WASHINGTON — Montana Rail Link has moved one step closer to closing up shop and turning over its operations to BNSF Railway. MRL on Nov. 18 asked federal regulators for permission to discontinue service over 656.47 miles of track in Montana and Idaho as part of the early termination of its lease with BNSF, according […]
Engineers and conductors have rendered a split decision in their respective union votes over the tentative agreements reached with the U.S. Class I railroads, the unions said this morning. By the slimmest of margins, conductors represented by the SMART-TD union rejected the deal, fueling the prospects of a nationwide strike that could begin as soon […]
WASHINGTON, Iowa — The city of Washington has become the latest to accept an offer from Canadian Pacific for funds to address impacts of its potential merger with Kansas City Southern, approving a deal worth at least $255,000 at its most recent city council meeting The Southeast Iowa Union reported today (Monday, Nov. 21) that […]
AURORA, Colo. — A 4-mile section of the Regional Transportation District’s light rail R Line, shut down since a Sept. 21 derailment, should reopen the week of Nov. 28, the RTD has announced. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission has approved an RTD plan to address issues at the intersection of Sable Boulevard and Exposition Avenue, […]
OTTAWA — The Canadian government would gain new abilities to require railroads to create security management systems, and to grant or cancel transportation security clearances, under a proposed set of legislative amendments introduced last week by Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra. Those authorities and others are part of the Strengthening the Port System and Railway […]
WASHINGTON — Few railroads participate in a voluntary Federal Railroad Administration program to report situations that could have resulted in serious accidents, and those that do find notable flaws in the program, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The report summary notes that as of August 2022, only 23 of the […]
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec has reached agreement to acquire Super Metal, a leading Brazilian supplier of automated vehicles and other maintenance-of-way equipment. Wabtec describes the deal as complementing its 2021 acquisition of U.S. maintenance equipment manufacturer Nordco [see “Wabtec to acquire …,” Trains News Wire, March 23, 2021] and accelerating its strategy of expansion into international […]
BUFFALO, N.Y. — After a two-day hiatus while up to 6 feet of heavy lake-effect snow fell in Buffalo, Amtrak trains were moving again today (Sunday, Nov. 20) through western New York even as many area roads remained impassable. Meanwhile, with the Thanksgiving holiday — and its usual heavy ridership — approaching, operating obstacles cropped […]
CINCINNATI — Norfolk Southern has offered to buy the Cincinnati Southern Railway, the route owned by the city of Cincinnati that it currently leases, for more than $1.6 billion. A meeting to consider the sale will be held Monday, Nov. 21, according to the Cincinnati Southern website. The meeting, set for 1 p.m. EST in […]
LOS ANGELES — Southern California authorities say they have broken up two crime rings involved in thefts from Union Pacific intermodal trains that drew national attention last year because of images of the trackside area awash in empty boxes left behind after containers were broken into and their contents were stolen — activity that reportedly […]
PITTSBURGH — Engineering and consulting firm Michael Baker International will lead program and construction management for projects in the Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative, CSX Transportation has announced. Some $3.7 billion in design and construction projects between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Va., are involved. The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority is the lead state agency in […]
NEW YORK — RailPulse, the joint venture aiming to provide shippers with real-time, precise freight car location no matter where the car is in North America, will expand its pilot program to more than 1,000 cars early next year. The pilot program began in April with just over 300 cars equipped with GPS sensors that […]
