LOMBARD, Ill. — One final batch of notes from this week’s Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting, marking the organization’s 100th anniversary: Blending cultures Merging railroads can be difficult, simply as a matter of blending cultures. The Penn Central merger famously was hindered by the clashing views of longtime competitors Pennsylvania and New York […]
LA BROQUERIE, Manitoba — Twenty-seven cars of a Canadian Nation train derailed Thursday, Jan. 11, in rural Manitoba, CTV News reports. The derailment occurred about 7:15 p.m. No injuries were reported; CN told the network that there were no leaks or fires and the derailment posed no risk to the public. Cause of the incident […]
Last year’s merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, the two smallest Class I systems, has turned out to be the little spark that has ignited a lot of railroad competition. Skeptics have scoffed at Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s meandering route from the Midwest to the Mexican border at Laredo, Texas. It’s got more […]
LOMBARD, Ill. — A lot has happened since Class I railroads averted a strike in 2022. CEOs and other officials at the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting were happy to point to progress in labor relations. Which is good, because — believe it or not — the whole national contract process is about […]
LOMBARD, Ill. — The man behind the rail industry’s burst of cooperative competition (or, if you prefer, competitive cooperation) came to the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting — an event focusing a lot of attention on such alliances — and said it was all good. Understandably, CPKC CEO Keith Creel said his company’s […]
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has urged federal regulators to squash BNSF Railway’s request to gain access a proposed short line railroad in Utah. Last month BNSF told the Surface Transportation Board that it should have the right to connect with the Savage Tooele Railroad due to trackage rights it was granted over UP’s Shafter Subdivision […]
The Panama Canal Railway, which saw a 20% increase in container traffic last summer due to drought conditions affecting water levels in the Panama Canal, got another boost this week. Maersk, the largest container shipping line, announced yesterday that shipments bound to and from Australia and New Zealand are being diverted to the Panama Canal […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway completed a record year for employee safety in 2023 by posting the lowest injury frequency rate in the company’s history. BNSF’s 37,000 employees operated its 32,500-mile network without loss of life, and with the fewest number of employee injuries ever, the railway said today. Employee injury rates decreased more […]
BEAUFORT, S.C. — OptiFuel Systems will begin testing a prototype 5,600-hp zero-emissions renewable natural gas road locomotive and a companion 2,500-hp fuel tender next January at the Federal Railroad Administration’s Transportation Technology Center, the company announced today. After testing the prototype Total-Zero Renewable Natural Gas Line Haul Locomotive for 12 months, OptiFuel aims to launch […]
WASHINGTON — A coalition of labor unions representing railroad shop workers has asked the Federal Railroad Administration and Surface Transportation Board to take five steps to improve safety and service on the Class I railroads. In an 81-page letter posted on the STB website this week, the unions say the implementation of the low-cost Precision […]
LOMBARD, Ill. — Notes from Day 1 of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting: Border battle Union Pacific found itself involved in headlines not of its own making in December when U.S. Customs and Border Protection shut down border rail gateways at Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, quickly throwing U.S-Mexico rail traffic […]
LOMBARD, Ill. — The theme may not be new, but the emphasis seems to be increasing. The idea that railroads need to work together — and that doing so can be beneficial to all parties, not just the railroads involved, but their customers as well — was a recurring topic during the first day of […]
