WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has urged federal regulators to squash BNSF Railway’s request to gain access a proposed short line railroad in Utah. Last month BNSF told the Surface Transportation Board that it should have the right to connect with the Savage Tooele Railroad due to trackage rights it was granted over UP’s Shafter Subdivision […]
The Panama Canal Railway, which saw a 20% increase in container traffic last summer due to drought conditions affecting water levels in the Panama Canal, got another boost this week. Maersk, the largest container shipping line, announced yesterday that shipments bound to and from Australia and New Zealand are being diverted to the Panama Canal […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway completed a record year for employee safety in 2023 by posting the lowest injury frequency rate in the company’s history. BNSF’s 37,000 employees operated its 32,500-mile network without loss of life, and with the fewest number of employee injuries ever, the railway said today. Employee injury rates decreased more […]
BEAUFORT, S.C. — OptiFuel Systems will begin testing a prototype 5,600-hp zero-emissions renewable natural gas road locomotive and a companion 2,500-hp fuel tender next January at the Federal Railroad Administration’s Transportation Technology Center, the company announced today. After testing the prototype Total-Zero Renewable Natural Gas Line Haul Locomotive for 12 months, OptiFuel aims to launch […]
WASHINGTON — A coalition of labor unions representing railroad shop workers has asked the Federal Railroad Administration and Surface Transportation Board to take five steps to improve safety and service on the Class I railroads. In an 81-page letter posted on the STB website this week, the unions say the implementation of the low-cost Precision […]
LOMBARD, Ill. — Notes from Day 1 of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting: Border battle Union Pacific found itself involved in headlines not of its own making in December when U.S. Customs and Border Protection shut down border rail gateways at Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, quickly throwing U.S-Mexico rail traffic […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has elected not to hear Ohio’s appeal of a decision overturning a state law regulating blocked railroad grade crossings, WFIN radio reports, leaving stand precedent that local regulation is preempted by federal regulation of interstate commerce. Ohio’s Supreme Court had struck down the law, which prohibited railroads from blocking […]
LOMBARD, Ill. — The theme may not be new, but the emphasis seems to be increasing. The idea that railroads need to work together — and that doing so can be beneficial to all parties, not just the railroads involved, but their customers as well — was a recurring topic during the first day of […]
WASHINGTON – U.S. weekly rail traffic was up 2.3% compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads reported today. For the week ending Jan. 6, U.S. railroads originated 208,176 carloads, up 0.9% compared with the same week in 2023, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 209,081 containers and trailers, up 3.7% […]
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday called for the start of engineering work on the Interborough Express light rail line, as well as further extension of the Second Avenue Subway project, as part of the annual State of the State address. Other transit-related aspects of the address included new measures to […]
RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia legislator is re-introducing regulations that would require two-person crews, cap train lengths, and limit the amount of time trains could block grade crossings in the commonwealth’s House of Delegates. HB385 is sponsored by Delegate Shelly A. Simonds (D-Newport News). It will formally be introduced on Wednesday, Jan. 10. It would […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern partnered with 62 customers to complete industrial development projects worth $3.1 billion last year, the railroad said. “Norfolk Southern worked with customers and economic development partners to facilitate broad-based industrial development in 2023 and set the stage for growth in 2024,” NS Chief Marketing Officer Ed Elkins said in a statement […]
