Norfolk Southern launches expedited, less-than-carload service

Illustration showing route of Norfolk Southern less-than-carload service

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. — Norfolk Southern has dipped its toes into a market that railroads abandoned decades ago: Expedited less-than-carload service. NS launched the door-to-door service this month as an experiment in the Chicago-Atlanta-Miami corridor. Trucks pick up small loads and deliver them to a rail-served warehouse where the shipments are cross-docked into waiting boxcars. The […]

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Two CN lines in British Columbia shut down by fires (updated)

Canadian National logo

LYTTON, B.C. — Less than 24 hours after Canadian National reopened its fire-damaged main line in British Columbia, that line has been shut down again — as has the former British Columbia Railway line that had been used to reroute some traffic. Bloomberg reports CN informed customers on Wednesday that it was suspending operations between […]

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NTSB expresses concern about STB proposal on trackage rights

National Transportation Safety Board logo

WASHINGTON — In an uncommon move, the National Transportation Safety Board has weighed in on a proposed rule before the Surface Transportation Board, expressing concern about a proposal regarding temporary trackage rights. The proposed rule, requested by the Association of American Railroads, would allow an exemption from the usual process to approve trackage rights to […]

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STB chairman questions level of rail competition, Wall Street influence on Class I railroads

Man standing in front of banner for Midwest Association of Rail Shippers

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. – Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman fully supports the White House’s call for more competition in the rail industry and questions whether Class I railroads are shirking their obligations as common carriers due to pressure from Wall Street. Oberman, addressing the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers today, said the Biden administration’s […]

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Amtrak, shipper groups voice support for Biden executive order

Amtrak logo.

WASHINGTON — Amtrak and shipper groups have welcomed the executive order from President Joe Biden which seeks to increase competition among railroads. Biden signed the order on Friday, drawing criticism from the Association of American Railroads and some individual Class 1 roads [see “Biden executive order prods STB …,” Trains News Wire, July 9, 2021]. […]

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Broken coupler led to CP yard derailment, TSB report finds

Aerial photo of derailment, with notations identifying each car

CALGARY, Alberta — A coupler failure led to a string of cars rolling uncontrolled in a Canadian Pacific yard in Calgary and hitting a group of stationary cars, causing a 22-car derailment, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada determined in its investigation of the January 2019 incident. According to the TSB’s summary of the incident, […]

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