Four railroads have filed lawsuits in federal court to block the Federal Railroad Administration’s requirement for two-person crews for most freight trains, the Associated Press reports. Union Pacific, BNSF Railway, the Indiana Rail Road, and Florida East Coast Railway filed individual suits this week in different appellate courts, all saying the rule is arbitrary, capricious, […]
Railroad: Union Pacific
Amtrak filing in Sunset Limited case says UP has failed to preserve key information
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific is not preserving dispatching information relevant to its handling of the Sunset Limited, Amtrak has claimed in a new filing with the Surface Transportation Board that asks the board to order UP to show cause why the railroad is not complying with an STB order to do so. The “petition to […]
Colorado bill to protect mountain rail lines for passenger service takes first step
DENVER — A bill that includes provisions to protect rail lines for Colorado’s proposed Denver-Craig rail service, even if coal traffic drops below sustainable levels, has cleared its first step in the state Senate. SB24-190, sponsored by Sen. Dylan Roberts (D-Frisco), also enhances the ability of the state to sell the Moffat Tunnel, which it […]
Big Boy’s ‘Westward Bound Tour’ to begin June 30
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Evolving plans for this year’s tour by Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 now call for the locomotive to make what the railroad is calling its “Westward Bound Tour” beginning Sunday, June 30, traveling to Roseville, Calif., and returning to its home base in Cheyenne by the end of July. At this […]
Union Pacific seeks more time to address operating questions in STB Sunset Limited case
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific is seeking more time to address one aspect of the Surface Transportation Board case regarding issues with on-time performance of the Sunset Limited. In a filing earlier this week, the railroad requested a 90-day extension to address “narrative explanations of the root cases” of specific delays of 90 minutes or more […]
CPKC, shipper urge STB to resolve Texas trackage rights dispute
WASHINGTON — Canadian Pacific Kansas City says it has shippers lined up to export grain through the ports of Houston and Galveston, but they’re awaiting a regulatory decision regarding whether unit trains can move over Union Pacific trackage rights south of Beaumont, Texas. CPKC told the Surface Transportation Board last week that it has four […]
News Photos: Chocolate factory closure further reduces downtown Chicago rail customers
CHICAGO — One of the last industries still receiving freight rail service in downtown Chicago — and one that gave its neighborhood a distinct aroma — is calling it quits. Blommer Chocolate will close its factory at 600 W. Kinzie Street at the end of May because of the increasing costs of running a facility […]
Union Pacific announces three executive retirements, multiple appointments
OMAHA — Union Pacific has announced the retirement of three executives, along with a series of appointments to new positions. Retiring are Shane Keller, senior vice president-operations, Northern Region; David Giandinoto, senior vice president-operations, Southern Region; and Lee Myers, assistant vice president-risk management, law. Keller has spent 33 years at UP, joining as an operations […]
North American Rail Shippers meeting set for April 30-May 2 in Chicago
CHICAGO — BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer and Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena are among those scheduled to speak at the annual meeting of the North American Rail Shippers, set for April 30-May 2 in Chicago. The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk hotel, 301 E. North Water Street, and is […]
The Yampa Valley arrives at Denver
Rio Grande train 10, the Yampa Valley, threads through Union Pacific’s 20th Street Yard at right and the Burlington’s coach yard at left to arrive at Denver Union Station in early 1965. The Yampa Valley was a daytime coach-and-mail train running to Craig, Colo. George H. Drury photo […]
STB orders Union Pacific to submit public versions of its employment data (updated)
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board on Thursday denied Union Pacific’s request for a protective order that would have put a cloak of confidentiality over the temporary employment data the railroad is required to submit. In its decision, the board also directed UP to submit public versions of previously submitted data. UP submitted its petition […]
Class I railroad news nuggets too interesting to ignore
Notes from presentations by Class I railroad officials today (March 13) at the 2024 J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference: Football fever on Union Pacific In January and February, Union Pacific’s unionized railroaders used half of the eight new sick days that have been allotted for the year, CEO Jim Vena says. “On top of that for […]