WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has released its schedule for speakers to take part in next week’s hearing regarding urgent issues in freight rail service, to be held at the STB’s hearing room April 26-27. The proceedings will begin at 9:30 a.m. EDT both days. A total of 11 “panels” of speakers are scheduled, […]
Train Topic: Railroad Operations
Union Pacific earnings improve despite congestion and crew shortages
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific reported higher first quarter volume, revenue, and profits despite congestion related to crew shortages and rising freight car inventory. “Improving our service product has our full and undivided attention,” CEO Lance Fritz told investors and analysts on the railroad’s Thursday morning earnings call. UP’s on-time performance deteriorated during the quarter. […]
RDC’s Posner looks at Ukraine refugee operation, rail aspects of war
CHICAGO — Ukrainian refugee trains being operated by RDC Deutschland, the German subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp., have stopped running as of April 19. In a presentation that day to Northwestern University’s Sandhouse Rail Group, RDC Chairmain Henry Posner III recounted experiences in operating those trains, as well as observations based on past visits […]
Signal workers walk out at Toronto Union Station
TORONTO — Signal and communications workers at Toronto Union Station have gone on strike, creating the possibility of service disruptions at the station which sees more then 300 trains daily. The CBC reports 95 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers walked out at 12:01 a.m. today (Wednesday, April 20) after the union failed […]
Wabtec to acquire Beena Vision, maker of wayside inspection systems
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec Corp. has signed agreement to acquire Beena Vision, which manufactures machine-vision-based wayside inspection systems, from Sunnyvale, Calif., technology firm Trimble. Beena Vision’s rolling-stock wayside detectors assess components ranging from wheel surface condition to full train inspection for trains in motion., allowing companies to manage fleet maintenance through sensor and image-based inspection systems. […]
Gulf Coast hearing, week 3: Mobile rail executive outlines train movements; Amtrak witnesses criticize randomized data
WASHINGTON — Switching details and conflicting traffic modeling assumptions dominated discussions at the Surface Transportation Board’s hearing into Amtrak plans to launch passenger service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. The seventh and eighth days of testimony and cross-examination, spread over three weeks, on the dispute over plans for two daily Amtrak round trips precedes […]
Ontario awards contract for massive expansion of GO Transit system
TORONTO — The government of Ontario has awarded a contract for major expansion of Go Transit service in the Toronto area, a plan calling for more than 120 miles of new track and electrification of more than 370 miles of the system. The electrification will also bring new trains capable of speeds exceeding 85 mph, […]
Court rules Japanese railway must return 1 minute of pay to driver docked for delay
OKAYAMA, Japan — A Japanese railway driver who sued over being docked one minute’s pay will have the money returned posthumously, a court has ruled. But his request for 2.2 million yen (more than $17,000) for emotional distress was dismissed, Kyodo News reports. The driver sued last year after he was docked 56 yen (currently […]
Amtrak to restore four long-distance trains to daily service in late May
WASHINGTON — Four of the seven Amtrak long-distance trains currently operating five days per week will return to daily schedules the week of May 23, according to information obtained by Trains News Wire. Two others will continue to run on the five-day-per-week schedule, while cancellation of Silver Meteor service to and from Florida will continue […]
Fertilizer producer says UP shipment restrictions could threaten crops
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Union Pacific’s plan to begin metering traffic as of today will curtail fertilizer shipments and put crops at risk, a major fertilizer producer says. “The timing of this action by Union Pacific could not come at a worse time for farmers,” CF Industries CEO Tony Will said in a statement on Thursday. […]
Gulf Coast testimony confirms modeling did not explore operating changes: Analysis
WASHINGTON — Two days of testimony that made up the second week of the Surface Transportation Board’s hearing on Amtrak Gulf Coast service delved into the intricacies of traffic modeling and its data inputs, and made clear both that Amtrak had no role in that modeling, and that consideration of changes to freight operations were […]
VIA Rail Canada sets restoration of most service
MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada has announced plans to restore most service by June, ending suspensions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the previously announced return of two weekly round trips for the flagship, Toronto-Vancouver Canadian, plans announced last week will see three weekly round trips for the Montreal-Halifax Ocean, tentatively beginning June […]