WASHINGTON – U.S. rail traffic declined 2.3% in 2023, with intermodal down 4.9% and carload traffic up 0.7% compared to 2022, the Association of American Railroads reported today. “Total U.S. rail carloads were up 2% in the fourth quarter of 2023 over the fourth quarter of 2022, while U.S. intermodal was up 5.5% over the […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX’s eighth heritage locomotive is a salute to the New York Central. The ES44AH, which carries No. 1853 for the Central’s founding year, made its debut today. It took the Waycross, Ga., paint shop crew 22 days to adorn the locomotive with the Central’s classic lightning stripe scheme. The New York Central […]
Why is it that no one notices railroads until there’s a derailment, blocked grade crossing, or a massive supply chain problem like we saw in 2022? If it weren’t for bad press railroads wouldn’t get any at all. It’s as if the railroad industry – all 140,000 miles of it – is invisible until things […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Genesee & Wyoming has a new partner in its CG Railway joint venture, which ferries freight cars across the Gulf of Mexico between Mobile, Ala., and Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. Grupo Mexico Transportes will purchase SEACOR Holdings’ 60% stake in CGR pending regulatory approval, G&W announced today. G&W initially formed a joint venture with […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — Montana Rail Link officially became a fallen flag on Jan. 1 when the regional railroad ceased operations and became BNSF Railway’s MRL Subdivision. Burlington Northern leased the former Northern Pacific main line from Jones Junction, Mont., to Sandpoint, Idaho, in 1987. In January 2022 BNSF and MRL announced an agreement to […]
Europe’s biggest rail freight companies are facing major challenges in 2024, despite efforts by politicians to encourage more freight movement by rail and less by road. In some countries, new ownership or new companies are challenging established operators and providing business opportunities for smaller companies. In most of Europe, the biggest rail freight company is […]
Welcome to 2024, News Wire readers. There’s no predicting what the new year has in store for us, but in case you’ve been otherwise occupied over the holiday season, here’s a chance to review our recent history of top News Wire stories of the year, as well as this year’s Top 10 (actually 11) topics, […]
Norfolk Southern’s disastrous hazardous materials wreck in East Palestine, Ohio — which put the railroad industry’s safety record under a withering spotlight — is Trains News Wire’s top story for 2023. The Feb. 3 derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border likely was caused by the catastrophic failure of a wheel bearing on a covered hopper carrying […]
ORLANDO — Gutsy. There is no other way to describe the splash Brightline made — or the revenue risk it took — after the company flipped the switch on what, by year’s end, would become 32 trains each day between South Florida and Orlando. Service began Sept. 22 to much fanfare. The $6 billion effort […]
You know it’s been a big news year when the first merger of Class I railroads in more than two decades — and likely the last — is judged the No. 3 story of 2023. In a typical year, Canadian Pacific’s $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern would have topped the headlines. The Surface […]
CHICAGO — Martin J. Oberman isn’t ready to retire just yet. That much was clear from his impassioned talk at a recent Northwestern University Transportation Center gathering. Sharing the bill with the group’s annual holiday luncheon keynote speaker, veteran transportation analyst Anthony B. Hatch, the Surface Transportation Board chairman announced his decision in November to […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak touted across-the-board gains compared with 2022 in each of its three business units in its recap of results for fiscal 2023. But less equipment available for long-distance trains triggered near constant sellouts on portions of those routes throughout the year. As a result, ridership and revenue growth for the inter-regional segment was […]
