STB schedules Wednesday announcement on CP-KCS merger

Train with red, yellow, and black locomotives

WASHINGTON — A decision appears to be at hand in the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. The Surface Transportation Board has announced a Wednesday press conference at 11 a.m. EDT in which board Chairman Martin Oberman will deliver remarks “regarding the agency’s decision on the proposed acquisition” of KCS by CP, followed by a Q&A […]

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BLET members ratify agreement with CP, Soo Line (updated)

Logo of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has ratified a new five-year U.S. agreement with Canadian Pacific and its subsidiary Soo Line. The CP/Soo agreement is similar to the national agreement signed in 2022, including a 22% wage increase over the life of the contract, compounding to 24% over the life of […]

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Broken wheel believed to have caused UP derailment in Kansas

Union Pacific logo without slogan. UP Bailey Yard explosion appear to be accidental.

McPHERSON, Kan. — A broken wheel is believed to have caused Sunday’s derailment of a Union Pacific train in McPherson, leading to a spill of denatured alcohol, the Associated Press reports. The derailment Sunday morning ignited a small grass fire in addition to causing the alcohol spill [see “Union Pacific train derails …,” Trains News […]

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STB names two members to railroad-shipper advisory council

Surface Transportation Board logo

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has named Richard Erstad and James (Leggett) Kitchin to the board’s Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council, the board announced Friday. Erstad, the vice president, general counsel, and secretary of Hawkins Inc., a chemical and ingredients company, joins the board representing small shippers. Kitchin, vice president for industrial products and coal […]

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Norfolk Southern train derails in Alabama

Derailed freight cars

PIEDMONT, Ala. — Thirty-seven cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed this morning (Thursday, March 9) in rural Calhoun County near the town of Piedmont, shortly before the railroad’s CEO began testimony before Congress on the railroad’s derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. No hazardous materials were involved in the Alabama incident, which occurred about 6:50 […]

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BNSF Railway reaches paid sick time agreements with three more unions

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has reached paid sick time agreements with three more unions. The railway said today that it reached agreements with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW); the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS); and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Mechanical and Engineering Department […]

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