Iowa Interstate acquires Iowa City land for transload facility

Aerial view of lot with labeling of roads and rail lines

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa Interstate Railroad will purchase 30 acres in Iowa City’s Industrial Campus for a new rail-to-truck transloading facility, the railroad and city have announced. In addition to being adjacent to the Iowa Interstate mainline, the facility, set to open this summer, is close to Interstate 80 and U.S. routes 6 and […]

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Railroad freight outlook isn’t good for 2023, analyst says

Intermodal train snakes through curves

Rail traffic is expected to have another tough year as intermodal, carload, and coal traffic will all struggle to show growth. That’s the view of Todd Tranausky, vice president of rail and intermodal at freight forecasting firm FTR Transportation Intelligence. North American rail traffic was down 1.9% overall last year, according to the Association of […]

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MTA to build first light rail line for Interborough Express project

Illustration of light rail station

NEW YORK — New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority will build its first light rail line under plans announced this week for the Interborough Express project, which will connect Brooklyn and Queens on an existing Long Island Rail Road freight right-of-way that will connect 17 subway lines and LIRR passenger service. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul […]

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BLET introduces new executive committee, advisory board

Logo of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has sworn in a new executive committee and elected eight new members to its advisory board, the union announced. Edward A. Hall became the union’s new national president Jan. 1. He is joined on the executive committee by first vice president Mark L. Wallace and […]

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Webinar offers look at Sierra Northern hydrogen locomotive project

Blue, green, and gold locomotive with road-switcher design

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A recent public briefing by Sierra Northern Railway and local non-profit Valley Vision on Sierra Northern’s hydrogen locomotive project is now available for review online. The program outlined the project’s ability to improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve quality of life in lineside communities. The briefing is available […]

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U.S. rail traffic begins 2023 on a down note

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal statistics

WASHINGTON — A double-digit drop in intermodal traffic dragged down U.S. rail volume for the first week of 2023, according to statistics for the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending Jan. 7, overall traffic was 416,489 carloads and intermodal units, a 5.5% drop from the corresponding week in 2022. That included 212,962 carloads, […]

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Union Pacific has lost its way: Analysis

Yellow locomotives on train of tank cars

It’s fitting that Union Pacific’s logo is a shield. The beleaguered railroad needs one given the barrage of arrows coming its way. UP has a long list of problems, many of them self-inflicted as a predictable result of its pursuit of a 55% operating ratio. There are so many issues confronting UP that it’s hard […]

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Reading & Northern sets freight, passenger records

Green and yellow locomotives lead freight train

PORT CLINTON, Pa. — Reading & Northern Railroad announced it set new records in 2022 for freight traffic and excursion passenger ridership. Revenue freight traffic rose over 4,000 carloads and the railroad carried over 250,000 passengers on its excursion trains. Reading & Northern, Pennsylvania’s largest privately-owned railroad, said the freight traffic increase was driven by […]

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