CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific posted higher quarterly revenue and operating income despite a decline in volume that was largely driven by the small Canadian grain crop. Operating income rose 6%, to $868 million, as revenue rose 7%, to $2.1 billion, CP announced on Thursday morning. Earnings per share, adjusted for the impact of one-time items, […]
Type of Train: Freight
Canadian National blasts Amtrak proposal for dispatching control as ‘outrageously self-serving’
WASHINGTON — Canadian National calls an Amtrak proposal that would give it dispatching control over CN lines with poor passenger performance “an outrageously self-serving recipe” that would “cause profound harm to freight railroads, freight customers, American consumers, and the broader economy,” and urges the Surface Transportation Board to reject the concept “out of hand.” Amtrak, […]
Rock Island perishable traffic in the 1970s
Rock Island perishable traffic: One thing you learn quickly as a new railroad employee is that if you can hold a regular job, it’s because nobody else wants it. In 1973 Rock Island perishable traffic stopped icing at Silvis, Ill. This coincided with Pacific Fruit Express’s exit from the iced reefer business and represented the […]
Weekly U.S. carload traffic rises above 2021 levels
WASHINGTON — U.S. carload traffic moved back above 2021 levels for the week ending July 23, while overall traffic was down by a small margin, according to the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Total volume was 498,901 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 0.8% compared to the corresponding week a year […]
BNSF and J.B. Hunt to launch service from new terminal at Port of Tacoma
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway and J.B. Hunt will begin serving a new intermodal terminal at the Port of Tacoma, Wash., next month. BNSF and the Northwest Seaport Alliance said the terminal will meet increased demand for intermodal service in the Seattle region. The new terminal, on 16 acres leased from the port authority, […]
Norfolk Southern resumes hump operations at two yards under new operating plan
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has resumed hump operations at its classification yard in Macon, Ga., and will soon reopen the hump at Bellevue, Ohio, as part of the new operating plan it began rolling out last month. Both yards were converted to flat-switching facilities in 2020 after volume sank at the onset of the pandemic. […]
Norfolk Southern reports record quarterly results despite service woes and volume decline
ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern set quarterly revenue, operating income, and earnings per share records despite lower volume and service problems related to ongoing crew shortages. “In the second quarter we stabilized service levels, expanded our pipeline of conductor trainees, and launched the next evolution of our operating plan, TOP | SPG, with our signature no […]
Canadian National optimistic about new container volume from Port of Halifax
MONTREAL – Canadian National’s plan to turn the Port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, into the Prince Rupert of the East is gaining traction. In June CN launched a second pair of intermodal trains that serve Halifax, where terminal operator PSA now owns both container terminals and has made improvements. The port also has expanded berths […]
BNSF extends embargo on California-bound carload traffic
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway’s embargo of certain types of carload traffic bound for California has been extended into August as its Southern Transcon remains congested in the Southwest. The embargo, which took effect on June 27, applies to automotive shipments as well as specific agricultural and industrial commodities. “In response to our temporary […]
NTSB finds violation of safety rule is likely cause of Pan Am employee death
WASHINGTON — A failure to follow rules prohibiting employees from moving between moving railcars during coupling was the probable cause of the death of a Pan Am Railways conductor, according to the National Transportation Safety Board report on the fatal May 2021 accident. The accident in Newington, N.H., on the afternoon of May 19, 2021, […]
CN reports record quarterly results as operations improve
MONTREAL – Canadian National reported record revenue and operating income in the second quarter amid a dramatic operational turnaround that has the railway performing at its highest levels in five years. “The network is fluid and the operating team has done a great job of improving performance across the network,” CEO Tracy Robinson told investors […]
Illinois senators, two representatives oppose Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger
WASHINGTON – Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, along with two of the state’s representatives, have told federal regulators that they oppose the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, citing projections of increased freight traffic in Chicago and its suburbs. “The proposed merger will reportedly more than triple freight rail traffic on […]