WASHINGTON — More than 500 management and union employees are accepting buyout offers to leave Amtrak as part of the company called a “self-help” effort to defray the financial impact of revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. Last Friday, July 24, was the final day for many of those departing. The one-time payouts to 284 […]
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MONTREAL — Canadian National plans to spin off 850 miles of low-density routes in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario, the railway said today while announcing its quarterly financial results. Railroad officials did not specify which lines will be marketed for sale to short line operators. But executives say the bulk of the routes on the block […]
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CHICAGO — Canadian National has won federal regulatory approval to double track more than four miles of its former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern route near Elgin, Ill., a project the railroad says will eliminate a chokepoint and improve the flow of rail traffic in and around Chicago. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a […]
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More Thursday rail news in brief: — Canadian Pacific will expand use of Automated Train Brake Effectiveness testing in the wake of call from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada for better brake tests, a call stemming from the fatal 2019 derailment of a CP train near Field, B.C. The Calgary Herald reports that the […]
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McKEES ROCKS, Pa. — CSX Transportation has closed its Pittsburgh-area intermodal terminal, which opened in September 2017 as the last major element of the National Gateway Initiative double-stack clearance project. CSX touted the terminal’s ability to allow shippers in western Pennsylvania to shift freight from highway to rail. It initially served 40 destinations under the […]
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A Norfolk Southern GE Dash 8-40C leads a train on the Union Pacific at River Forest, Ill., in April 2015. NS has slimmed its locomotive fleet to just 10 models through its current roster reduction program. TRAINS: David Lassen This information on the locomotive rationalization program at Norfolk Southern was presented during the railroad’s earnings […]
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A CSX train passes through Blue Island, Ill., in September 2019. CSX led Class I railroads in operating ratio in 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen The operating ratio at every Class I railroad fell below 65% for the first time in 2019 as the industry average improved to an all-time low of 61.9%. The increased profitability […]
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Norfolk Southern SD80MAC locomotives are parked at Altoona, Pa., during a business downturn in 2009. NS is looking to sell all 29 of the units. Dan Cupper Following its recent auction of locomotives, including its four Executive F units, Norfolk Southern is continuing to pare its fleet of units that are oddballs, old, or both. […]
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A Tri-Rail train parallels Interstate 95 as it heads south from West Palm Beach toward Miami. The commuter railroad set a ridership record in 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen MIAMI — The Miami-area Tri-Rail commuter service set a ridership record in 2019, carrying 4,495,039 passenger, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority announced last week. The figure […]
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CORONADO, Calif. — Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel spoke for nearly an hour Monday as the keynote speaker at the NRC Conference. In addition to his remarks on mergers and Precision Scheduled Railroading, he also touched on a number of other topics. — Creel said that while railroading might eventually see significant savings through adoption […]
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Union Pacific OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific shut down Armourdale Yard in Kansas City, Kan., last week, shifting its switching work to the adjacent 18th Street Yard. The move, which union officials say affected 20 to 100 jobs, is UP’s latest in the Kansas City area. In October UP closed Neff Yard, its hump yard […]
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These are two of the three assembly lines of Wabtec’s Grove City (Pa.) engine manufacturing plant. To the left is the line for Evolution Series engines; to the right is the line for FDL units. Dan Zukowski GROVE CITY, Pa. — It may not be as well-known as final-production facilities in Erie, Pa., and Fort […]
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