WASHINGTON — U.S. carload traffic moved back above 2021 levels for the week ending July 23, while overall traffic was down by a small margin, according to the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Total volume was 498,901 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 0.8% compared to the corresponding week a year […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway and J.B. Hunt will begin serving a new intermodal terminal at the Port of Tacoma, Wash., next month. BNSF and the Northwest Seaport Alliance said the terminal will meet increased demand for intermodal service in the Seattle region. The new terminal, on 16 acres leased from the port authority, […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has resumed hump operations at its classification yard in Macon, Ga., and will soon reopen the hump at Bellevue, Ohio, as part of the new operating plan it began rolling out last month. Both yards were converted to flat-switching facilities in 2020 after volume sank at the onset of the pandemic. […]
ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern set quarterly revenue, operating income, and earnings per share records despite lower volume and service problems related to ongoing crew shortages. “In the second quarter we stabilized service levels, expanded our pipeline of conductor trainees, and launched the next evolution of our operating plan, TOP | SPG, with our signature no […]
MONTREAL – Canadian National’s plan to turn the Port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, into the Prince Rupert of the East is gaining traction. In June CN launched a second pair of intermodal trains that serve Halifax, where terminal operator PSA now owns both container terminals and has made improvements. The port also has expanded berths […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway’s embargo of certain types of carload traffic bound for California has been extended into August as its Southern Transcon remains congested in the Southwest. The embargo, which took effect on June 27, applies to automotive shipments as well as specific agricultural and industrial commodities. “In response to our temporary […]
WASHINGTON — A failure to follow rules prohibiting employees from moving between moving railcars during coupling was the probable cause of the death of a Pan Am Railways conductor, according to the National Transportation Safety Board report on the fatal May 2021 accident. The accident in Newington, N.H., on the afternoon of May 19, 2021, […]
MONTREAL – Canadian National reported record revenue and operating income in the second quarter amid a dramatic operational turnaround that has the railway performing at its highest levels in five years. “The network is fluid and the operating team has done a great job of improving performance across the network,” CEO Tracy Robinson told investors […]
WASHINGTON – Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, along with two of the state’s representatives, have told federal regulators that they oppose the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, citing projections of increased freight traffic in Chicago and its suburbs. “The proposed merger will reportedly more than triple freight rail traffic on […]
Sometimes big stories hide in plain sight. One of them is the jaw-dropping way BNSF Railway has outgrown the other three big U.S. Class I railroads. Over the past two decades, BNSF has owned all of the tonnage growth on the big four U.S. systems. Its gross ton-miles are up 71% since 1996, BNSF’s first […]
OTTAWA — The Canadian government will require railroads to revise rules regarding inspection and maintenance of air brakes and develop a winter operating plan under a ministerial order announced Monday. The move is one of several undertaken by Transport Canada as a result of Transportation Safety Board findings into the February 2019 runaway of a […]
WASHINGTON — A significant gulf between the two sides on pay and medical benefits defines proposals presented by rail labor unions and railroads as the Presidential Emergency Board addressing the contract dispute begins its work. The board began a week of hearings on Sunday afternoon. The three-person board was appointed by President Joe Biden earlier […]
