LONDON — Activist investor TCI Fund Management says it will call for a special meeting of Canadian National shareholders to nominate at least five new members of the board of directors, and has hired shareholder advisory and communications firm Kingsdale Advisors to help halt CN’s pursuit of Kansas City Southern. Chris Hohn, TCI founder and […]
Third German rail strike ends
BERLIN — Germany’s third and longest rail strike in a month ended Tuesday morning, with national rail operator Deutsche Bahn saying it would work quickly to restore full operations. Broadcaster DW reports about 19,700 train drivers had taken part in the walkout that began Sept. 1 and was the second-longest ever for the rail network. […]
News photos: CSX tweaks logo on locomotives
CSX Transportation has readapted its traditional gold-and-blue ‘Dark Future’ paint scheme, doing away with the boxcar brackets that have been on all new deliveries and repaints since 2012. This time, the rendering features a small twist with the addition of the railroad’s website URL underneat the ‘X’ in the bottom righthand corner. Here, CSX AC4400CW […]
California’s SMART to restore full commuter-train schedule
PETALUMA, Calif. — Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit will use federal stimulus funds to restore full service, but will expects to need six months to do so. The Marin Independent Journal reports that, in a board meeting last week, SMART officials said the receipt of $3.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act money would allow the […]
Jury rules for CSX in suit by pedestrian hit by train
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A jury has found the crew of a CSX Transportation freight train was not negligent in its operations when the train struck and seriously injured a pedestrian in a 2013 accident. The Altoona Mirror reports that the jury in the federal civil case, contested in U.S. District Court in Johnston, found the […]
Amtrak New York-Albany service, Metro-North Hudson Line operations to resume Tuesday
NEW YORK — The last Amtrak and Metro-North services which had been shut down by the remnants of Hurricane Ida will return to action Tuesday — while all of New York’s subways are already back in action Work by Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers south of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Amtrak crews north to Rensselaer is allowing […]
Kansas City Southern moves toward a merger agreement with Canadian Pacific (updated)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City Southern is inching toward making Canadian Pacific its merger partner. KCS said today that it will begin merger discussions with CP after its board unanimously determined that CP’s Aug. 10 bid could be deemed superior to the agreement it reached with Canadian National in May. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board’s […]
Pullman cars return to their birthplace for weekend open house
CHICAGO — A heavyweight business car and two lightweight sleepers will return to their birthplace as part of this weekend’s grand opening of the Pullman National Monument Visitor Center on Chicago’s South Side. The cars, built by Pullman or Pullman-Standard between 1928 and 1955, will be available for tours Saturday and Sunday at Metra’s 111th […]
Chasing Big Boy 4014 to Las Vegas
Crowds for Big Boy 4014’s 2019 and 2021 tours have been immense. I haven’t taken part in any concerted effort to chase for these tours, but I got a taste of the madness back in 2014 when Big Boy moved from Southern California to Cheyenne, Wyo., for restoration. I covered it for two days with […]
BNSF calls Chicago intermodal operations ‘extremely challenged’
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 […]
UP, KCS restore service to New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS — Union Pacific has reopened its line between St. James, La., and New Orleans, after Kansas City Southern restored service on Thursday. In a Friday notification to customers, UP said it has generators in place to operate signals and crossing gates until power is restored. The railroad’s Avondale, La., intermodal terminal remains closed […]
Activist investor says it is building support for CN management changes
TORONTO — Activist investor TCI Fund Management says it is building support among other shareholders for its effort to replace Canadian National’s CEO and board chairman in the wake of the regulatory setback for CN’s effort to purchase Kansas City Southern. The Toronto Globe and Mail, in a paywalled article, reports TCI partner Ben Walker […]