WASHINGTON — Monday’s first day of a Surface Transportation Board hearing on Amtrak’s request to initiate service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., moved so slowly that some attorneys speculated that the four days this week allotted for the hearing may not be enough. In almost eight hours, the hearing barely progressed past opening statements […]
Train Topic: Railroad Operations
Options exist to ease Amtrak capacity issues: Special Report
Second of two parts. Part 1 is available here. CHICAGO — Amtrak’s ability to meet increasing customer demand has been hampered by a shortage of equipment on both short-haul and long-haul trains. State-supported trains in California and the Midwest are still awaiting the Siemens Venture cars, even though the first cars were delivered in 2020. […]
Service improvements are on the way, BNSF tells grain shippers
WASHINGTON – BNSF Railway is taking several steps to improve its service to grain shippers, including boosting crew and locomotive availability, CEO Katie Farmer wrote in a letter to the National Grain and Feed Association this week. The trade group representing grain shippers complained to the Surface Transportation Board last week regarding deteriorating service from […]
Rail issues lead to cutbacks by Canadian forest products company
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Forest products company Canfor will cut production at sawmills in Western Canada because of “extreme supply chain challenges” relating to rail service, the news site Business in Vancouver reports. Subsidiary Canfor Pulp Produces had previously announced it would continue to curtail production at its plant in Taylor, B.C., for at least […]
Coast Guard to communicate with STB, rather than parties in Gulf Coast dispute
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Coast Guard official asked to meet with the parties involved in the Amtrak Gulf Coast dispute says the service branch will deal directly with federal regulators, the parties have informed the Surface Transportation Board. In a joint filing Monday by Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Alabama State Port Authority […]
Grain shippers complain about delays on BNSF, NS, and UP
WASHINGTON — The trade group representing grain producers says severe delays on BNSF Railway, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific have forced its members to shut down flour mills as well as feed mills that produce food for livestock. The National Grain and Feed Association outlined the rail service problems in a letter posted to the […]
Supreme Court set to hear arguments in case involving UP employee’s injury
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today (Monday, March 28) on a case hinging on whether a locomotive is “in use” when it is not actually in motion. The SCOTUS Blog reports the case, LeDure vs. Union Pacific, involves former UP engineer Bradley LeDure, who suffered injuries when he fell […]
Unloading a Pacemaker boxcar
A forklift exits one of the New York Central’s distinctive Pacemaker service boxcars at one of the railroad’s freight stations in the late 1940s. NYC photo […]
Equipment run-through a factor in return of Texas Eagle-Capitol Limited daily service: Analysis
CHICAGO — Shared trainsets, running through between Washington D.C. and San Antonio, Texas, via Chicago, are part of the plan when the Texas Eagle and Capitol Limited resume daily operation on Monday, March 28. This will end a reduction to five-day-a-week departures that began in January. The Eagle, between Chicago and San Antonio, and the […]
Davey, former Massachusetts transportation secretary, to head New York City Transit
NEW YORK — Richard Davey, former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation, has been named as the new president of New York City Transit, the portion of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority operating New York’s subways and buses, paratransit services, and the Staten Island Railway. MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber announced the appointment Wednesday. Davey will begin […]
STB addresses details on Gulf Coast hearing, allows more comments on switching
WASHINGTON — In separate actions Wednesday, the Surface Transportation Board outlined additional information for its upcoming hearing on Amtrak’s efforts to initiate Gulf Coast service, and on its consideration of new rules regarding reciprocal switching. Rules outlined for Amtrak hearing, to be held online Regarding the Amtrak hearing, set to begin April 4, the board […]
CSX asks regulators to toss NS request for trackage rights over CPKC
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators should toss out Norfolk Southern’s request for trackage rights over Kansas City Southern from Shreveport, La., to the Dallas area as part of the proposed Canadian Pacific-KCS merger, CSX Transportation says. NS sees Canadian Pacific Kansas City as a threat to its Meridian Speedway intermodal traffic. And so NS says it may […]