WASHINGTON — A brake system failure — which included an air flow restriction and the failure of an end-of-train device to respond to an emergency brake command — was the probable cause of the October 2018 runaway and subsequent collision that killed two Union Pacific crewmen on Sherman Hill in Wyoming, the National Transportation Safety Board […]
Friday afternoon rail news: Montana’s Bky Sky Passenger Rail Authority elects Strohmaier as president Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier, the driving force behind the effort to create Montana’s Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, will serve as first president of the organization, the Missoula Current reports. In its second official meeting on Wednesday, the organization learned that […]
SAN DIEGO — TuSimple, one of the companies aiming to develop self-driving trucks, has added Canadian National CEO JJ Ruest to its newly created executive advisory board. The announcement, which the San Diego-based company made this week, comes after CN was among the investors in a $350 million round of funding for the trucking startup. […]
NEW YORK — “In the old time,” Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, “you arrived at Pennsylvania Station at the train platform. You went up the stairs to heaven. Make that Manhattan. And we shall have it again.” The late U.S. Senator from New York, who died in 2003, never got to see his words emblazoned […]
Friday morning rail news: Executive order requires masks on trains, transit, other modes of transportation President Joe Biden has signed an executive order mandating use of face coverings on trains, public transit, planes, intercity busses, and in airports, the Washington Post reports. The newspaper says that order and one signed Wednesday requiring masks on federal […]
KANSAS CITY. Mo. — Kansas City Southern, which reported fourth-quarter and full-year earnings growth today, expects revenue to grow at least 11% this year as cross-border petroleum and intermodal traffic continue to soar. “We feel very good about 2021 and beyond,” CEO Pat Ottensmeyer told investors and analysts on the railroad’s earnings call on Friday […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The coronavirus pandemic has hit Kansas City Southern de Mexico particularly hard, with up to 15% of the railroad’s train crews out on leave due to COVID-19. On a typical day, about 5% of train crews systemwide mark off due to coronavirus on both sides of the border, KCS executives said […]
More Friday morning rail news: MTA CEO says agency will avoid service cuts, layoffs Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Patrick J. Foye says the agency will avoid service cuts and layoffs thanks to about $4 billion it will receive from the latest coronavirus stimulus package. Foye told WCBS Radio the agency was “out of the woods,” for 2021, […]
Thursday morning rail transit news: Utah Transit Authority looks to build bus line, rather than light rail, to serve Draper project The Utah Transit Authority has scrapped plans for a light rail line between Draper and Lehi, Utah, opting instead to pursue construction of a bus rapid transit line. The Salt Lake Tribune reports the […]
Thursday morning rail news: BART accepting applications for railcar reuse proposals Bay Area Rapid Transit is now accepting applications for proposals to reuse cars it is planning to retire. In a press release, the transit agency says the majority of cars will be recycled and used for parts, but it is soliciting proposals from museums, […]
WASHINGTON — Amit Bose has been named deputy administrator for the Federal Railroad Adminstration and Nuria Fernandez the deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, part of a group of more than three dozen appointments to the U.S. Department of Transportation announced today by the Biden Administration. “This experienced team looks forward to getting right […]
WASHINGTON — If Americans now have a train enthusiast in the White House, they soon will have one at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, testified Thursday to the Senate Commerce Committee, a precursor to his likely confirmation by the full Senate. The committee’s chairman, Mississippi Republican […]
