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OTTAWA — VIA Rail Canada no longer needs to run unoccupied “buffer” cars on trains with stainless steel Budd “HEP-1” and “HEP-2” passenger cars and rail diesel equipment, Transport Canada has announced. The order, effective at 11:59:59 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 17, repeals a previous order issued last October after questions surfaced about the […]
BOSTON — Norfolk Southern’s remediation work at the site of the February derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, is on pace to allow reopening of the second main line early next month, CEO Alan Shaw said today. “What’s important is we’re making progress there,” Shaw told an investor conference. To date, NS has distributed $34.5 million […]
POCATELLO, Idaho — One of Union Pacific’s main lines out of its Pocatallo railyard was blocked for a day following a derailment of about 20 cars on Tuesday evening, the Idaho State Journal reports. The derailment occurred about 8:50 p.m. No injuries were reported and no hazardous materials were spilled. Most cars were empty and […]
PALESTINE, Texas — A Texas judge has ruled for the city of Palestine and Anderson County and against Union Pacific in the railroad’s efforts to close a car repair shop in the city, continuing an ongoing legal battle underway on two levels. The Palestine Herald-Press reports that in a May 15 ruling, state District […]
KEYETESVILLE, Mo. — A Chariton County judge has ruled that a series of lawsuits by Amtrak employees over the fatal June 2022 derailment of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief may be combined for a single trial, KMIZ-TV reports. In a Wednesday hearing, the judge said lawyers for Amtrak, BNSF, MS Contracting — owner of the truck involved […]
WASHINGTON — An inbound Metra BNSF Line train was traveling at 60.9 mph when it struck a 33,000-pound box truck at a grade crossing in Clarendon Hills, Ill., in a May 11, 2022, accident that killed a passenger, according to information in the accident docket released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board. The preliminary […]
NEW YORK — New subway fare gates and revised policies regarding activation of e-tickets on commuter trains are among proposals to address fare evasion across the Metropolitan Transportation Authority system, a problem estimated to have cost the MTA some $690 million in 2022. Those proposals come from a report included in the Final Report of […]
MONTREAL — An artificial intelligence pilot project aimed at reducing fuel consumption and support of more than 450 nonprofit organizations and charities are among actions VIA Rail Canada highlights in a yearly progress report on its 2021-25 sustainability plan. The update released Wednesday on the passenger operator’s environmental, social, and governance plan is available here, […]
CAMBRIDGE, Ontario — No injuries were reported after 14 cars of a Canadian Pacific Kansas City train derailed today (May 17) near Cambridge, CTV News reports. Robert Shantz, fire chief of the Township of North Dumfries, told CTV that his department had been released from the scene after it was determined no hazardous materials were […]
WASHINGTON — Chicago commuter operator Metra has become the third entity to sue over the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. In a single-page filing with the board, Metra notified the STB today (Wednesday, May 17) that it had initiated a suit on May 12 in the U.S. Court of […]
WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has asked the Surface Transportation Board to take several steps to improve rail service. “Unfortunately, while rail service has improved from its worst levels last year, it remains inadequate and unreliable for many agricultural shippers. There is more work to be done,” Vilsack wrote in a May 12 letter […]
Grade crossing installations take many forms but nearly always include the railroad symbol most familiar to the public — the highway/railroad grade crossing warning sign. Crossbuck is the correct term for the X-shaped sign located just before a road reaches railroad tracks. These signs read RAILROAD CROSSING in the U.S. and are lettered with similar words, […]
