ATLANTA — Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern today cleared their first merger hurdle as shareholders overwhelmingly backed their deal to create the first transcontinental railroad. In separate votes, nearly 99% of NS shareholders and 99.5% of UP shareholders approved UP’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of NS. “The approval of our shareholders marks a key milestone […]
CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City has reached a tentative five-year agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen for engineers on the former Soo Line in the United States. The agreement announced Thursday, Nov. 13, would cover approximately 300 engineers on the former Soo Line in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, and […]
CHICAGO — Big railroad mergers have often been plagued by problematic computer cutovers that lead to service meltdowns, most recently this spring when CPKC extended its system to the legacy Kansas City Southern network in the U.S. Union Pacific pledges to avoid the same fate if its proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern wins […]
WASHINGTON — The ongoing dispute between Metra and Union Pacific over commuter rail operations in the Chicago area was back before the Surface Transportation Board as the board resumed activity following the shutdown of the federal government. Both parties filed a joint status report on negotiations today (Nov. 13), while Metra offered a fairly brief […]
WASHINGTON — With the federal government reopening following a record 43-day shutdown, the Surface Transportation Board has set a new deadline for filings due during the shutdown period. In a decision issued today (Nov. 13, 2025), the board has dsaid that any submissions due between Oct. 1 and Nov. 12 — including comments on environmental […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic continued its downward trend during the week ending Nov. 8, 2025, with total volume down 4.9% compared to the same week a year ago. According to figures from the Association of American Railroads, the week’s traffic was 493,493 carloads and intermodal units. That includes 224,651 carloads, up 0.1% from […]
WASHINGTON — Video shows a BNSF conductor struck and killed by a passing train was walking in the “foul” of the track — the area extending four feet on either side of the rails — prior to being struck, the National Transportation Safety Board says in its preliminary report on the Oct. 19, 2025, incident […]
ATLANTA — The Tuscan Red and black locomotives that debuted this week on a Norfolk Southern executive train will be the first of a series, Norfolk Southern said today. SD70ACe locomotives No. 1230, Birmingham, and No. 1231, Atlanta, were photographed near Cleveland on Sunday [see “News photo: Norfolk Southern debuts …,” Trains.com, Nov. 10, 2025]. […]
A Union Pacific intermodal train heads east through Lombard, Ill., on Oct. 11, 2025. Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena this week responded to a BNSF claim that a UP-Norfolk Southern merger would lead to the elimination of 300 intermodal lanes. David Lassen A back-and-forth exchange this week between the CEOs of Union Pacific and BNSF […]
CHICAGO — Commuters arriving today (Nov. 12) at the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago — the former Chicago & North Western commuter terminal that serves Metra’s UP North, Northwest, and West lines — today may have been a bit surprised to find a train on Track 6 that was definitely not the usual Metra […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has reached agreement on a five-year contract with members of the Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen, the railroad announced today (Nov. 11, 2025). The agreement, covering nearly 970 members of the union, includes an 18.8% compounded wage increase over the life of the contract, along with accelerated vacation earning and improvements to […]
Trains Turntable: Commentary from Martin J. Oberman The proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger continues to dominate the news as well as conversation at all gatherings — formal and informal — in the railroad universe. Unfortunately, because of a few unrelated actions in the political world, along with repeated spin by self-interested parties, there is a […]
