OTTAWA, Ontario – Class I railroads operating in Canada would be required to report additional performance and staffing metrics under a proposal Canadian regulators unveiled on Friday. Transport Canada’s move was announced on the same day that the Surface Transportation Board said it will temporarily require the big railroads to provide more detailed operational and […]
Type of Train: Freight
Federal regulators order railroads to provide more service data, recovery plans
WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have ordered Class I railroads to provide more detailed operational and staffing metrics and will require the big four U.S. systems to submit service recovery plans in light of widespread service problems that were spotlighted during hearings last week. The Surface Transportation Board, in a decision issued on Friday, said “immediate […]
Union Pacific suffers washouts in Oklahoma
MUSKOGEE, Okla. — Union Pacific has suffered “multiple washouts” in the Muskogee area following torrential rains early Thursday, the railroad said in a notification to customers. Repair efforts were on hold until waters receded, UP said in the notification posted later that day. Limited reroutes were available, but customers were advised to expect delays of […]
Nebraska utility to challenge Union Pacific reciprocal switch rate
WASHINGTON — A Nebraska utility says it will file a rate complaint against Union Pacific for a reciprocal switch involving unit coal trains interchanged with BNSF Railway a few miles from the power plant. The Omaha Public Power District disclosed its plans to challenge the reasonableness of UP’s rates in a regulatory filing with the […]
EL freights meet
Erie Lackawanna’s hottest freight trains, eastbound NE-74 (left, powered by SD45s) and westbound CX-99, meet on former Erie trackage beside the Delaware River at Rood’s Creek, N.Y., in the early 1970s. J. J. Young Jr. photo […]
ATCO to build hydrogen facilities for Canadian Pacific
CALGARY — ATCO Group will build two hydrogen production and refueling facilities for Canadian Pacific’s program developing hydrogen fuel-cell locomotives, ATCO announced. The facilities in Calgary and Edmonton will each include a 1 megawatt electrolyzer, compression, storage, and fuel dispensing. The Calgary facility will be powered in part by a solar power facility at CP’s […]
Derailment blocks highway in New Brunswick
HARVEY STATION, New Brunswick — Ten cars of a New Brunswick Southern Railway train derailed early Thursday in the village of Harvey Station, blocking provincial Route 3, the CBC reports. Harvey Fire Department Chief Jerrard Swan said firefighters were informed of the accident about 5 a.m., and that 10 cars were involved. Only one was […]
U.S. rail traffic falls in April
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic in April fell 5.8% from levels in 2021, marking the third time in four months volume was down over previous-year levels. Statistics from the Association of American Railroads showed carload traffic was down by 31.929 carloads, or 3.4%, compared to April 2021, while intermodal traffic decreased by 90,869 units, or […]
Union Pacific and TuSimple delay launch of autonomous truck service
SAN DIEGO – Union Pacific and autonomous trucking company TuSimple have delayed plans to begin driverless truck moves between the railroad’s Tucson intermodal terminal and the Phoenix area. The companies in February said they’d launch the service this spring. But the service has been pushed to the third quarter because TuSimple and UP have shifted […]
Russia steps up attacks on Ukraine’s rail network, disrupting food exports
As the Russian military adjusts its strategy and goals following the failure of its original invasion of Ukraine that began Feb. 24, it has increased strategic attacks on the network of national rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) in the west of the country, largely through missile strikes. The Ukraine war is the first since World War […]
Charlotte Western Railroad begins operation
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Western Railroad, the newest short line of Jaguar Transport Holdings, began operations Monday, May 2, as contract operator on 13 miles of track owned by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. “We are excited for the opportunity to establish our first operation in North Carolina and the southeastern US,” Jaguar CEO […]
Big Emma on empties
Louisville & Nashville class M-1 2-8-4 No. 1950 — a “Big Emma” — rolls empty coal hopper cars at Hargett, Ky., on May 23, 1952. Ed Theisinger photo […]