KCS capacity focus shifts to Texas

Red, black, and yello locomotives pulling train across bridge

PHOENIX — Kansas City Southern will shift much of its focus on capacity improvements from Mexico to the U.S. in 2022 while overall capital spending will increase “on the magnitude of 10% or so,” Manny Loureiro, the railroad’s vice president and chief engineer, said Saturday at the National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association Conference. Those […]

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Alcohol tank cars burn after BNSF derailment

Burning tank cars

OKLAUNION, Texas — Twenty-nine cars of a BNSF Railway train caught fire following a derailment Saturday, closing a highway for several hours. KAUZ-TV reports Wichita Falls and Vernon fire departments, as well as firefighters from Sheppard Air Force Base, responded to the fire involving a train with 98 cars of denatured alcohol. No injuries to […]

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Baltimore, Virginia, Chicago projects highlight busy CSX slate

Aereal view of section of downtown Baltimore

PHOENIX — There is A LOT going on in terms of capital projects for CSX Transportation — enough that Ed Sparks, the railroad’s chief engineer, bridges, design & construction — had no problem running well past his scheduled 25-minute slot Saturday at the National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association Conference. Rest assured the audience did […]

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Reciprocal switching poses risk to rail network, UP CEO says

Three men seated on stage, talking

PHOENIX — Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz isn’t sure what direction the Surface Transportation Board will take as it considers rules for reciprocal switching, but says the decision poses real risks for the rail industry. Speaking Thursday in a “Fireside Chat” at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference, Fritz termed the proposed rule […]

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BNSF Railway leads industry in traffic growth during 2021

orange locomotive and train comes around curve in Wyoming

BNSF Railway led the big six Class I railroads in growth in 2021, a year in which rail volume rebounded from the pandemic-related lows of 2020 yet struggled to overcome kinks in the global supply chain. BNSF’s traffic was up 7.4% for the year, with intermodal surging 8.3% and coal up nearly 11%. CSX Transportation […]

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UP’s Dry Canyon bridge project boosted by institutional memory

PHOENIX — Never underestimate the value of experience and institutional knowledge. That’s one of the many lessons from Union Pacific’s Dry Canyon Bridge reconstruction project in 2022. The project, which replaced a major fire-damaged trestle in Northern California in 2021 — about a month faster than was originally projected — has been much discussed and […]

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Alabama launches new rail projects

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The state of Alabama this week announced the creation of the A-USA Corridor, a proposed $231.6 million program of rail projects to upgrade economic development infrastructure in central and southern Alabama. The first phase of the A-USA Corridor initiative involves a $71.6 million initiative to link the Port of Mobile with the McCalla […]

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