April rail traffic declines slightly from year ago

AAR traffic data chart for week ending April 9

WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic for April remains slightly below 2021 levels in the latest statistics released by the Association of American Railroads. U.S. rail traffic for the week ending April 9, 2022, was 508,343 carloads and intermodal units, down 1% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending […]

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BNSF donates rebuilt SD9 to Minnesota museum

sd9 locomotive pulling train

DULUTH, Minn. — BNSF Railway has donated a rebuilt SD9 to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth. BNSF 1550 was built in February 1954 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors for the Great Northern Railway as No. 573. EMD built 515 SD9s between 1954 and 1959. No. 573 worked for many years in Superior, […]

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Ethanol producers complain about snarled rail service

Surface Transportation Board logo

WASHINGTON – The trade group representing ethanol producers has told federal regulators that its members are experiencing significant rail service delays and disruptions that could lead to higher gasoline prices. “While we certainly understand that a variety of factors have contributed to these rail disruptions, it is imperative that all possible actions be taken by […]

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Federal regulators to hold hearings on rail service problems

Surface Transportation Board logo

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have ordered officials from BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific to appear a two-day hearing this month regarding ongoing rail service problems. The Surface Transportation Board announced on Thursday that it will hold the public hearings on April 26 and 27. The announcement comes in the wake of […]

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Union blames train crew shortage on cutbacks related to Precision Scheduled Railroading (updated)

Logo of SMART-TD union

WASHINGTON — Ongoing service problems related to crew shortages on the U.S. Class I railroads are entirely self-inflicted due to the implementation of Precision Scheduled Railroading, the SMART Transportation Division labor union has told federal regulators. “The freight rail network is at a breaking point,” union President Jeremy Ferguson wrote in an April 1 letter […]

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Service improvements are on the way, BNSF tells grain shippers

BNSF FreightCar America 5204 covered hopper.

WASHINGTON – BNSF Railway is taking several steps to improve its service to grain shippers, including boosting crew and locomotive availability, CEO Katie Farmer wrote in a letter to the National Grain and Feed Association this week. The trade group representing grain shippers complained to the Surface Transportation Board last week regarding deteriorating service from […]

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BNSF worker in Denver accident killed in fall from locomotive

Aerial photo of railroad yard with accident notations

WASHINGTON — A BNSF Railway employee was killed when he fell from the front of a locomotive he was operating using remote control, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on a Feb. 9, 2022, accident at a Denver rail yard. The incident at BNSF’s Globeville Yard in downtown Denver was originally […]

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Grain shippers complain about delays on BNSF, NS, and UP

Freight train passing grain elevator

WASHINGTON — The trade group representing grain producers says severe delays on BNSF Railway, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific have forced its members to shut down flour mills as well as feed mills that produce food for livestock. The National Grain and Feed Association outlined the rail service problems in a letter posted to the […]

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Manitoba announces plan for rail park at inland port

Aerial illustration of rail park near Winnipeg

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Province of Manitoba has announced an agreement with a major real estate developer for a 665-acre, rail-served industrial park as part of an existing inland port. Focus Equities Inc. will build the CentrePort Canada Rail Park as part of the 20,000-acre CentrePort Canada in the Rural Municipality of Rosser, northwest of […]

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Unions turn to arbitration in effort to strike down BNSF attendance policies

Logos for BLET, SMART-TD unions

CLEVELAND — The two unions who were blocked from striking over new BNSF Railway attendance policies imposed by BNSF Railway seek to overturn those rules through arbitration. In a statement Wednesday, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division said they would “proceed as […]

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