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DALLAS – Union Pacific executives today outlined a three-year growth plan that hinges on regaining market share in intermodal, carload, and bulk traffic in order to offset the continued steep decline of coal. Wall Street analysts have been skeptical of UP’s volume growth forecasts because the railroad has struggled to meet them in recent years. […]
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Railroads have 720 minutes from when an engineer or conductor reports on-duty until his or her hours of service reach 12. This is a finite amount of time to perform safety checks, gather paperwork, and prepare locomotives and the train for departure. Line-of-road presents all kinds of opportunities for more delays. Assuming […]
WASHINGTON – The Association of American Railroads reported that U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Sept. 14 rose 6.8% compared with the same week last year. Carload traffic was flat for the week, but weekly intermodal volume was up 13% compared to 2023. Seven of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared […]
This month, the Short Line Safety Institute enters its tenth year of operations, having marked 155 completed safety culture assessments, and numerous introductions of programs and resources to benefit the short line industry in continuously improving safety culture. Founded in response to the tragic 2013 Lac-Megantic rail accident in Quebec, Canada, on regional Montreal, Maine […]
SPARWOOD, British Columbia — CPKC announced a successful completion in the first of three phases of testing for its high-horsepower hydrogen road locomotive. The initial runs are part of a multi-year contract with Elk Valley Resources of the Glencore Group (formally Teck Resources Ltd.) to launch a first-of-its-kind pilot program of coal trains with hydrogen […]
The Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor has dedicated $25 million to infrastructure upgrades, including two new railyards and the port’s first all-new dock in two decades. “Today marks a historic day for this region, our workers and this port,” Ports of Indiana CEO Jody Peacock said in a statement yesterday. “This is the first new dock […]
WASHINGTON – At the opening of today’s Surface Transportation Board hearing on the lack of rail freight volume growth, Vice Chair Karen Hedlund said she was still struck by what she heard the day before from analysts and shippers and Class I railroad executives. “What we heard yesterday was a tale of two cities. And […]
ABILENE, Kan. — Nearly five years after the last run out of Baldwin City, six passenger cars of Bruce Eveland’s Kansas Belle dinner train have found a new owner and a temporary home. A Sept. 16, 2024, Facebook post by the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad (A&SV) announced the recent acquisition with American Heritage Railways […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The 19th heritage locomotive in the CSX fleet is No. 1851, a tribute to predecessor railroad Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis. CEO Joe Hinrichs unveiled the locomotive today in a post on LinkedIn, as has been customary. “The NC&StL railroad was founded in 1845 and was acquired in a hostile takeover by […]
SPIEZ, Switzerland — At the midpoint of this busy Swiss trip, I have — for the time being — moved on from working on my article on the Rhätische Bahn to work for an article on the long-delayed plans to complete the Lötschberg Base Tunnel, another of the massive rail infrastructure projects that help define […]
WASHINGTON – Long manifest trains are more likely to derail than their shorter counterparts due to excessive in-train forces – and the number of wrecks related to train makeup and handling issues has increased sharply since U.S. railroads adopted Precision Scheduled Railroading operating models that rely on ever-longer trains, according to a National Academies of […]
WASHINGTON – The first day of the Surface Transportation Board’s unprecedented hearing focusing on growth in the rail industry – or, more precisely, the lack of it – allowed the Class I railroads to tout their successes. But the rail executives had to wait for an analyst panel that outlined the breadth and depth of […]
