FORT WORTH, Texas – BNSF Railway on Sept. 4 will end its embargo on certain types of carload traffic bound for California, saying that the restrictions enabled the railway to reduce traffic backlogs on its Southern Transcon. “BNSF is terminating our California permit embargo on Sunday, September 4. As anticipated, our weekly number of permits continued […]
Train Topic: Railroad Operations
Paragraph in Presidential Emergency Board report stokes controversy
WASHINGTON – Rank-and-file members of rail labor are critical of a paragraph in the Presidential Emergency Board report that says railroads believe their workers have not contributed in any way to the industry’s record profits. The Presidential Emergency Board, whose duty was to help settle the contract impasse between unionized workers and the U.S. railroads, […]
SMART-TD president questions whether emergency board’s recommendations are enough to retain, attract rail workers
Presidential Emergency Board recommendations for a new rail labor contract are a “vast improvement” over offers from the railroads, the president of a major rail union says, but “do not go far enough” in addressing quality-of-life issues. Jeremy R. Ferguson, president of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation-Transportation Division, said in a statement Thursday […]
Federal grants to fund 11 passenger infrastructure projects in eight states
WASHINGTON — A series of Northeast Corridor efforts to replace century-old infrastructure highlights 11 passenger-rail projects receiving more than $233 million in Federal Railroad Administration grant funding. The grants announced today (Thursday, Aug. 18) by the U.S. Department of Transportation are part of the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program. The projects included […]
CN, energy firm Keyera to look at new terminal in Alberta
CALGARY — Canadian National and oil and gas service and transportation firm Keyera will evaluate development of a new terminal to ship conventional and clean energy in Alberta’s “industrial heartland,” the companies announced Wednesday. The facility would be on adjoining land belonging to CN and Keyera and would provide a single terminal to transport energy […]
Iowa town turns down CP offer to address increased rail traffic
CAMANCHE, Iowa — The city of Camanche has rejected an offer for $200,000 from Canadian Pacific to mitigate the impact of the pending CP-Kansas City Southern deal, with Mayor Austin Pruett telling KWQC-TV the offer is “very offensive.” The funds would have addressed closing two of the seven grade crossings in the community of 4,570, […]
Reading & Northern 2102 to handle freight train on Friday
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — This is turning out to be the summer of steam on Pennsylvania’s Reading & Northern Railroad. Less than a week after a spectacular doubleheaded public excursion [see “News photos: Doubleheaded ‘Iron Horse Ramble’ …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 14, 2022], the railroad’s Passenger Department has posted on social media that R&N […]
Metra board approves deal for up to six battery locomotives
CHICAGO — More than a year after requesting proposals for the project, Metra’s board of directors has approved a plan to convert at least three of its oldest F40PH-3 locomotives, and as many as six, to battery power. Progress Rail will perform the conversions at its Patterson, Ga., facility, with delivery of the initial order […]
Ohio Supreme Court strikes down blocked-crossing law
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court has struck down a state law prohibiting stopped trains from blocking railroad crossings, citing federal jurisdiction in regulation of railroads. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that in a ruling issued Wednesday, the opinion by Justice Sharon Kennedy acknowledged “the significant danger to the public” created when trains obstruct the […]
BNSF intermodal train derails in Texas (updated)
HEREFORD, Texas — Seventeen cars of a BNSF Railway intermodal train derailed early Wednesday morning on the railroad’s Southern Transcon near the town of Hereford, the Amarillo Globe-News reports. The derailment occurred about 5 a.m. on the Hereford Subdivision, between the towns of Dawn and Hereford, about 45 miles southwest of Amarillo. No injuries were […]
Amtrak plans hiring events in push to fill job vacancies
WASHINGTON — Amtrak will host more than 50 hiring events in its coming fiscal year, to fill more than 4,000 available positions nationwide across a broad range of disciplines. Many of the events and positions will be concentrated in Los Angeles; Seattle; New Orleans; New York; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Oakland; Philadelphia; Miami; and Wilmington, Del. […]
Presidential board recommendations a ‘useful basis’ for labor agreement, AAR says (2nd update)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Presidential Emergency Board recommendations for ending the current railroad labor dispute “provide a useful basis to reach a resolution” although they “markedly exceed the rail carriers’ proposal,” Association of American Railroads CEO Ian Jefferies says in a statement issued this morning (Wednesday, Aug. 17). The group representing railroads in the long-running negotiations, […]