Howard Street Tunnel project receives final environmental clearance

CSX logo

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Baltimore’s Howard Street Tunnel project has received final environmental approval, ending years of effort and clearing the way for construction to begin later this year. The project will increase clearances in the 1.4-mile tunnel, completed by the Baltimore & Ohio in 1890, allowing CSX to operate double-stack container trains to the Port […]

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San Diego-L.A. Surfliner schedule beefed up to meet surging demand

Blue and silver locomotive and passenger train at platform in front of skyscrapers

LOS ANGELES — Beginning Monday, June 28, the agency overseeing Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliners will add three daily Pacific Surfliner round trips between Los Angeles and San Diego, Calif., to the six that have been running since frequencies were last increased April 30. However, only three trains in each direction, plus Amtrak’s Los Angeles-Seattle Coast Starlight, […]

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Digest: Canada increases fines for rail trespassing, interfering with operations

Transport Canada logo

Canadian government stiffens fines for rail trespassing, interfering with operations The Canadian government is increasing fines for trespassing onto railroad property and interfering with railway operations. Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra announced Wednesday that fines for trespassing will increase from $100 to $500, while the fine for not giving way at railway crossings will increase […]

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U.S. rail traffic continues to outpace 2020 figures

Weekly table showing U.S. rail traffic volume

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic remains ahead of the pandemic-depressed levels of 2020, while the most recent week’s traffic shows a slight decline from the preceding seven-day period. Statistics from the Association of American Railroads show U.S. railroads moved a total of 514,112 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending June 19, a 12.5% […]

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Safety first

Man climbing between two coal hopper cars

Safety first Tethered at the waist to the car for safety, a mine employee rides a string of coal hoppers it coasts from the tipple down to yard. The cars will travel from Wharton No. 2 Mine near Barrett, W.Va., to Newport News, Va. W. A. Akin photo […]

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BNSF Railway working to clear congestion on Southern Transcon

Double-stack container train passing maintenance equipment

FORT WORTH, Texas – BNSF Railway says it’s working to clear a backlog of traffic on its busy Southern Transcon route linking Southern California and Chicago after a series of extreme weather events and a derailment. The weather included record high temperatures around 120 degrees and high winds on the western end of the Transcon, and […]

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CN announces 2021 capital plans for Canada

Canadian National logo

MONTREAL — Canadian National has released province-by-province plans for capital investments in its Canadian routes during 2021 as part of its C$3 billion capital plan. The railroad plans to replace more than 340 miles of rail in the eight provinces where it operates, in addition to bridge, culvert, signal, and general track infrastructure work across Canada. […]

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Digest: Local union groups file support for CN-KCS voting trust (updated)

Logo of SMART-TD union

Contradicting national leader, three local union groups support CN-KCS voting trust; another union also expresses support Three local committees of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union Transportation Division(SMART-TD) representing Canadian National workers have filed letters of support for the CN-Kansas City Southern voting trust proposal, CN says in a press release. The union’s […]

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Historical society and bookseller fighting eBay scam

Conrail Historical Society logo

If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. The president of the Conrail Historical Society, Inc., and a railroad bookseller are blowing the whistle on a scam that has resulted in fraudulent billing of hundreds if not thousands of dollars’ worth of railroad-hobby merchandise, using the online auction site eBay. They’re […]

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Brightline West bond effort pushed back to 2022

Rendering of green and white high speed train

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The effort to finance the Brightline West high speed rail line between Las Vegas, Nev., and Victorville, Calif., will wait until 2022. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Brightline spokesman Ben Porritt said the plan to seek funding through private activity bonds was being pushed back because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and […]

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