SEPTA meets deadline for Silverliner IV inspections

Men working on roof of railcar

PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has completed inspections of its Silverliner IV electric multiple-unit railcars, the agency says, but the amount of Regional Rail equipment available will remain significantly constrained until cars can be repaired. SEPTA originally faced an Oct. 31 deadline for inspection of the 233-car fleet following a series of fires, […]

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Chicago, railroads celebrate completion of Forest Hill Flyover

CHICAGO — Some projects of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency, or CREATE, program are begun and completed with relatively limited fanfare. That is certainly not the case with the Forest Hill Flyover, which carries the tracks of CSX Transportation over lines used by Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, the Belt Railway of Chicago, and […]

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NS and UP shareholders overwhelmingly approve $85 billion merger

ATLANTA — Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern today cleared their first merger hurdle as shareholders overwhelmingly backed their deal to create the first transcontinental railroad. In separate votes, nearly 99% of NS shareholders and 99.5% of UP shareholders approved UP’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of NS. “The approval of our shareholders marks a key milestone […]

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Coalition of rail, environmental advocacy groups asks STB to ensure public role in UP-NS merger proceedings

WASHINGTON — A coalition of rail and environmental groups has submitted comments to the Surface Transportation Board on the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, asking the board to clarify whether “substantive filings” from stakeholders other than parties directly involved would be part of the review process. The organizations — the Rail Passengers Association, Southern Rail […]

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CPKC reaches tentative agreement with engineers

CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City has reached a tentative five-year agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen for engineers on the former Soo Line in the United States. The agreement announced Thursday, Nov. 13, would cover approximately 300 engineers on the former Soo Line in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, and […]

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Union Pacific: We can avoid merger-related tech problems

CHICAGO — Big railroad mergers have often been plagued by problematic computer cutovers that lead to service meltdowns, most recently this spring when CPKC extended its system to the legacy Kansas City Southern network in the U.S. Union Pacific pledges to avoid the same fate if its proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern wins […]

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Metra, UP tell STB that contract negotations continue

Commuter train departing large station with several other trains

WASHINGTON — The ongoing dispute between Metra and Union Pacific over commuter rail operations in the Chicago area was back before the Surface Transportation Board as the board resumed activity following the shutdown of the federal government. Both parties filed a joint status report on negotiations today (Nov. 13), while Metra offered a fairly brief […]

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U.S. rail traffic still below 2024 levels

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal volume

WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic continued its downward trend during the week ending Nov. 8, 2025, with total volume down 4.9% compared to the same week a year ago. According to figures from the Association of American Railroads, the week’s traffic was 493,493 carloads and intermodal units. That includes 224,651 carloads, up 0.1% from […]

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Norfolk Southern announces locomotive ‘Landmark Series’

Red and black locomotives on executive train passing through fall colors

ATLANTA — The Tuscan Red and black locomotives that debuted this week on a Norfolk Southern executive train will be the first of a series, Norfolk Southern said today. SD70ACe locomotives No. 1230, Birmingham, and No. 1231, Atlanta, were photographed near Cleveland on Sunday [see “News photo: Norfolk Southern debuts …,” Trains.com, Nov. 10, 2025]. […]

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