U.S. rail traffic dips slightly in first week of May

WASHINGTON – For the week ended May 7, U.S. rail traffic registered 504,927 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.5% decline over the same period in 2021. Figures from the Association of American Railroads show the total number of carloads at 231,737, down 1.9% over the same week in 2021, while intermodal volume was 273,190 containers […]

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Canadian regulators propose more detailed requirements for reporting railroad performance metrics

Canadian Pacific and Canadian National trains pass

OTTAWA, Ontario – Class I railroads operating in Canada would be required to report additional performance and staffing metrics under a proposal Canadian regulators unveiled on Friday. Transport Canada’s move was announced on the same day that the Surface Transportation Board said it will temporarily require the big railroads to provide more detailed operational and […]

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ATCO to build hydrogen facilities for Canadian Pacific

Green and gray cowl locomotive with blue trim

CALGARY — ATCO Group will build two hydrogen production and refueling facilities for Canadian Pacific’s program developing hydrogen fuel-cell locomotives, ATCO announced. The facilities in Calgary and Edmonton will each include a 1 megawatt electrolyzer, compression, storage, and fuel dispensing. The Calgary facility will be powered in part by a solar power facility at CP’s […]

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STB settles CP-KCS merger traffic data issue

Maroon, gray and yellow locomotive leading train

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have ordered Canadian Pacific to resubmit specific traffic density data that will be used as part of its Kansas City Southern merger application. The Surface Transportation Board’s decision, issued on Wednesday, keeps review of the first Class I railroad merger in two decades on hold. CP must submit new baseline traffic density […]

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Amtrak runs Baton Rouge-New Orleans inspection train

Aereal view of passenger train approaching city

BATON ROUGE, La. — A decades-long effort to create a Louisiana passenger rail corridor between the state capital of Baton Rouge and New Orleans moved a step closer Wednesday when Gov. John Bel Edwards joined Amtrak, federal, and railroad officials on an inspection run along the route. Among those joining the governor, a Democrat, were […]

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CN raises new train count data issues around CP-KCS merger

gray and blue passenger train passes next to red locomotive pulling freight train

WASHINGTON — Canadian National claims it has found additional train count inconsistencies in the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger application and related environmental filings. The Surface Transportation Board last month put review of the CP-KCS merger on hold until discrepancies in train density data could be sorted out. CP has provided the board with clarification […]

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April rail traffic declines slightly from year ago

AAR traffic data chart for week ending April 9

WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic for April remains slightly below 2021 levels in the latest statistics released by the Association of American Railroads. U.S. rail traffic for the week ending April 9, 2022, was 508,343 carloads and intermodal units, down 1% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending […]

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CP doesn’t expect traffic data issue to change KCS merger timeline

Train with red locomotives and covered hopper cars

BALTIMORE – Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel doesn’t expect a traffic density data issue to delay the overall timeline for regulatory review of the CP-Kansas City Southern merger. The Surface Transportation Board on March 16 suspended its review of the CP-KCS deal pending resolution of a discrepancy in the baseline traffic figures the railroads used […]

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Illinois state lawmaker files bill opposing CP-KCS merger

A Metra train approaches the Itasca station on the Milwaukee West line on March 16,2022. The commuter operator says Canadian Pacific traffic increases from the merger with KCS could increase its delays by 400%. (Trains: David Lassen)

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois lawmaker has introduced legislation opposing the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, saying the merger’s projected traffic increases “presents far too many risks” to lineside communities. State Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin) represents one of the eight communities in the Coalition to Stop CPKC. Those communities, along the Metra Milwaukee West route […]

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Safety board issues findings and recommendations after probe of fatal CP runaway (Updated)

Locomotive surrounded by cars from derailment

CALGARY, Alberta — The degradation of air brakes in extreme cold, the limited effectiveness of current train brake tests, and inadequate training and experience of supervisory personnel contributed to the 2019 Canadian Pacific grain train runaway and derailment that killed three crew members in British Columbia’s Kicking Horse Pass. That’s the conclusion of the Transportation […]

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