Saturday morning rail news: Brightline severs ties with Virgin, will retain current name, image Florida passenger operator Brightline says it has ended its agreement with Richard Branson’s Virgin Enterprises and will retain its Brightline name and image, although Virgin may challenge termination of the two companies’ licensing agreement. Forbes reports that Brightline reported the move […]
CHICAGO – The Surface Transportation Board is declining to intervene in an ongoing dispute between Metra and Union Pacific – for now. In a decision published Wednesday, the STB is holding a decision on its jurisdiction in abeyance and has directed both parties to inform the agency of any rulings issued by the federal district […]
CALGARY, Alberta – Canadian Pacific reaffirmed its commitment to grow traffic at the Port of Saint John and stimulate economic growth and investment in New Brunswick at a meeting with Premier Blaine Higgs on Thursday. With its purchase of the Central Maine & Quebec Railway, CP makes its return to Atlantic Canada with an exceptional […]
FORT WORTH, Texas – BNSF Railway takes a long-term view and will continue to invest in maintaining and expanding its network every year even during economic downturns, Chief Operating Officer Katie Farmer says. “As our volume fluctuates, our job is basically to match our resources with that demand,” Farmer says, in terms of the railroad’s […]
TEMPE, Ariz. – Union Pacific expects to reopen the derailment-damaged bridge, and thus its line to Phoenix, “late next week,” the railroad has told customers in a service update. “Our Engineering and Operating teams have been working around the clock. All debris and damaged rail equipment have been removed and repairs to the bridge are […]
Second in a series NEW ORLEANS – Centralized decision-making dominated Amtrak’s management philosophy both before and after Tom Downs’ stint as president between 1993 and 1998, but his belief that service, revenue, and expense managing choices had to be made close to the customer fueled the return to daily frequencies. To rectify the situation Downs […]
FORT WORTH, Texas – BNSF Railway is now able to handle a surge in domestic intermodal volume in Southern California that caught the entire supply chain by surprise starting in late June. “At BNSF we really saw our demand pick up about 30% in some of our key hubs – at Hobart in Southern California, […]
Wednesday morning rail news in brief: Work continues at Tempe derailment site The Federal Bureau of Investigation has completed its investigation into the July 29 derailment of a Union Pacific freight in Tempe, Ariz., KJZZ-FM reports. The derailment and subsequent fire damaged a bridge over Town Lake and closed the railroad’s branch to Phoenix. A […]
CALGARY, Alberta – Canadian Pacific has hauled more Canadian grain and grain products in the 2019-2020 crop production year than any in its 139-year history. In total, CP moved 29.52 million metric tonnes this crop year, exceeding 2019’s record of 26.77 MMT by 10 percent. “The world depends on Canadian farmers for food and we […]
WASHINGTON – Amtrak has released renderings of the first new Siemens ALC-42 locomotives that will replace the GE P40 and P42 fleet on its national network, including all long distance and many state-sponsored routes. Five of the first six locomotives will have this version of the current Phase VI paint scheme, and one will be […]
TREGO, Wis. – With the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad’s purchase of the Mark Twain Zephyr completed, the first and certainly the most complex part of the restoration process has been moved to Trego from Gateway Rail Service in Madison, Ill. The Injun Joe locomotive arrived Saturday evening after being moved by Over the Top Construction […]
NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk Southern’s senior vice president of operations, Mike Farrell, has left the railroad, CEO Jim Squires announced in an email to employees on Monday. Farrell’s departure comes exactly one week after NS announced that UP executive Cindy Sanborn would be its next chief operating officer, effective Sept. 1. Current chief operating officer, […]
