HOUSTON — Union Pacific will adjust its operations to avoid running trains during the primary arrival and departure times for students at a Houston high school, the railroad said today (Tuesday, Dec. 17). The move on a UP line adjacent to Houston’s Milby High School comes after a 15-year-old student was killed while crossing the […]
For many of us today, Amtrak has been the only inter-city passenger railroad. While the six Class I railroads can find passenger trains in component railroads, only the Union Pacific has a direct corporate lineage to passenger service. Long gone is the competition between railroads to provide a better passenger train experience. Also, in the […]
CHICAGO — Speaking today at an event to celebrate new grants for Chicago’s CREATE project, U.S. Sen. Dick Durban (D-Ill.) called on passenger carriers and freight operators to reach an agreement wrapping up details of a federal grant application for the Chicago Hub Improvement Program, which would involve infrastructure work in the region as well […]
CHICAGO — If there were two messages hammered home during a press conference to celebrate the latest federal funding for the CREATE project, they were these: CREATE may be a local program, but it has national implications. And it is the textbook example of public-private partnership. The event today (Friday, Dec. 13) was to mark […]
Wyoming and Montana filed a federal lawsuit yesterday that seeks to overturn the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to end coal-mining leases in the Powder River Basin, which is the main source of coal hauled by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific. BLM issued its final decision on coal leases last month. The move came after […]
CHICAGO — Artificial intelligence is weaving itself into the daily operations of big U.S. railroads, helping managers make data-backed decisions about operating plans and identify trends among virtually any process. As railroads migrate from mainframe-based systems to cloud-based platforms with real-time data components, railroads are plugging in generative AI — machine-learning tools — to make […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has again extended the mediation process for Union Pacific and Metra as they try to work out the details of the transfer of Metra operation on three UP-owned routes. The board granted UP’s request — agreed to by Metra — to extend the mediation period through Jan. 31, 2025. […]
HOUSTON — The mayor of Houston says the city will build a pedestrian bridge over Union Pacific tracks where a high school student was killed earlier this week, and wants the railroad to pay for at least some of the project. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Mayor John Whitmore […]
WASHINGTON — Genesee & Wyoming short line Central Oregon & Pacific will lease and operate nearly 28 miles of Union Pacific trackage in the Eugene, Ore., area as part of its deal to take over the Class I railroad’s local switching operations. Details about the transaction, which was announced yesterday, appeared in a regulatory filing […]
Genesee & Wyoming short line Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad will take over local service from Union Pacific’s Eugene Yard in Oregon, in a move the railroads said will improve service for local customers. The change allows UP to reduce the number of times a railcar is handled and create greater efficiencies, while providing more […]
SPARKS, Nev. — Union Pacific is planning to tear down a 120-year-old machine shop in Sparks, Nev., to the disappointment of preservationists, but will offer residents a chance to retain a piece of the historic building. The city and railroad have announced that UP will make bricks from the structure — older than the city of […]
BAYTOWN, Texas — Approximately 12 cars derailed after one Union Pacific train rear-ended another on Friday night, sending two cars into a canal that feeds Houston’s water supply, KTRK-TV reports. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office reported the incident about 8 p.m. on social media, and said no injuries were reported and no hazardous materials were […]
