WASHINGTON — The Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger would cause few adverse environmental impacts aside from increased train noise in some locations, the Surface Transportation Board said in its final environmental impact statement today. The three-volume environmental impact statement, or EIS, incorporates comments the STB received at public hearings along CP and KCS routes in […]
Section: News Wire
G&W locomotives to scrap or upgrade per EPA decree in 2023
G&W locomotives to scrap or upgrade: Genesee & Wyoming recently entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department and the EPA that requires it to disable or upgrade more than 70 locomotives currently operating. The original News Wire article is online. The key parts of that EPA decree read as follows: “Defendants shall […]
Union Pacific ends weather-related embargo in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific on Thursday ended the weather-related embargo it imposed on traffic moving to and from locations in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin on Dec. 29. “We have cancelled Embargo #UP130022 that was related to the severe weather events that impacted our operations across Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. We appreciate your patience while […]
Ottawa, builder of light rail line announce settlement
OTTAWA, Ontario — The City of Ottawa and the builder of its troubled light rail Confederation Line, the Rideau Transit Group, have reached an out-of-court settlement over the contract to build the light rail system. A joint statement issued today (Friday, Jan. 27) says the agreement resolves the dispute and resets the relationship between the […]
NS touts industrial development projects in 2022
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern and 120 companies worked together to facilitate 159 industrial development projects along the railroad’s network in 2022, NS said in a press release, with those projects representing $3.2 billion in investment and creating more than 3,900 new jobs. “In partnership with public and private sector leaders, Norfolk Southern is a catalytic […]
Organizations combine in effort to restore three 44-ton diesels to operation
A group of rail non-profit organizations in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are joining forces to restore to operation three GE 44-ton diesels, all produced in the mid-1940s. The locomotives — Middletown & New Jersey Railroad No. 2; Hoboken Manufacturers Railroad No. 7; and New Haven Railroad No. 0814 — are currently owned by […]
Iowa legislation to limit train length takes first step forward
DES MOINES, Iowa — Legislation seeking to limit the length of freight trains in the state of Iowa passed its first legislative hurdle Thursday, moving through a subcommittee to the state House Transportation Committee. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports a three-member subcommittee voted unanimously to advance House Study Bill 88, which would limit freight trains […]
Maryland light rail operator charged in grade-crossing death
LINTHICUM, Md. — The operator of a Maryland Transit Adminstration light rail train has been changed in the death of a 17-year-old killed in a grade crossing accident last February, the Baltimore Sun reports. Tavon Smith has been charged with negligent manslaughter, criminal negligence, and reckless endangerment, according to court records, in the death of […]
CRRC won’t be able to meet schedule calling for three-year-late delivery of MBTA cars
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority hasn’t received any new rapid-transit cars from CRRC’s Springfield, Mass., factory in seven months, and the company won’t meet a new schedule calling for completion of its 404-car order by September 2026, the agency’s board of directors was told today (Thursday, Jan. 26). And the long-term future of […]
Former L&N freight depot to be auctioned in Kentucky
HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. — A former freight station built by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in 1905 will be sold at public auction on Friday by a public agency that no longer needs the brick structure for storage. The Hoptown Chronicle reports the building is owned by the Hopkinsville Water Environment Authority, which has owned it […]
Greenbrier affiliate Gunderson to close railcar plant, laying off 101
PORTLAND, Ore. — Railcar manufacturer The Greenbrier Cos. will close its Gunderson plant this spring, laying off 101 workers as it shifts production to other factories, the Oregonian newspaper reports. Layoffs will begin in March; some production at the plant will continue until May, at which time the company expects to complete the plant closure […]
Ottawa to seek settlement in light rail dispute
OTTAWA, Ontario — The Ottawa city council will seek a negotiated settlement in its long-running dispute over the builder of its troubled light rail Confederation Line, the CBC reports. The council directed its head of transit services to negotiate a settlement with builder Rideau Transit Group after spending five hours in a closed-door update on […]