ROCHELLE, Ill. — The Rochelle City Council has approved more than $30,000 for the first part of a three-phase plan to upgrade the Rochelle Railroad Park, the popular facility at the crossing of BSNF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad main lines. The Rochelle News-Leader reports that at a Monday meeting, the council approved a $30,750 […]
Railroad: BNSF
News Photo: Bicentennial SD45-2 on the move
Former Santa Fe bicentennial diesel No. 5704 is on its way to its new home in California. Photographer William Tollett caught the SD45-2, restored to its mid-1970s paint scheme earlier this year, on Thursday, June 23, at Panhandle, Texas, on BNSF Railway train ZPLKLAC6-22. The locomotive was donated to the Southern California Railroad Museum in […]
BNSF aims to prevent a Fourth of July meltdown by limiting traffic bound for California
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway’s decision to meter a broad range of carload traffic bound for California beginning next week is aimed at preventing congestion from worsening on the busy Southern Transcon during the Fourth of July holiday period when many crews mark off. The west end of the Southern Transcon, which carries 80 […]
Beset by congestion, BNSF to limit carload traffic bound for California
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway will limit carload traffic bound for California through the end of July as it struggles to overcome congestion related to crew shortages and bad weather along portions of its Southern Transcon. The railroad made the permit embargo announcement in a Thursday advisory to customers. It will take effect on […]
Family of Metra passenger killed in May accident files suit
CHICAGO — The family of a Metra passenger killed in a May 11 grade-crossing accident has filed suit against the commuter agency and BNSF Railway, as well as the moving company whose truck was involved in the accident and the driver of the truck. The Daily Herald reports the suit filed Wednesday in Cook County […]
Illinois grain shipper opposes CN request to force CP and KCS to divest Springfield Line as part of merger
WASHINGTON — A major grain shipper opposes Canadian National’s effort to force Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern to divest the KCS line linking Springfield, Ill., and Kansas City. Earlier this year CN asked the Surface Transportation Board to condition approval of the CP-KCS merger on divestiture of KCS’s Springfield Line. CN promises to spend […]
Supreme Court won’t hear Oklahoma crossing-law case
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a lower-court ruling striking down an Oklahoma law allowing railroads to be fined for blocking grade crossings longer than 10 minutes. The Oklahoman newspaper reports the court turned down without comment Oklahoma’s appeal of a decision by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which […]
How Wall Street holds railroads hostage: Analysis
The U.S. Class I railroads’ recurring crew shortages, related bouts of service problems, and a lack of meaningful volume growth are intertwined. You can lay the blame for all three problems at just one place: Wall Street. BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific are in the midst of the mother of all […]
NTSB releases preliminary report on collision that killed Metra passenger
CLARENDON HILLS, Ill. — A truck struck by a Metra commuter train was rotated by the impact, causing substantial damage to the train’s cab car and resulting in the death of a passenger, according to a preliminary report issued Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board. The preliminary report sets out basic facts of the […]
Issue with trackside walking space likely a factor in BNSF crew member’s death, NTSB says
WASHINGTON — A BNSF Railway conductor was working in an area “with insufficient walking space available … to perform trackside duties” when he was struck and killed during a switching move, the National Transportation Safety Board said in describing the probable cause of an April 2021 accident in Louisiana, Mo. The NTSB accident report, completed […]
Regulators scold railroads over recovery plans, order improvements
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board, making clear its unhappiness with service recovery plans filed by the four largest U.S. Class I railroads, will require those railroads to correct deficiencies in service recovery plans submitted to the board, and to provide additional information on how they plan to improve service and communication with customers. At […]
Stabilization plan to protect rail line on Del Mar Bluffs is approved
DEL MAR, Calif. — The California Coastal Commission has approved the San Diego Association of Governments’ stabilization plans for the Del Mar Bluffs, despite objections to parts of the project from the North County Transit District as well as residents. The San Diego Union reports that at a Wednesday, June 8, meeting, the commission unanimously […]