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Three great paint schemes A paint scheme on a locomotive is the visual face of a railroad. It’s what the public sees, and field employees work on and around daily. Some schemes may appeal to some but not others. I’ll run down what I find appealing trackside within the Class I rosters today and explain […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has told customers it will halt bulk commodity movements by unit train on Thursday, Bloomberg is reporting, stepping up that railroad’s plans for a potential shutdown ahead of Friday’s end of the cooling-off period for labor negotiations. NS has previously announced it would stop accept accepting intermodal and automotive shipments on […]
WASHINGTON – Congress should let rail labor contract negotiations play out until a deal acceptable to the rank and file is reached, the SMART-TD union told congressional leaders today. If a contract based solely on the recommendations of the Presidential Emergency Board were presented to union members, it would fail by more than a 3-to-1 […]
CHICAGO —Metra expects it will be unable to operate on at least some of its 11 Chicago-area commuter rail lines in the event of a work stoppage on Class I freight rail lines, the agency said in a statement today (Tuesday, Sept. 13). Commuter operators elsewhere are also beginning to assess their situations in light […]
WASHINGTON – The National Industrial Transportation League, the largest and oldest group of rail shippers, has asked congressional leaders to prevent a railroad strike or lockout that could begin as early as 12:01 a.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, the Class I railroads today reached a tentative agreement with the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers, SEIU, […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway will stop accepting temperature-controlled intermodal traffic as of 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13, as it prepares for a possible work stoppage, the railroad said in a notice to customers on Monday night. The BNSF notice says the railroad has now reached agreements with nine unions — which would […]
SAN DIEGO — The regional planning agency for San Diego County has accepted a $300 million state grant, allowing it to move ahead on plans to build an inland tunnel to replace the current Surf Line rail route along the Del Mar Bluffs. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports the project would also include double tracking […]
WASHINGTON — A landmark BNSF Railway drawbridge in Seattle will receive a $25 million for mechanical upgrades under the federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) announced the funding on Friday for the Salmon Bay Bridge, which handles up to 40 BNSF, Amtrak, and Sounder trains per day, as well […]
Railroads have begun preparations to secure what they call “hazardous and security-sensitive materials” to make sure no such cargo is left on a train left unattended or unsecured in the event of a work stoppage, the Association of American Railroads, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, and BNSF Railway all said in news releases or messages to […]
The chief executives of CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific say their railroads are on the mend as more newly hired conductors enter active duty, operations are slowly improving, and freight demand remains strong. All three railroads are trying to hire conductors as quickly as possible to help ease crew shortages that have gummed […]
WASHINGTON — Five of the seven Class I railroads operating in the U.S. were revenue adequate in 2021, the Surface Transportation Board said on Tuesday. Being revenue adequate means a railroads achieved a rate of return equal to or greater than the board’s calculation of the average cost of capital to the freight rail industry. […]
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — BNSF Railway has reached a tentative agreement with the union representing 500 of regional Montana Rail Link’s 1,200 employees. MRL announced on Jan. 10 that it was terminating its lease with BNSF and that the Class I railroad would resume operations and maintenance of the former Northern Pacific main line [see “Montana […]
