Chicago-St. Louis trains begin 110-mph running

Short passenger train with beat-up locomotive

CHICAGO — Starting today, Amtrak’s Lincoln Service trains will begin operating at 110-mph maximum speeds over Union Pacific’s former Gulf, Mobile & Ohio speedway between Laraway Road, south of Joliet, Ill., and the Alton, Ill., Amtrak station. Shortened schedules will be established at a later time “to ensure everything on the system is running properly […]

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New CPKC Chicago-Mexico intermodal service to debut May 11

Red locomotive with single intermodal car

CALGARY, Alberta — CPKC’s first new service — a pair of intermodal trains linking Chicago and Mexico — will launch on May 11, carrying containers from new customers Schneider and Knight-Swift. Daily hotshots 180 and 181 will link Chicago with Laredo, Texas; Monterrey, Mexico; and Mexico City. With third-day service to Laredo, fourth-day to Monterrey, […]

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CPKC adds second major intermodal customer for new Chicago-Mexico service

KCS3947Laredo

CALGARY, Alberta — Knight-Swift will shift its U.S.-Mexico intermodal traffic from Union Pacific to CPKC’s new single-line route beginning in May. CPKC and Knight-Swift announced their multi-year agreement today, just four days after Schneider said it would move its U.S.-Mexico intermodal business from UP to CPKC in May under a similar agreement. “This agreement creates […]

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UP train derailed in Kansas grade-crossing accident

Derailed hopper cars, including several stacked above the right-of-way

YATES CENTER, Kan. — Five locomotives and approximately 24 cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Monday morning after a grade-crossing accident with a tractor-trailer truck, a railroad spokesman told KOAM-TV. The train’s crew was not injured, UP said. The truck driver was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Woodson County Sheriff Jeffrey McCullough. The […]

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CN joins UP and Ferromex for new cross-border intermodal service

Intermodal train with one red and black locomotive on curve

MONTREAL — Canadian National, Union Pacific, and Ferromex will launch new intermodal service next month linking Canada and Detroit with Mexico, the railroads announced today (Monday, April 24). The Falcon Premium service will connect a dozen CN terminals with the Ferromex terminals in Monterrey and Silao via the Eagle Pass, Texas, gateway. CN and UP […]

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NTSB issues report on 2021 maintenance worker fatality in Texas

Rail-mounted treaded-tractor with boom attachment

WASHINGTON — The use of a piece of maintenance-of-way equipment to move steel grating panels, with an attachment not designed for that purpose, was the probable cause of a September 2021 fatality involving a contract worker on the Union Pacific near Castroville, Texas, according to a National Transportation Safety Board accident report issued Thursday. The […]

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Derailments down on Union Pacific despite use of longer trains

OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific’s reportable train derailment rate improved 10% during the first quarter, executives said today while defending the safety record of long trains. “We continue to make great strides on safety,” Eric Gehringer, executive vice president of operations, told investors and analysts on the railroad’s earnings call on Thursday. UP’s goal remains […]

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