a spill of fuel from the overturned diesels, the Seattle Times reports. No injuries were reported. The railroad said the cause of the derailment was under investigation The Washington Department of Ecology, […]
Alstom signs contract to operate, maintain Newark AirTrain
NEWARK, N.J. — Alstom has signed a seven-year contract to operate and maintain the AirTrain system at Newark Liberty International Airport, the company announced Thursday. The deal with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the airport, valued at about $265 million (announced as €240 million by Alstom), runs through January 2030 […]
CSX train derails in Kentucky (updated)
GLENDALE, Ky. — Occupants of a vehicle suffered “non-life-threatening injuries” this afternoon (March 16) when their car was struck by a derailed car from a CSX train, the railroad said in a statement to WHAS-TV. Twenty-one cars derailed when the train applied emergency braking to avoid striking a truck at the Hodgenville Road grade crossing […]
STB chairman says Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger will improve rail safety
WASHINGTON — With Norfolk Southern’s toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, heightening public concern about rail safety, federal regulators went out of their way on Wednesday to explain that their approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger would help keep trackside communities safe. “We are well aware of the very real and legitimate […]
UP’s Coast Line again shut down by storm damage
WATSONVILLE, Calif. — For the second time this winter, Amtrak has been forced to halt Coast Starlight service for an extended period in the wake of weather-related damages to Union Pacific’s Coast Line. Following a fierce winter storm that made landfall on Friday, March 10, a 74-year-old earthen levee along the Pajaro River in Monterey […]
CPKC’s first new trains will handle cross-border perishables shipments
NEW YORK — The first new Canadian Pacific Kansas City trains will be a pair of hotshots that link Chicago with Texas and Mexico City, hauling Midwestern meat southbound and Mexican-grown fruits and vegetables northbound. CPKC can begin offering single-line service as early as April 14, the date that Canadian Pacific will gain control of […]
Widow sues Norfolk Southern over death of conductor trainee in 2022 Alabama accident
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The widow of a Norfolk Southern trainee killed last year when struck by debris in a locomotive cab has sued the railroad, the news site Al.com reports. Sherita Fields filed suit in Jefferson County Circuit Court earlier this year over the death of Walter James Griffin III, 43. Griffin was killed in […]