OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific will launch international intermodal service between Port Houston and five cities beginning on Thursday, a move that follows a similar announcement from BNSF Railway just two weeks ago. Union Pacific’s new service at Barbours Cut Container Terminal at Port Houston will provide customers direct rail access to Denver; Salt Lake […]
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WASHINGTON — Launch of service for Amtrak’s next-generation Acela trainsets has been pushed back into 2024, the Washington Post reports, as testing and computer simulations continue to find problems, most recently with the train’s wheelsets. That means the new trains will enter service at least three years late, placing increasing pressure on the existing Acela […]
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ALBANY, N.Y. — Following a nationwide legislative trend in the wake of February’s derailment and toxic-chemical release in East Palestine, Ohio, the New York state Senate has passed a series of bills seeking to regulate the way railroads operate in the state. The wide-ranging bills address everything from crew size for a mandate for positive […]
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BOSTON — A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority safety plan for track workers has been turned down by the Federal Transit Administration, which has ordered a new plan to be submitted by June 5. The May 19 letter to MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng from Joe DeLorenzo, FTA associate administrator and chief safety officer, Office of […]
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WINDSOR, Ontario — The Essex Terminal Railway will receive up to C$12.5 million for construction of a new warehouse and expansion of the shore wall at the Port of Windsor, Canada’s transport minister announced Friday. The funding announced by Minister Omar Alghabra, from the National Trade Corridors Fund, is intended to help shift cargo traffic […]
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MONTREAL — The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, representing approximately 6,000 Canadian National locomotive engineers, conductors, and yard workers, has ratified its new contract with the railroad, CN announced Friday. Some 70.7% of those voting were in favor of the contract, the union said. “I want to graciously thank the members who took the time to […]
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Head-end power: Dinner is about to arrive at table 7 in the Southwest Chief’s Superliner dining car. Outside, the late afternoon sun illuminates exhaust blasting skyward as the locomotives up front struggle to maintain speed up the more than 3% grade leading to the top of Raton Pass in New Mexico. Downstairs in the kitchen, […]
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SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink commuter rail service will resume Saturday , May 27, through San Clemente, Calif., exactly a month after the start of the latest disruption to passenger rail operations because of a landslide in the south Orange County community. The LOSSAN (Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo) Rail Corridor […]
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ATLANTA – In another reaction to the devastating Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio earlier this year, NS has appointed Atkins Nuclear Secured to conduct an independent review of the company’s safety culture. ANS has decades of experience, with a focus on the nuclear sector, and is one of the world’s most respected firms composed […]
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CHICAGO – Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman told a shipper conference that Class I railroad behavior over the past few years – mass layoffs, crew shortages, and poor service – may require a new approach to regulation. “It may be time to say 2023 is not 1980 and we need to rethink some […]
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CHICAGO – Union Pacific is suing the Surface Transportation Board because the agency’s approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger didn’t fully protect cross-border competition at the Laredo, Texas, gateway or address the potential for congestion in Houston, UP CEO Lance Fritz told a shipper conference today. “In their approval they identified our concerns […]
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Union Pacific and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have reached a tentative agreement that will provide engineers with more predictable schedules. The deal, which the union and railroad called “historic,” will provide engineers with an 11 days on, four days off schedule. UP and the BLET said the tentative agreement announced today will […]
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