The only thing that’s certain these days, intermodal analyst Larry Gross says, is uncertainty. And that makes it difficult to whip up an accurate short-term intermodal forecast, he told an Intermodal Association of North America webcast today. But Gross says that gathering economic storm clouds — new tariffs, the end of an import surge, diminishing […]
ORANGE, Calif. — Citing “ongoing threats” to service on the Surf Line route used by Amtrak, Metrolink, and BNSF Railway, the Orange County Transportation Authority on Monday (March 31, 2025) submitted an emergency permit request to the California Coastal Commission for stabilization work above the rail line in San Clemente, Calif. The OCTA says the […]
NEW YORK — Alstom has signed a seven-year contract extension to continue to operate and maintain the AirTrain at New York’s JFK International Airport, the company announced. The contract with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is worth approximately $518 million. Alstom designed and built the AirTrain system and has been operating […]
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — The International Association of Machinists has reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year agreement with the National Carriers Conference Committee, the bargaining group for Class I and other railroads. The agreement covers about 4,900 IAM members working at BNSF, Norfolk Southern, Canadian National, Belt Railway of Chicago, Conrail, Terminal Rail, […]
First of two parts Before jets dominated air travel and a fully developed, publicly funded interstate highway system crisscrossed the U.S., many North American city pairs were linked by dusk to dawn passenger trains. Two companies are seeking to revive that travel option. Prospective U.S. operators Dreamstar and Lunatrain are citing a recent resurgence of […]
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Bills introduced in the Minnesota legislature are seeking to redirect to highway maintenance money the state has already set aside for a Twin Cities-Duluth passenger train. HF 1167, introduced by Rep. Patti Anderson (R-Dellwood), and SF 250, introduced by five Senate Republicans, would block the spending of $194 million allotted by […]
CALGARY, Alberta — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada today has again called for implementation of a positive train control-type system as it released its accident report on a February 2024 collision of two Canadian Pacific Kansas City trains in British Columbia. The incident on Feb. 16, 2024, near Greeley, B.C., led to the derailment […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In the weeks before the Feb. 1 closure of the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore, CSX was a railroad on a tightrope. CSX had been struggling to recover from a string of harsh weather events that began during a devastating hurricane season and continued through winter. Among them: The Jan. 21 storm […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has introduced what it says is a first-of-its-kind program for customers to reduce freight emissions, offering verified certificates of emission reduction. With shipping by rail reducing emissions by 75% on average, the NS RailGreen program allows shippers to address the remaining 25%. The program developed with 123Carbon, an independent book-and-claim platform, […]
The Fore River Railroad, a 2.5-mile short line in Quincy, Massachusetts, has defied the odds by surviving and thriving for 122 years. Originally established in 1903 to serve a new shipyard, the railroad was formally incorporated in 1919. Despite the shipyard’s closure in 1986, the Fore River Railroad continues to operate, thanks to a combination […]
PHILADELPHIA — The owner of an Illinois masonry company has been charged in regards to a bribery case related to restoration of Amtrak’s 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, becoming the fourth person charged in the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced on Friday, March 28, that Mark Snedden, 69, […]
KYUNE, Utah — The test train for next year’s expansion of Rocky Mountaineer service to Salt Lake City is well into its six-day round trip from Denver. Rocky Mountaineer’s parent company, now known as Armstrong Collective, announced earlier this month that in 2026, it would add three-day trips between Denver and Salt Lake City to […]
