Top regulator urges railroads to focus on growth

man in suit speaking

CHICAGO — Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman stepped up his criticism of Class I railroads on Wednesday, saying the industry’s drive for ever-increasing profits resulted in a loss of market share to trucks over the past 15 years and is restraining growth today. Rail rates fell by 27% between 1985 and 2004, as […]

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News photo: BNSF makes progress on second Sandpoint bridge

Train crossing bridge next to another bridge under construction

Much progress has been made on BNSF’s second bridge across Lake Pend Oreille outside Sandpoint, Idaho. Rolling through on the existing 4,769-foot bridge (completed by Northern Pacific in 1904) on Sept. 5th is train H-BARPAS, a Barstow, Calif., to Pasco, Wash., manifest that detoured via Denver due to wildfire damage on BNSF’s route in northern […]

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BNSF calls Chicago intermodal operations ‘extremely challenged’

Containers stacked under cranes

CHICAGO — BNSF is informing customers that conditions at its four Chicago-area intermodal facilities — Corwith, Cicero, Willow Springs, and Logistics Park Chicago in Elwood, Ill. — are “extremely challenged” because of “a substantial number of staged inbound trains and elevated inventory levels.” It is asking customers to prioritize pick-up of trailers and containers at […]

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Norfolk Southern reports flooding issues in Northeast

Norfolk Southern logo

NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern is experiencing storm-related disruptions to freight service in the Northeast even as it and other railroads continue to recover from the effects of Hurricane Ida in New Orleans. In a service alert, the railroad said several NS facilities and lines are experiencing flooding and in some cases are inaccessible because […]

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Analysis: Merger hopes dashed, CN now faces fierce backlash

JJ Ruest standing in front of trains

There is no joy in Mudville – er, Montreal – today because the mighty CN has struck out. Canadian National suffered a stinging defeat on Tuesday when U.S. federal regulators effectively killed its proposed merger with Kansas City Southern. CN won’t get to create the first railway connecting Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. And it […]

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NTSB to investigate three-train collision in Minnesota

National Transportation Safety Board logo

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The National Transportation Safety Board is sending investigators to the site of a Wednesday collision involving Canadian Pacific, Union Pacific, and BNSF Railway trains. The Associated Press reports the accident occurred about 5 p.m. Wednesday, with a Canadian Pacific spokesman saying it led to the derailment of two CP locomotives, one […]

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NARS meeting adds online option

North American Rail Shippers logo

CHICAGO — The North American Rail Shippers Association has added an online participation option to its annual meeting, to be held in Chicago Sept. 7-9. “To make attending as convenient as possible we have added online options because we know there is still uncertainty about traveling due to COVID-19,” NARS President Tom Tisa said in a […]

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Illinois DOT announces project to unsnarl junction near St. Louis

Freight train crosses tracks near building being demolished

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Department of Transportation has announced a $10.1 million project to improve rail operations in Mitchell, Ill., northeast of St. Louis. The project will reconfigure rail lines and replace a 97-year-old interlocking tower, with funding from six sources: $5.1 million from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvments […]

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BNSF train derails in North Dakota

BNSF Railway logo

BISMARCK, N.D. — Approximately 15 cars of a BNSF coal train derailed Sunday afternoon in Bismarck, KX TV news reports. No injuries were reported. Bismarck police and fire and the Burleigh County Sheriff’s responded to the incident just outside the southeast border of the city limits. The derailment initially blocked one roadway, Yegen Road, but […]

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