ROCKHILL, Pa. — Rail entrepreneur Henry Posner wants to make passenger service more affordable and more available. He calls it Pop Up Metro, and to do it, he’s betting on batteries, remanufactured British multiple unit cars, and a bold business model to reduce the risk to potential rail operators. If it were anyone but Posner, […]
BALTIMORE — The B&O Railroad Museum has launched a new website, borail.org, giving the Baltimore museum the first update of its online presence in more than a decade. Designed in conjunction with marketing firm Mission, the new site offers highlights from the museum’s collection, access to its digital archives, virtual tours, and other features. “The […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has reaffirmed its previous approval of a voting trust for the proposed merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, saying the approval granted for CP’s original bid for KCS applies to the amended notice of the companies’ intent to merge. In May, the STB approved the planned use […]
Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman ruffled some feathers this month when he said railroads’ drive for ever-increasing profits resulted in a loss of market share to trucks over the past 15 years and continues to restrain growth today. Oberman cited STB figures that show a decline in rail traffic between 2006 and 2019 […]
WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board is renewing a call for Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration to end the practice of using watchmen to notify track worker of approaching trains in areas where positive train control offers additional safety features. The recommendation comes in a report issued Thursday on the NTSB’s investigation of […]
Progress Rail and Norfolk Southern have unveiled the first GP34ECO locomotive, built for yard and intermediate operations to meet Environmental Protection Agency Tier 4 emission standards. The locomotive, intended to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 90% compared to older locomotives, is currently undergoing testing for EPA certification. It is powered by a 3,000-hp 12-710 EMD […]
WICHITA, Kan. — The Great Plains Transportation Museum will be offering rides behind a visiting steam locomotive over the next two weekends to raise funds for the restoration of its Santa Fe FP45, part of the railroad’s last order for passenger locomotives. The rides behind Lehigh Valley Coal Co. No. 126, a 0-6-0T built by […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration is seeking information that could shape safety rules for public transit workers regarding rail transit Roadway Worker Protection and worker assault prevention. The agency has issued a formal Request for Information seeking public comment in both areas. A notification in the Federal Register includes information on how to comment, […]
ALLENSWORTH, Calif. — Amtrak will offer special train service on Oct. 9 for a celebration at Col. Allensworth State Historic Park, site of a former Black settlement in the San Joaquin Valley. Four Amtrak San Joaquin trains in each direction will stop that day at the site of the former station in Allensworth, located near […]
Part two of a look at the U.S. coal industry. CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The COVID-19 pandemic may have shuttered economies and slowed industrial momentum, but a global rebound is helping coal producers refocus their long game on metallurgical coal investment as a broader initiative to diversify the sector. Met coal is a higher-priced coal used […]
WATERTOWN, N.Y. — New York Air Brake will launch a manufacturing operation in Acuna, Mexico, while laying off 125 workers of the approximately 400 workers at its Watertown, N.Y., plant, the company announced Wednesday. On Thursday, the Machinists Union, which represents the 125 workers to be laid off, announced it would fight the move. About […]
WASHINGTON — Reduced intermodal traffic continued to drop weekly U.S. rail volume below 2020 levels, despite an increase in carloads, according to the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending Sept. 25, U.S. railroads moved 511,713 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.3% from the corresponding week in 2020. That included […]
