WASHINGTON — A “lack of awareness” by the operator of maintenance equipment, incomplete communication regarding the movement of that machine, and its non-operational change-of-direction alarm have been cited as the probable cause and contributing factors in the death of a CSX maintenance-of-way foreman in a February 2024 incident in North Carolina. The National Transportation Safety […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National reported stronger first-quarter earnings today despite the impact of harsh winter weather across its system, which crimped train length and the railway’s ability to meet demand for intermodal and merchandise service. “We are very pleased today to be reporting strong first-quarter results,” CEO Tracy Robinson said on the railway’s earnings call, […]
PHILADELPHIA — A former Amtrak information technology official and two vendors have been indicted in a bribery case involving millions of dollars of Amtrak IT work. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Richard Thompson, 47, of Falls Church, Va., was Amtrak’s former director of network planning and engineering. He […]
CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City executives say they are encouraged by discussions with the Federal Railroad Administration about rolling out new track and train inspection technology. It’s a turnabout for the FRA, which during the Biden administration stymied Class I railroad efforts to combine automated track and equipment inspections with traditional visual inspections […]
PHILADELPHIA — The owner of an Indiana masonry contractor has pleaded guilty to two federal charges in connection with a bribery case involving renovations at Amtrak’s 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Mark Snedden, 69, of Munster, Ind., on Wednesday (April 30) entered a plea of guilty to conspiracy to commit federal program bribery and making […]
ARLINGTON, Va. — Members of the International Association of Machinists have ratified a new national agreement with the National Carriers Conference Committee, bargaining group for the National Railway Labor Conference. The ratification announced today (May 1, 2025) makes the IAM the ninth union to finalize a contract during the current round of bargaining and means […]
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon’s legislature has passed a bill seeking to expand the state’s collaboration with Washington state and other entities to improve passenger and freight rail operations in the Cascades Corridor. HB3233 was passed by a 16-12 vote of the state Senate on Tuesday, April 29, after the House passed it by a 44-12 […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has eliminated 20 chief dispatching positions at its Network Operations Center. “We consolidated some duties to better reflect the flow of traffic on our network,” railroad spokesman Zak Andersen says. “Those affected will return to their previous roles as dispatchers.” Separately, BNSF is seeking to extend a crew district […]
WASHINGTON — Responding to criticism on a number of fronts, Amtrak President Roger Harris said the company’s plan for repairs to New York’s East River Tunnel is “the safest, most efficient, reliable, and timely to complete the full rehabilitation … making it the best use of taxpayer investments.” Harris, in a three-page letter dated May […]
WASHINGTON — In a companion move to earlier House legislation, two U.S. Senators have introduced a bill to update a key tax credit for short line infrastructure investment. Like the House version, the Senate bill — S.1532, introduced on Wednesday, April 30 — has bipartisan sponsorship. In this case, it comes from Sens. Mike Crapo […]
DENVER — Colorado has joined the lengthy list of states where lawmakers are seeking to address rail safety, but its legislators are taking a different approach. Senate Bill 162 would charge a fee to state’s Class I railroads and passenger operators to fund the hiring of safety inspectors by a state rail safety agency. It […]
WASHINGTON — Weekly U.S. rail volume remains ahead of 2024 levels — at least for now. Amid reports that import traffic from China is about to drop dramatically, with an almost-certain impact on intermodal volume, both carload and intermodal traffic remained above previous-year levels for the week ending April 26, 2025. Statistics from the Association […]
