WASHINGTON – Genesee & Wyoming aims to merge four of its Southeastern short lines into two railroads early next year. The largest shortline holding company told regulators on Wednesday that in a pair of transactions it proposes to merge Chattahoochee Bay Railroad into The Bay Line Railroad, and the Fordyce and Princeton Railroad into the […]
Train Topic: Rail Industry
Year in review: New Amtrak routes, VIA challenges
Trains News Wire continues our review of the top stories of 2022. We’ll count down the Top 10 stories of the year, as voted on by Trains editors, columnists, and correspondents, beginning Dec. 26. As a prelude, we’ll be looking at major stories that didn’t make that list. Today: Passenger rail. Service expansion, VIA Rail […]
Canadian railcar manufacturer fined $140,000 over worker death
HAMILTON, Ontario — Railcar manufacturer National Steel Car has been fined C$140,000 in a case involving the death of a crane operator in 2020, Global News reports. A worker later identified by the United Steelworkers Local 7135 as 51-year-old Fraser Cowan was killed in a Sept. 2, 2020, incident in which an object fell on […]
Weekly U.S. rail traffic sees big drop
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic is heading toward the end of the year on a down note, with weekly volume down 5.5% from the same week in 2021, according to the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads. U.S. railroads moved 476,232 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Dec. 17. That includes […]
Railroads urge regulators to stick with tried-and-true interchange policies
WASHINGTON — The Chicago interchange dispute between Canadian National and Canadian Pacific should not upend long-standing practices that determine where railroads exchange traffic, three railroads have told federal regulators. The Surface Transportation Board in October said the CN-CP case raises broad issues regarding interchange practices, particularly after a federal appeals court set aside a board […]
Year in Review: LIRR completes two major projects
Today, Trains News Wire begins our review of the top stories of 2022. We’ll count down the Top 10 stories of the year, as voted on by Trains editors, columnists, and correspondents, beginning Dec. 26. As a prelude, we’ll be looking at major stories that didn’t quite make that list. Today: Notable transit stories. Several […]
Navajo-owned coal company sues BNSF for breach of contract
BILLINGS, Mont. — A Native American-owned coal company has sued BNSF Railway for breach of contract, claiming the railroad’s preferential treatment of other mines cost it more than $150 million in revenue and $15 million in demurrage penalties in 2022. In a suit filed Monday in federal district court in Montana, Navajo Transitional Energy Co., […]
STB streamlines rules for settling small rate cases
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has adopted a pair of streamlined rules designed to make it easier for shippers and railroads to settle disputes in smaller rate cases. The Monday decisions established two new rate reasonableness procedures, including a voluntary arbitration program and a new process called Final Offer Rate Review. Shippers applauded the […]
Union Pacific asks STB for more time to respond to Amtrak request for Sunset Limited investigation (updated)
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has granted Union Pacific’s request for more time to respond to Amtrak’s request for action regarding UP’s handling of the Sunset Limited, which Amtrak says has the worst on-time performance in its system. In a document filed Monday, Dec. 19, UP notes that the board’s procedures do not specifically […]
KCS Holiday Train raises more than $215,000
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern’s Holiday Express raised more than $215,000 to benefit the Salvation Army during its 2022 tour, the railroad has announced. The holiday, train, returning after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, visited 20 communities in eight states and drew almost 48,000 visitors. “I am so pleased that […]
Mishandling of air brakes led to three-train Minnesota accident, NTSB says
WASHINGTON — Improper handling of train air brakes by the engineer of a Canadian Pacific train was the cause of a three-train accident in St. Paul, Minn., in August 2021, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined. The accident report, issued Dec. 8, covers an Aug. 25 incident that saw the CP train strike a […]
News photos: R.J. Corman line in North Carolina debuts
RALEIGH, N.C. — R.J. Corman has launched operation today (Monday, Dec. 19) of the Raleigh & Fayetteville Railroad, a 63-mile route between its two namesake cities in North Carolina. The railroad’s first train, led by GP38-2 No. 7710, is shown heading south from Raleigh to Fuquay-Varina, N.C. R.J. Corman announced in November it was […]