Union Pacific is booting Canadian Pacific out of the EMP domestic container pool. EMP, which rosters a 44,000-unit fleet of green 53-foot containers, is an interline intermodal partnership between UP and Norfolk Southern. CP, Canadian National, Kansas City Southern, and Florida East Coast also participate in EMP, which allows intermodal marketing companies to book loads […]
Train Topic: Railroad Operations
St. Louis celebrates reopening of Merchants Bridge
ST. LOUIS — The 133-year-old Merchants Bridge celebrated its official reopening on Thursday, marking completion of a $222 million project to replace the vital structure connecting Missouri and Illinois near downtown St. Louis. The Mississippi River crossing dating to 1889 owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis serves six Class I railroads and […]
Amtrak long-distance trains set to resume
All Amtrak long-distance trains will apparently resume operations today (Friday, Sept. 16), although the most recent message on the passenger carrier’s website, posted Thursday evening, continues to say only that the company recommends passengers “check their ticket and confirm their train status on Amtrak.com or the Amtrak app.” The passenger operator had cancelled all long-distance […]
Details emerge of 20-hour meeting that produced labor deal
WASHINGTON — Details of the negotiations that led to a tentative agreement between railroads and unions began emerging Thursday night, with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh saying he kept the two sides in his office for more than five hours at the end of 20 straight hours of talks. “The unions were very persistent on what […]
Error by pilot, captain is likely cause of train-barge collision, NTSB says
WASHINGTON — The failure of the pilot and caption of a tow vessel to correctly identify a caution area on a river chart was the probable cause of a November 2021 collision between the towing vessel Baxter Southern and a BNSF coal train near Galland, Iowa, the National Transportation Safety Board determined in an accident […]
Clinton, Iowa, council to vote on $1 million deal with Canadian Pacific
CLINTON, Iowa — The Clinton City Council has given preliminary approval to a $1 million agreement with Canadian Pacific to address potential impacts of CP’s merger with Kansas City Southern. The Clinton Herald reports that at a Wednesday meeting, the council voted unanimously to advance the agreement, meaning it will vote on formal acceptance at […]
Freight railroad strike averted thanks to tentative contract agreements (continuing updates)
WASHINGTON — The first freight railroad strike in three decades has been averted under a tentative deal reached overnight between Class I railroads and three labor unions, the White House announced early Thursday morning. The Class I railroads reached tentative agreements with unions representing engineers, conductors, and signalmen after 20 hours of negotiations at the […]
Pacific Surfliner to offer partial service in event of freight rail shutdown (updated)
UPDATE: Railroads and unions have reached a tentative agreement as of early Thursday morning, averting a work stoppage. Watch Trains News Wire for more information. ORANGE, Calif. — Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner service has now announced details of its operating plans for today (Thursday, Sept. 15) and beyond, if there is not a resolution to the […]
NJ Transit, online wagering site announce naming-rights deal
NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit announced Wednesday it had signed a three-year naming-rights agreement with Jersey City-based online wagering site BetMGM to rename the transit agency’s rail line to the station serving MetLife Stadium, home of the area’s two NFL teams, as the “BetMGM Meadowlands Rail Line.” NJ Transit did not announce the value of […]
Patriot Rail completes acquisition of Pioneer Lines
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Patriot Rail Co. has completed its acquisition of Denver-based Pioneer Lines, nearly doubling the company’s short line operations. The transaction closed Wednesday following regulatory approval, Patriot said. It will expand the company from 16 to 31 railroads, with operations in 23 states. “We are pleased to bring Pioneer Lines railroads into Patriot […]
Sanders blocks Senate resolution to impose rail settlement
WASHINGTON — An objection by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday blocked a resolution offered by two Republican senators seeking to avert a rail work stoppage by imposing the recommendations made in August by a Presidential Emergency Board. The Capitol Hill website Roll Call reports Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) had sought […]
CN CEO hopes railroads and labor can avert a strike
LAGUNA, Calif. — Canadian National CEO Tracy Robinson hopes U.S. railroads and their labor unions can reach a tentative contract deal and avoid a strike. “We need to fix this labor situation down here in the United States,” she told an investor conference on Wednesday. “And it’s a critical one for all of us … […]