Trains editors present the week in railroad news for the week of Dec. 6, 2019. In this round-up, Jim and Steve talk about Union Pacific’s lawsuit over an 1800s contract, freight traffic trends, and Amtrak’s surprise box. Only from Trains! […]
Magazine: Trains Magazine
Chicago-area steel plant illustrates role of small businesses in new Acelas NEWSWIRE
![LB_Steel_1_Johnston](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/lb_steel_1_johnston.jpg)
A welder at the LB Steel factory in Harvey, Ill., works on a tilting transom for a new Acela trainset. Bob Johnston LB Steel Vice President David Abshire shows how the tilting transom sits on top of a trailer wheelset and connects it to the frame. Bob Johnston HARVEY, Ill. — How does a 35-year-old […]
CP, KCS to move Canadian oil sands bitumen to Texas in 10-year deal NEWSWIRE
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Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern will haul unit trains of heavy crude oil bitumen from Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast for the next decade under a deal with a trio of energy companies. The move, the first of its kind, is significant because it should allow railroads to participate in Canadian oil on […]
CP purchase of CM&Q will have little impact on Lac-Megantic bypass
![Fire-damaged town and derailed train](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/lac-megantic.jpg)
LAC–MÉGANTIC, Quebec — The Canadian government says the sale of the Central Maine & Quebec Railway to Canadian Pacific will have little impact on the plan to build a rail bypass around a town devastated by a 2013 oil train derailment. In 2018, the Canadian government announced it would help fund a $100 million effort […]
JB Hunt names incoming intermodal division leader NEWSWIRE
LOWELL, Ark. – Darren Field, 48, is slated to become J.B. Hunt Transport executive vice president and president of intermodal upon the April 1, 2020, retirement of Terry Matthews from that position. For the past few quarters J.B. Hunt has been working on the transition of leadership in intermodal, where the company derives more than […]
Metra, Union Pacific in talks that could change operating agreement NEWSWIRE
![Metra_UP_Harvard_Lassen](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/metra_up_harvard_lassen.jpg)
A Metra UP Northwest train arrives in Harvard, Ill., on Nov. 23, 2018. Metra and Union Pacific are in talks that could substantially change the nature of UP’s operating agreement with the commuter railroad. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — Union Pacific Railroad and Metra are in discussions that could give Metra some control of operations […]
New York MTA, transit union agree to new contract NEWSWIRE
![MTA](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/mta-3.jpg)
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has reached agreement with transit workers on a new contract after six months of sometimes contentious negotiations, averting a possible strike. Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano said in a statement that the union’s executive board would meet to discuss the contract today and would report […]
Sound Transit replaces safety officer as a result of Cascades wreck NEWSWIRE
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SEATTLE — Sound Transit has removed its safety director from that job in the wake of an internally commissioned report on the December 2017 derailment of an Amtrak train on its line that killed three passengers. Peter Rogoff, the regional transit agency’s chief executive, also said in a memo issued Wednesday that Amtrak service on […]
State legislators urge UP to drop suit against Palestine, Texas NEWSWIRE
![MP Machinist catching red hot rivet](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/palestine_shop_patterson.jpg)
Workers repair a boxcar at a Missouri Pacific car shop in Palestine, Texas, in July 1963. The shop, operated by Union Pacific since its merger with the MoPac, is at the center of a lawsuit to end the railroad’s agreement to guarantee jobs in Palestine. Steve Patterson PALESTINE, Texas — Two state legislators have issued […]
AAR economists put railroad traffic decline in perspective NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — Coal sinking to record low volumes, lingering trade uncertainty, and a manufacturing slowdown are largely responsible for this year’s rail traffic slump, which is not as bad as it appears due to comparisons with an unusually robust 2018, Association of American Railroads economists said today. Nearly half of the overall drop in carload […]
AAR: Traffic down across the board compared to 2018 for the week of November 30 NEWSWIRE
![US Rail Traffic table for the week of Nov. 30, 2019](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/latenovtable-1024x606.png)
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Nov. 30, 2019, as well as volumes for November 2019. U.S. railroads originated 955,579 carloads in November 2019, down 7.5%, or 77,166 carloads, from November 2018. U.S. railroads also originated 1,019,766 containers and trailers in […]
California high speed route could require tunnel under Burbank airport NEWSWIRE
![Burbank_Airport_Lassen](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/burbank_airport_lassen.jpg)
An Alaska Airlines flight departs from Burbank (Calif.) Airport as a Metrolink train pauses at the Burbank Airport-South station in February 2019. California’s high speed rail project could require a tunnel under the airport. TRAINS: David Lassen BURBANK — Construction of California’s high speed rail line into Los Angeles may require a tunnel under the […]