FRA announces availability of $2.4 billion in CRISI grant funding

Logo for Federal Railroad Administration

WASHINGTON — The application process has begun for more than $2.4 billion in funding through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements, or CRISI, grant program, the Federal Railroad Administration has announced. The Notice of Funding Opportunity issued today includes funding for Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024 and is available for projects to improve U.S. […]

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CN derailment reported in Sarnia, Ontario

Canadian National logo

SARNIA, Ontario — Fourteen cars of a Canadian National train, including three tank cars carrying liquified petroleum gas, have derailed this morning as the train entered the railroad’s Sarnia yard, CKNX Radio reports. No leaks have been reported. At least one grade crossing, at St. Andrew Street, has been blocked by the derailment. No other […]

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U.S. weekly rail traffic once again shows increase

Weekly table showing U.S. carload traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal traffic

WASHINGTON — Once again carried by intermodal traffic, weekly U.S. rail volume remained above 2023 levels for the ninth straight week, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending March 23, total traffic was 470,593 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.1% compared to the corresponding week a year earlier. The […]

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Built by Others: Cody Grivno’s Red Wing Division

Overall photo of HO scale model railroad

Built by Others in an article series showing layouts constructed by modelers using plans and projects from the pages of Model Railroader and its associated products. The Soo Line Red Wing Division originally appeared in the December 1994 issue. In this installment on Cody Grivno’s Red Wing Division, MR’s senior editor shares how he adapted […]

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Broken rail caused 2021 CP potash derailment, TSB determines

Cleanup of derailment scene

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — An undetected rail flaw that led to a broken rail as the train passed over it caused the derailment of a Canadian Pacific potash train at Silton, Saskatchewan in October 2021, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in an investigation report released today (Tuesday, March 26). The incident occurred at 5:02 […]

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BNSF continuing cleanup after Monday derailment in New Mexico

BNSF Railway logo

SOCORRO, N.M. — BNSF Railway is estimating it will reopen its main line at approximately 7 a.m. local time Wednesday after a Monday, March 25, derailment of an undetermined number of railcars near Socorro. The railroad indicated in an advisory to customers that the derailment occurred about 10 p.m. KOB-TV reports that no one was […]

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NTSB looks at NS rules, procedures, and training as investigation of three-train Pennsylvania incident continues

Scene of three-train derailment along river

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board is looking at Norfolk Southern rules, procedures, and crew training relating to train handling as it continues its investigation into the collision and derailment involving three trains that occurred March 2 in Lower Saucon Township, Pa., according to the preliminary investigation report issued today (Tuesday, March 26). The […]

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STB asked to head off potential shortage of boxcars

Blue-and-white boxcars in train with tree

WASHINGTON — The Railway Supply Institute, the trade group representing the companies that build and lease freight cars, today asked federal regulators to take action that would prevent the North American boxcar fleet from hurtling over a looming retirement cliff. The problem: Boxcars are being scrapped at a faster rate than they are being built. […]

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Activist investor group would put Norfolk Southern back on PSR path, reduce operating ratio to 57%

Black diesels with high short hoods work at yard

CLEVELAND — An activist investor group says its proposed Norfolk Southern management team would improve the railroad’s operations, service, and profitability by jettisoning CEO Alan Shaw’s resilience strategy and adopting the low-cost Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model. In a letter to shareholders today, Ancora Holdings says its plan for NS would cut costs, focus on […]

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Union Railroad buys land at former steel plant for transload facility

Map of the Union Railroad

DUQUESNE, Pa. — Pittsburgh’s Union Railroad is buying 13 acres of the former U.S. Steel Duquesne Works to develop a transload facility, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The railroad purchased the land from the Regional Industrial Development Corp. for $400,000 to develop a facility for truck-to-rail and rail-to-truck transloading, according to the development agency’s president, Don […]

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