LOS ANGELES — At least 55 people were injured when an LA Metro light rail train and a University of Southern California shuttle bus collided today (Tuesday, April 30) outside Exposition Park near the USC campus, the Los Angeles Times reports. L.A. City firefighters received a report of the accident at a grade crossing at […]
CPKC’s Final Spike Anniversary Steam Tour On April 29, 2024, Canadian Pacific steam locomotive No. 2816 crossed into the United States at Portal, N.D., for the first time in over a decade. The engine is powering a tour covering three countries to celebrate the anniversary of the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern becoming the […]
WASHINGTON — Shippers who are served by just one Class I railroad and receive substandard service will be able to seek access to a second railroad under a final reciprocal switching rule that federal regulators released today. The Surface Transportation Board’s final rule — the first to set minimum standards for rail service — tightened […]
Norfolk Southern shareholders should elect five of an activist investor’s seven board candidates but retain embattled CEO Alan Shaw, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended today. If institutional shareholders follow the ISS guidance at the NS annual meeting on May 9, it would leave Ancora Holdings two seats short of a majority on the […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF has informed customers that it will take a week to 10 days for service to “improve and fully normalize” on its Southern Transcon in the wake of the derailment and fire that closed the line near the Arizona-New Mexico state line for three days. In a Monday service advisory, the […]
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — CPKC has added a Winnipeg stop during the return leg of its Final Spike Steam Tour with 4-6-4 No. 2816, the railroad announced late Monday. The railroad said in a Facebook post that the locomotive would make a “special stop” in Winnipeg on June 30. The engine will be on display at […]
If history had played out differently, our motorcar ride this summer day in the wooded foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada would instead take place aboard Amtrak’s California Zephyr, instead of on Fairmont “track speeders.” The track would belong to Union Pacific, not a joint-powers authority. It’d be home to stack trains and AC engines. That’s […]
CHICAGO — Partners in the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency, or CREATE, Program, on Monday announced $200,000 in donations for 2024-25 as part of their ongoing commitment to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math programs, an element of the 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project. This year’s funding, announced at Englewood STEM High School, went to […]
CHICAGO — Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman has joined the list of speakers scheduled to appear at the North American Rail Shippers Conference, beginning tomorrow, April 30, and running through May 2 in Chicago. Oberman last week announced he would retire from the STB chairmanship on May 10 [see “STB’s Oberman sets May […]
Norfolk Southern says activist investor Ancora Holdings violated the Railway Labor Act when it negotiated a deal with the general chairmen of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen in exchange for the union’s support in its proxy campaign. The BLET in February was vehemently opposed to Ancora’s plan to oust Norfolk Southern’s management and […]
PORTLAND, Ore. — A Union Pacific train derailed early this morning at the east end of Portland’s historic Steel Bridge, closing the heavily used bridge while authorities assessed its structural integrity. The derailment also meant the vertical lift portion of the bridge could not be raised, impacting ship traffic on the Willamette River. “The issue […]
Train handling The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there are more than 36,000 locomotive engineers in the United States. Whether it’s an older Geep switching cars in an industry, a passenger train racing across the country, or a Class I freight on the main line, the techniques that engineers learn and have at […]
