VILLA GROVE, Ill. — Villa Grove Mayor Cassandra Eversole-Gunter sat behind engineer Ed Dickens, manager of Union Pacific’s Heritage Program on Monday as the Big Boy “Heartland of America” tour made a scheduled service stop at Watseka, Ill. The mayor, in her second term, rode No. 4014 from Watseka back to Villa Grove arriving at […]
MONTE VISTA, Colo. — The San Luis Central reopens its main line running the first train to operate since May 24, 2024. Here, it crosses an irrigation canal on newly installed culverts that repaired a washout on this section of line on Sept. 9, 2024. Electro-Motive SW8, No. 70, with General Manager Tom Tancula at […]
WASHINGTON — As is usually the case with hearings held by U.S. Senate and House committees responsible for Amtrak, the most revealing part of the event usually comes in the witness question-and-answer session well after opening statements. Yesterday’s Senate Commerce Committee cross examination of four prospective Amtrak Board of Directors nominees was no exception. [Near […]
WASHINGTON — For the week ending Sept. 7, 2024, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 479,179 carloads and intermodal units, up 7.3% compared with the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads. Total carloads for the week were 222,201, up 2.2% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly […]
Sugar Express CLEWISTON, Fla. — U.S. Sugar’s Sugar Express train consist continues to grow in length, and its latest addition is an historic streamlined railcar with a strong Florida pedigree. Round-end observation lounge car Bay Biscayne arrived on U.S. Sugar’s Clewiston headquarters in July, and has been added to the Sugar Express 9-car excursion train […]
ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern today terminated the contracts of embattled CEO Alan Shaw and the railroad’s chief legal officer, Nabanita Nag, for having a consensual relationship in violation of company policy. The NS board unanimously named Chief Financial Officer Mark George as president and chief executive officer, effective immediately, the railroad announced Wednesday evening. George […]
WASHINGTON – The long-awaited National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report on the impact of long freight trains will be released next week. “Over the last two decades, railroad companies have been operating increasingly longer trains to reduce the number of crews, locomotives, and overall number of trains needed,” the academies said today. “In […]
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. – The looming dockworker strike on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts could turn into a long-term opportunity for Canadian Pacific Kansas City to develop the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas into an alternate gateway to Texas, CEO Keith Creel says. The International Longshoremen’s Association says its 45,000 workers will walk off […]
MONTREAL – Canadian National has lowered its financial outlook for the year due to the impact of several factors, including the rail labor uncertainty and work stoppage in Canada, wildfires in Alberta, weaker than expected demand for forest products and metals, and delayed recovery of international intermodal volumes. CN now expects to deliver earnings per […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will hold a confirmation hearing tomorrow (Wednesday, Sept. 11) for four nominees to the Amtrak board of directors. The hearing will take place in Room 253 of the Russell Office building and will be live-streamed on the committee’s website starting at 10 a.m. Eastern. Written testimony from the […]
STUART, Fla. – Nearly six months after its March 4 ceremony, announcing a new intermediate station to be constructed in downtown Stuart, Brightline is now heading back to the drawing board. The TC Palm newspaper reported a city commissioners meeting on Sept. 9 to rescind both its ground lease and interlocal agreements with the passenger […]
With Tropical Storm Francine approaching the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast – and expected to make landfall tomorrow afternoon – Amtrak has canceled or modified service on its trains that serve New Orleans. Union Pacific, meanwhile, today told customers that it’s preparing for the storm, which is expected to strike as a Category 2 hurricane. […]
