VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A British Columbia Supreme Court justice has certified a class-action lawsuit against Canadian National and Canadian Pacific (now CPKC) over the 2021 wildfire that destroyed the community of Lytton, B.C., saying in a ruling this week that there is “some basis in fact” to support allegation that railroad operations caused the […]
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WASHINGTON — Canadian National has asked federal regulators to confirm that the railroad has operating authority on trackage in Springfield, Ill., where its efforts to serve an agricultural shipper have been stymied by Union Pacific. CN subsidiary Illinois Central maintained trackage rights in the Springfield area when in 1986 it sold its 631-mile line linking […]
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NEW YORK — BNSF Railway, Canadian National, and Canadian Pacific Kansas City are touting interline partnerships as a way to gain new volume without having the regulatory and service-meltdown risks associated with a merger. But Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern say alliances are built on a foundation of sand, and can shift with the whims […]
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NEW YORK — Rail industry officials focused on only three topics during the opening day of the RailTrends conference: Merger, merger, and merger. Union Pacific’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern dominated conversations and presentations on Thursday. Can the plan to create a transcontinental railroad win regulatory approval? Can it lead to volume growth […]
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Canadian National Railway celebrated the 30th anniversary of its privatization on Tuesday (Nov. 17), with CEO Tracy Robinson and Shauneen Bruder, chair of the railroad’s board of directors, marking the event by ringing the opening bell at the Toronto Stock Exchange and the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. CN raised Ca$2.25 billion […]
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Canadian National 2-8-0 No. 2444, assigned as the switcher in Chipman, N.B., negotiates the steep grade and tight curves at the town’s brickyard on a gray day in November 1953. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
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MONTREAL — Canadian National reported higher third-quarter profits today but announced further belt tightening as it expects trade disputes and economic uncertainty to weigh on volumes next year. “As we look to 2026, we see another year of limited volume growth, with a weak outlook for North American industrial production and housing starts, and some […]
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Eager to tie the knot, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have asked federal regulators for a faster review of their proposed transcontinental merger, Trains has learned. The Surface Transportation Board in September proposed a roughly 390-day schedule to review the railroads’ $85 billion deal. The calendar includes wiggle room that would allow the board to […]
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INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division has ratified the five-year collective bargaining agreement reached with railroads represented by the National Carriers Conference Committee. The tentative deal had been announced in September [see “SMART-TD reaches national tentative agreement …,” Trains.com, Sept. 16, 2025]. The agreement, covering SMART-TD […]
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MONTREAL — Canadian National today announced changes to its senior leadership, naming Patrick Whitehead as its chief operating officer and Janet Drysdale as chief commercial officer. Whitehead’s appointment as COO ends CN’s unique approach to developing the operating plan, planning the network of the future, and managing day-to-day operations. Traditionally railroads have a lone chief […]
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The Atlas O Fall 2025 Premier catalog was recently published on the manufacturer’s website. Highlights include: New locomotives GP30 The locomotive includes Proto-Sound 3.0, onboard DCC/DCS decoder, detachable snowplow, O-42 operation, and road-specific ditch lights. Available roadnames: BNSF; NKP; Indiana & Ohio; Norfolk & Western; Raritan Central. Available in 3-rail version only. Price: $729.95. New […]
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CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker disclosed earlier this month that his administration seeks to commit almost $1 billion of planned 2026-2031 infrastructure spending to several languishing passenger rail initiatives in the state, but translating proposals into tangible results continues to be a challenge. Hanging over all new construction endeavors is the need for Illinois […]
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