CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Americans are expecting the Federal Reserve to quell inflation by increasing interest rates this year, but the Feds’ efforts to reel in inflation shouldn’t curb economic activity or carloads. In fact, uncertainties around higher interest rates may tame spending enough to allow the supply chain to recover after high post-pandemic demand weighed […]
PITTSBURG, Texas — Cleanup continues after at least 20 cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Sunday afternoon in Pittburg, Texas. KLTV reports Pittsburgh Mayor David Abernathy said a train of more than 13,000 feet was involved, with two different portions derailing. No injuries were reported. KXTW-TV reports the accident occurred about 1 p.m., and […]
A Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic RS1 pulls cars off the car ferry Chief Wawatam at St. Ignace, Mich., in September 1951. The Chief has crossed the Straits of Mackinac with cars that came into Mackinaw City on PRR and NYC trains; they’ll depart St. Ignace as DSS&A train 1 to Marquette, Mich. A. C. […]
Bash Canadian Pacific Kansas City Day – otherwise known as Feb. 28, the deadline for comments on the CP-Kansas City Southern merger – has come and gone. What have we learned from the flurry of regulatory filings from other railroads, shippers, and lineside communities? The Class I railroads behaved like you’d expect: Following a tradition […]
PITTSBURGH — A Norfolk Southern project to increase clearances to allow double-stack intermodal operations through a Pittsburgh neighborhood awaits city council ratification after being approved by a mediator. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the project will involve raising three bridges by amounts ranging from 17 inches to 2 feet, 9 inches, while the roadbed will be […]
DENVER — Widespread opposition has developed in Colorado to federal approval allowing construction of Utah’s Uinta Basin rail line, with opponents voicing environmental concerns over the rail line that could see shipment of up to 350,000 barrels of crude oil daily, or about 10 unit oil trains. The Denver Post reports 42 Colorado cities, 11 […]
KYIV, Ukraine — The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has led to millions of civilians, most women and children (men aged 18-60 can’t leave) fleeing bombarded cities — some to the west of the country, with well over a million crossing into neighboring European nations since the war began Feb. 24. The railway system in […]
ABERDEEN, Md. — Twenty cars of a Norfolk Southern coal train have derailed near Aberdeen, disrupting Amtrak service on the Northeast Corridor. As of 8 a.m. EST, Amtrak said in an advisory that service had been temporarily suspended between Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, and it would be operating a modified schedule between New York and […]
DENVER — Some 30 miles of New York rail line formerly operated by the Saratoga & North Creek Railroad has been sold for $3.33 million to a couple whose company plans to ship titanium ore from a mine on the route. The Albany Times Union reports Doc N Duchess Rails LLC, owned by Carol and […]
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan — Fertilizer firm Nutrien is asking the Canadian government to block a potential Canadian Pacific strike, saying an interruption to rail service could lead to smaller crop harvests, Bloomberg reports. Teamster Canada Rail Coalition members voted in favor of a strike against CP, the union announced earlier this week [see “Teamsters Canava vote …,” […]
FORT WORTH – Analysts and industry observers suspected that BNSF Railway had to pay a pretty penny to buy out Montana Rail Link’s long-term lease on the former Northern Pacific main line. It turns out they were right. BNSF’s financial report suggests the railroad paid MRL around $2 billion to tear up the lease well […]
WASHINGTON — Shippers say they will support the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger so long as regulatory approval of the first Class I combination in two decades includes conditions that would protect competition. The broadest coalition of shipper groups — the American Chemistry Council, The Fertilizer Institute, and the National Industrial Transportation League — in a […]
