WASHINGTON — Responding to criticisms from members of Congress in a House hearing last week, Amtrak has posted a 14-page PowerPoint presentation aiming to justify a controversial incentive system that pays millions of dollars in bonuses to company executives. Board Chairman Anthony Coscia said the compensation of senior executives would be posted on the Amtrak […]
WASHINGTON —Weekly U.S. rail traffic continued to show overall gains compared to 2023 in the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads, thanks to the strength of intermodal volume. For the week ending June 15, overall traffic was 493,138 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.4% increase over the corresponding week a year ago. That […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has officially announced its plans to develop a massive logistics hub on the outskirts of Phoenix. The project, quietly in the works for several years, will be built on a 4,321-acre property in northwest Maricopa County, the railroad said yesterday. The hub, adjacent to the Phoenix Subdivision in Wittmann, […]
MOBILE, Ala. — A once-unlikely source — the Alabama State Port Authority — has agreed to provide a share of the funding needed to launch Amtrak service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. On Tuesday, the Port Authority board, once a vehement opponent of Gulf Coast service on the grounds it might interfere with freight […]
The union representing more than 9,000 CN and CPKC workers is holding a second strike vote amid stalled contract negotiations with the railroads. “It is clear we cannot rely on a timely conclusion to these unfortunate circumstances and must protect our rights regardless of outcome,” the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) said in a press […]
BOSTON –— The economic benefits of linking Boston’s North and South stations would far outweigh the costs of the project and would be a better use of taxpayer dollars than simply expanding South Station as a stopgap to relieve congestion, according to a study released on Monday. U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., requested the study […]
SAGINAW, Mich. — Mike Stickel will become president and CEO of Lake State Railway, and current president and CEO John Rickoff will become chairman of the board of directors, as part of leadership changes announced today (June 18) by the Michigan-based regional railroad. The changes are effective July 15. Stickel is currently executive vice president […]
ATLANTA — With the National Transportation Safety Board’s final report on the East Palestine, Ohio, hazardous materials wreck due out next week, Norfolk Southern is touting the safety improvements it has made so far this year. The railroad released a midyear safety report on Monday, which outlines strides the railroad has made this year as […]
SEATTLE — BNSF Railway owes Washington state’s Swinomish Indian Tribal Community $394.5 million for violating an agreement governing railroad operation across tribal land, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik reached that figure after a four-day bench trial, the Seattle Times reports. He had previously ruled the railroad had violated a 1991 […]
GATINEAU, Quebec — Rail accidents and incidents in Canada were down in 2023, although fatalities were up slightly, according to final statistics released last week by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. The board received 1,235 reports of rail “occurrences” — 914 accidents (which involve a fatality or serious injury, or a derailment, collision, or […]
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad has received approval for a rezoning request allowing it to build a new freight terminal near New Carlisle, Ind., the South Bend Tribune reports. At a meeting last week, the St. Joseph County Council voted 9-0 to rezone four parcels of land from […]
The California Air Resources Board pitted a standard diesel-electric locomotive consist against zero-emissions alternatives – including battery-electric models from Wabtec and ProgressRail as well as Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s hydrogen fuel cell locomotive – in a hypothetical test run from the Port of Los Angeles to Barstow, Calif. The analysis concludes that the current zero-emissions […]
