WASHINGTON — The latest weekly U.S. rail traffic figures show a massive increase over the same week last year — a reflection of a week in 2021 when rail traffic experienced massive weather disruptions. Statistics from the Association of American Railroads show U.S. railroads handled 497,822 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Feb. […]
WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation has asked for a delay in the evidentiary phase of the Surface Transportation Board hearing over Amtrak Gulf Coast service — but the public will not be informed why. A filing posted to the STB website today (Wednesday, Feb. 23) says the railroad “does not likely make this request, given the […]
WASHINGTON — Canadian National says its proposed acquisition of Kansas City Southern’s Springfield Line would enable it to divert 80,000 long-haul truck shipments to rail annually by creating a new route linking Kansas City and St. Louis with Michigan and Eastern Canada. The traffic projection — 33% more truck diversions than Canadian Pacific and KCS […]
PHILADELPHIA — The opening of the trial of the former Amtrak engineer at the controls for the fatal 2015 derailment of Northeast Regional train No. 188 has been delayed. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the trial of Brandon Bostian, which had been scheduled to begin Tuesday, is now expected to start no sooner than Thursday […]
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s legislature is moving to pass a law that would require Union Pacific to use yard locomotives powered “wholly by a hydrogen fuel cell or electric power” in Salt Lake City no later than Jan. 1, 2028 — despite the railroad’s contention that the bill mandates an action not yet technologically […]
WASHINGTON — Chicago commuter operator Metra has asked the Surface Transportation Board for more time to file comments on the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, saying CP had originally “filed a false response” to Metra’s request for information, and only recently provided an incomplete set of documents Metra says it needs to assess the […]
Winter hit Southern Ontario hard over the Feb. 19-20 weekend. A widespread blizzard whipped up snow for hundreds of miles, accumulating on rights of way and proving especially difficult on Canadian National and Southern Ontario Railway branch lines in Southwestern Ontario. CN’s north mainline is an internal short line, operated by crews formerly of the […]
WASHINGTON — A conductor at an Illinois short line was killed when he was pulled off his train by the gate he was attempting to open while entering an industrial track, according to the final report on a November 2020 accident issued Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board. The 35-year-old conductor of the Decatur […]
SANTA FE, N.M. — Sky Railway, the tourist railroad between Santa Fe and Lamy, N.M., on the former Santa Fe Southern, is adding an original Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Super Chief lounge car for operations beginning this spring. The Acoma, which made its debut in 1937, is the last operating car from the original […]
DeLAND, Fla. — The Florida Department of Transportation has received four bids — all below its $44 million estimate — for the planned 12-mile extension of commuter railroad SunRail, but a bid protest by one of the contractors is delaying the award process. The West Volusia Beacon reports the four bids range from $32.9 million […]
The LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, which operates Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliners, is rolling out improved wi-fi on its 351-mile route between San Luis Obispo, Calif., and San Diego. “We know the importance of providing stable Wi-Fi for our passengers,” Donna DeMartino, LOSSAN Agency Managing Director, said in a press release. “Whatever the purpose of their travel, […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — A U.S. District Court Judge has again prohibited unions from striking BNSF Railway over new attendance policies, granting an injunction and saying the railroad is likely to prevail in arbitration, and that the strike would cause irreparable harm to the railroad. The heads of the unions involved in the dispute say […]
