Thursday midday rail news: InnoTrans trade show scraps rescheduled event, will return in 2022 InnoTrans, the world’s largest rail trade fair, has scrapped its rescheduled 2021 event, citing the constantly changing coronavirus situation and resulting lack of certainty for planning. The every-other-year event in Berlin will next be held on its regularly scheduled dates of […]
WASHINGTON — Total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Oct. 3 was up 0.8% over the same week in 2019, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, thanks to the continued strength of intermodal volume. Final statistics for the month of September, meanwhile, showed carload traffic down significantly from September 2019, but that […]
Monday morning rail news: Department of Transportation turns down labor request for national mask rule The U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday turned down a request by a coalition of labor unions to require passengers to wear masks on airplanes, trains and other forms of transportation, a decision the group called “unfathomable.” Rolling Stone reports the DOT […]
Thursday morning rail news: American Society of Civil Engineers warns of $5 trillion infrastructure funding gap The American Society of Civil Engineers warns that the gap between current spending and the need to maintain the U.S. infrastructure in a state of good repair has reached $5 trillion, measured in 2019 dollars. In preliminary findings for […]
Monday morning rail news: President gives nod for proposed Alaska rail link President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Friday that he plans to issue a permit for a proposed railroad connecting Alaska to Canada, thereby allowing through rail service to the rest of the U.S. and Canada. The Anchorage Daily News said the […]
More Friday morning rail news: Project manager selected for Chicago-Rockford passenger effort The long-running effort to restore passenger rail service between Chicago and Rockford has moved forward, with the Illinois Department of Transportation hiring engineering services firm WSP USA as the proposal’s project manager. The Rockford Register Star reports state Sen. Steve Stadelman announced the […]
Wednesday morning rail news: Legislators urge Massachusetts to buy Pan Am line for future passenger use A group of state legislators has urged Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack to exercise the state’s right of first refusal and purchase a Pan Am Railways route for future passenger service. MassLive.com reports the state has that […]
More Monday morning rail news: AAR files letter in support of right to perform maintenance in California matter before STB Saying the matter raises “complex and important legal issues,” the Association of American Railroads has filed a letter of reply on the San Diego-area North County Transit District’s petition to the Surface Transportation Board regarding […]
Saturday morning rail news: Blockade blocking KCS de Mexico service to port reaches 24th day A blockade of Kansas City Southern de Mexico tracks in Michoacan, Mexico, reached its 24th day on Friday, continuing to halt service to and from the port of Lazaro Cardenas. Mexico News Daily reports that more than 70 teachers and […]
Friday morning Canadian rail news in brief: Canadian government announces funding for rail safety projects Canada’s federal government on Thursday announced funding of more than $25 million for the Rail Safety Improvement Program, covering 161 projects focusing on infrastructure, technology, and research, and four rail safety education and awareness initiatives. The list of projects is […]
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern CEO Jim Squires hinted today that the railroad may idle more hump yards. NS has shut down the humps at four classification yards in the past year — Allentown, Pa.; Sheffield, Ala; Linwood, N.C.; and Bellevue, Ohio — as its shift to a Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model reduces the […]
Thursday afternoon rail news: Las Vegas high speed project seeks approval from STB for modifications to construction plan Xpress West, the Brightline affiliate seeking to build a high speed rail line between Southern California and Las Vegas, Nev., has asked the Surface Transportation Board to modify its previous approval of the project to allow some […]
