Weekly U.S. rail traffic shows significant drop

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity, as well as intermodal totals

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic for the week ending April 16 showed steep declines in both carload and intermodal volume, according to the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Overall traffic of 489,801 carloads and intermodal units represented an 8.1% drop from the corresponding week in 2021, with the 221,228 carloads — which […]

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Gulf Coast hearing, week 3: Mobile rail executive outlines train movements; Amtrak witnesses criticize randomized data

Freight train with BNSF engines on one of two mainline tracks

WASHINGTON — Switching details and conflicting traffic modeling assumptions dominated discussions at the Surface Transportation Board’s hearing into Amtrak plans to launch passenger service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. The seventh and eighth days of testimony and cross-examination, spread over three weeks, on the dispute over plans for two daily Amtrak round trips precedes […]

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CSX, union reach agreement on advance payments against future wage deal

CSX logo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation announced it has reached a tentative agreement with one of its operating unions to provide monthly advance payments against future wage increases expected when current bargaining over a national rail labor contract is completed. The railroad agreed to pay trainmen and yardmasters represented by the International Association of Sheet Metal, […]

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CN raises new train count data issues around CP-KCS merger

gray and blue passenger train passes next to red locomotive pulling freight train

WASHINGTON — Canadian National claims it has found additional train count inconsistencies in the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger application and related environmental filings. The Surface Transportation Board last month put review of the CP-KCS merger on hold until discrepancies in train density data could be sorted out. CP has provided the board with clarification […]

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Rail project at Port of Long Beach gets federal approval

Aerial photo of port area with some land highlighted in yellow

LONG BEACH, Calif. — A major expansion of rail facilities at the Port of Long Beach has received long-awaited approval from the U.S. Maritime Administration, the port announced Monday. The Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility will reduce truck traffic by allowing direct transfer of containers between trains and marine terminals. The issuance of a […]

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County expresses support for CN double-track project in Illinois

Cab car leads commuter train as it stops at station

WAUKEGAN, Ill. — Support is building for a Canadian National double-track project in Northern Illinois, with the Lake County Board joining Metra and three communities in endorsing the plan. The Daily Herald reports the proposal to add 2.2 miles of second track between Round Lake Beach and Grayslake, on a CN line shared with Metra’s […]

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News photos: Brightline introduces temporary Loxahatchee River bridge

Section of bridge suspended by cranes

JUPITER, Fla. — Replacing a 96-year-old, bascule drawbridge while keeping both rail and river traffic moving requires round-the-clock activity and lots of compromise. This was obvious Sunday, April 10, with the latest step in the project to replace a Florida East Coast Railway bridge over the Loxahatchee River at Jupiter, improving both operational reliability and […]

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