WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board is calling for new rules regarding crew members riding shoving moves through grade crossings as a result of a fatal October 2021 accident in Houston, Texas. The board has recommended that crew members be prohibited from riding such moves through crossings equipped only with warning lights or passive […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Air Resources Board has approved a grant that would allow the Napa Valley Wine Train to replace — and, under regulatory requirements, destroy — six vintage diesels with two Tier 4 compliant switchers. The approval, which occurred earlier this year, according to the CARB website, covers two of the Wine […]
TORONTO — After months of service limited to a handful of round-trips regularly operating between Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City, a VIA Rail Canada Venture trainset made its Toronto debut Tuesday, rolling into the company’s Toronto Maintenance Centre Tuesday after bringing passengers from Ottawa on train no. 41. The first trip was celebrated with a […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National’s third-quarter profits tumbled on lower freight volume, the railway reported today, but most business segments are bouncing back. “I believe we’ve seen the bottom on volumes,” CEO Tracy Robinson told investors and analysts on the railway’s earnings call this afternoon. CN’s third-quarter operating income sank 21%, to $1.5 billion, as revenue […]
WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration announced that it has extended by one year a set of three cybersecurity directives regarding railroad infrastructure that were scheduled to expire today (Oct. 24, 2023). The directives, developed with input from the industry and government agencies including the Federal Railroad Administration and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, […]
DENVER — The Colorado Department of Transportation has announced a $5 million study to consider reviving Denver-Steamboat Springs-Craig passenger rail service, as well as coordinated and connecting bus service. Passenger service on the 191-mile Denver-Craig route ended in April 1968 with discontinuance of the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s Yampa Valley Mail, which became the […]
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec will provide brakes and couplers for New York City Transit’s second order of R211 subway cars to be built by Kawasaki Rail Car, Wabtec has announced. The 640-car order, placed last year, fulfills an option from an original 535-car order now being delivered that includes 440 R211A cars, 20 pilot cars with […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board on Monday announced appointment of six new members to the Rail Energy Transportation Advisory Committee, which advises the board on matters regarding rail movement of coal, ethanol, and other energy resources by rail. New to the board are: — Bryan Boaz, rail operations field supervisor of ExxonMobil, an at-large […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National has reached a new five-year deal to haul AltaGas propane to the export terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, the railway said today. AltaGas opened the Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal — Canada’s first — in 2019. The terminal receives 50 to 60 tank cars per day from […]
PHILADELPHIA — Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority locomotive engineers and conductors are voting on a strike authorization, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and SMART-TD unions announced today. Results of voting, which began today, will be announced on Nov. 20. If a majority of engineers back a strike, the referendum would allow BLET National President […]
MONTREAL — The CEO of VIA Rail Canada is calling for the government to adopt a bill of rights for rail passengers similar to the one already in place for air travelers. In an interview with the Canadian Press, CEO Mario Péloquin said the government should set rules that ensure train passengers receive compensation for […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen.Jerry Moran, (R-Kan.) has placed a hold on the Amtrak Board of Directors nominees up for consideration by the full Senate, preventing their confirmation until Moran knows exactly all eight board members President Joe Biden intends to nominate. “The Biden administration has violated the law by failing to nominate a geographically diverse […]
