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Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman says railroad service is suffering for one simple reason: The big four U.S. Class I systems aren’t paying enough to retain and recruit train crews. BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific are experiencing ongoing crew shortages that since last year have caused widespread congestion and […]
DAVENPORT, Iowa — A former mayor of Davenport is urging the city to turn down its tentative $10 million agreement with Canadian Pacific and organize a regional effort to block the railroad’s proposed merger with Kansas City Southern. Meanwhile, the city of Muscatine, some 30 miles southwest along the Mississippi River, has approved a $3 […]
WASHINGTON — When veteran Union Pacific locomotive engineer Michael Lindsey II looks at the industry he loves, he doesn’t like what he sees. So he has become outspoken on issues ranging from crew shortages and ongoing service problems to labor contracts and railroad regulation. He’s written two letters to the Surface Transportation Board this year. […]
CLEVELAND — The union representing train dispatchers has authorized a strike in the event a new labor agreement is not reached under provisions of the Railway Labor Act, which currently has the contract dispute in the hands of a Presidential Emergency Board. The American Train Dispatchers Association says in a statement that over 99% of […]
WASHINGTON — Four federal legislators — three from Missouri and one from Kansas — have told regulators that they back the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt and Reps. Sam Graves and Emanuel Cleaver, along with Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran — all Republicans — told the Surface Transportation Board in an […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic remained below 2021 levels, although by a decreasing margin, during July, with overall traffic showing a 1.5% decrease. Statistics from the Association of American railroads show U.S. railroads originated 906,903 carloads for the month, up 0.2% from July 2021, while intermodal traffic of 1,033,906 carloads represented a 3% decline. In […]
WASHINGTON — An Ohio congressman has introduced a bill which would allow trainees for railroad jobs to complete some aspects of their training online. U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Zanesville, Ohio) introduced the Rail Employee Training Modernization Act last week, saying that existing regulations require employees to take part in classroom instruction, which delays training because […]
DAVENPORT, Iowa — The city of Davenport has reached an agreement with Canadian Pacific that will bring the Mississippi River community as much as $10 million to mitigate impacts of the proposed CP merger with Kansas City Southern. The Quad Cities Times reports Davenport’s aldermen will vote next week on the deal, which is contingent […]
CHICAGO — A line blockage earlier this week and equipment shortages have led to the cancellation of westbound Empire Builder departure from Chicago today (Wednesday, Aug. 3), as well as the eastbound Builder departures from Seattle and Portland on Friday, Aug. 5. The move comes after the Builder slated to arrive in Chicago on Tuesday, […]
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Watco’s newest short line, the Texas Coastal Bend Railroad, is scheduled to begin operation today (Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022), taking over 12 miles of trackage owned by the Port of Corpus Christi along with 8.5 miles of Union Pacific trackage rights. The railroad unveiled two locomotives with the port’s logo at […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board would get more teeth under a shipper-friendly bill that would reauthorize the agency that regulates freight railroads. The Freight Rail Shipping Fair Market Act, introduced Tuesday, would give regulators more authority to deal with service emergencies, require railroads to include service standards in contracts with customers, and give shippers […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Are hump yards making an unlikely comeback? Probably not, although three mothballed humps are once again using gravity to classify freight cars. Union Pacific has reactivated the hump at Davidson Yard in Fort Worth, Texas, to ease the burden on the classification yard at West Colton, Calif., where UP is expanding the […]
