WASHINGTON — Weekly U.S. rail traffic was up for the second consecutive week, compared to 2021, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending Aug. 27, U.S. railroads handled 511,574 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.4% from the same week a year earlier. That figure included 242,633 carloads, up 3.4%, […]
Ukraine’s railways have been vital to the country’s war effort since the Russian invasion in February, moving refugees west, away from the fighting, and taking troops and equipment east to the battlefront. In addition, national rail company Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) has been trying to help keep the country’s economy running by enabling exports by rail. In […]
PALESTINE, Texas — A full panel of judges for the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has rejected a request by the city of Palestine and Anderson County, Texas, to revisit the denial of an earlier appeal to require Union Pacific to maintain jobs at its Palestine car shop. A three-judge panel […]
STAUNTON, Va. — Hauling freight isn’t the Buckingham Branch Railroad’s only forte, as the Virginia short line’s newly launched tourist train has shown. The Virginia Scenic Railway has sold out all of its seats through Thanksgiving after launching its tourist operation a month ago. The Staunton-based railroad recently shared on social media that both of […]
The 20th century saw a dramatic increase in railroad labor productivity. In 1916, the peak year for U.S. Class I railroad route-miles, those 100-plus carriers employed 1,559,158 people. If we assume 85 percent of those employees, or 1,325,284, were allocated to freight traffic — which totaled almost 339 billion ton-miles — this works out to […]
Passengers are seen leaving a Boston Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Orange Line platform. Today, the MBTA received further directives from the Federal Transit Administration regarding additional safety measures to be implemented by the commuter railroad. The MBTA has suffered a number of safety related incidents in recent months that have drawn attention from federal regulators. […]
Earlier this month, Trains drove alongside BNSF Railway’s Southern Transcon from Barstow, Calif., to Belen, N.M., to see how North America’s busiest freight railroad and intermodal corridor is faring amid the crew shortages that have affected operations. BNSF’s California and Southwest divisions have been among the hardest hit in the country as the big four […]
WINDSOR, Ontario — Admitting that the government’s focus so far has been on corridor rail improvements east of Toronto, Canada’s transport minister announced Tuesday his agency will explore options to “improve passenger rail frequencies, on-time performance, and shorten travel times in Southwestern Ontario.” Minister Omar Alghabra said Transport Canada “will seek an external advisor, who […]
WASHINGTON – CSX Transportation’s failure to fully mitigate the risk of freight cars rolling off a yard track and onto the Acca Yard lead in Richmond, Va., was the probable cause of the death of a remote-control operator in October 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board said in an Aug. 30 report on the incident. […]
MINEOLA, N.Y. — The second section of the Long Island Railroad’s Third Track project is now in operation. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced the 2.5-mile segment between the Merillon Avenue station in Garden City Park and the Mineola station began handling trains on Tuesday, Aug. 30. This joins the 3-mile, Queens Village-Merillion Avenue portion of […]
A Union Pacific merchandise train derailed in El Paso, Texas, on Monday night, killing a railroad employee. Two cars derailed into a back yard on the 7700 block of Barton Street, the El Paso Fire Department reported. Fifty residents were evacuated briefly until a damaged natural gas line could be shut down. The accident occurred […]
DENVER — Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz said Monday he believes railroads and unions will begin to reach agreements on new labor contracts, but that he is also “confident” that Congress will intervene if the ongoing labor dispute reaches the point of a strike or a lockout. Fritz, in a brief address to the American […]
