Union blames train crew shortage on cutbacks related to Precision Scheduled Railroading (updated)

Logo of SMART-TD union

WASHINGTON — Ongoing service problems related to crew shortages on the U.S. Class I railroads are entirely self-inflicted due to the implementation of Precision Scheduled Railroading, the SMART Transportation Division labor union has told federal regulators. “The freight rail network is at a breaking point,” union President Jeremy Ferguson wrote in an April 1 letter […]

Read More…

CSX hires BP executive as new chief digital and technology officer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX Transportation has hired Steve Fortune, a longtime BP executive, to be its executive vice president and chief digital and technology officer. “We are pleased to announce the appointment of Steve Fortune and welcome him to CSX’s executive leadership team. CSX is focused on growing through innovation and being a leader in […]

Read More…

Service improvements are on the way, BNSF tells grain shippers

BNSF FreightCar America 5204 covered hopper.

WASHINGTON – BNSF Railway is taking several steps to improve its service to grain shippers, including boosting crew and locomotive availability, CEO Katie Farmer wrote in a letter to the National Grain and Feed Association this week. The trade group representing grain shippers complained to the Surface Transportation Board last week regarding deteriorating service from […]

Read More…

Rail issues lead to cutbacks by Canadian forest products company

Logo of forest products company Canfor

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Forest products company Canfor will cut production at sawmills in Western Canada because of “extreme supply chain challenges” relating to rail service, the news site Business in Vancouver reports. Subsidiary Canfor Pulp Produces had previously announced it would continue to curtail production at its plant in Taylor, B.C., for at least […]

Read More…

Norfolk Southern earns two sustainability awards

Norfolk Southern logo

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has received two awards for its achievements in sustainability, the company announced Thursday. NS was recognized with the Responsible Care Energy Efficiency Award for locomotive fuel efficiency from the American Chemistry Council and the 2022 Green Bond of the Year Award from Environmental Finance. The Chemistry Council award recognizes efforts including […]

Read More…

Grain shippers complain about delays on BNSF, NS, and UP

Freight train passing grain elevator

WASHINGTON — The trade group representing grain producers says severe delays on BNSF Railway, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific have forced its members to shut down flour mills as well as feed mills that produce food for livestock. The National Grain and Feed Association outlined the rail service problems in a letter posted to the […]

Read More…

Unions turn to arbitration in effort to strike down BNSF attendance policies

Logos for BLET, SMART-TD unions

CLEVELAND — The two unions who were blocked from striking over new BNSF Railway attendance policies imposed by BNSF Railway seek to overturn those rules through arbitration. In a statement Wednesday, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division said they would “proceed as […]

Read More…

CSX asks regulators to toss NS request for trackage rights over CPKC

Map of eastern U.S. highlighting route between Meridian, Miss., and Shreveport, La.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators should toss out Norfolk Southern’s request for trackage rights over Kansas City Southern from Shreveport, La., to the Dallas area as part of the proposed Canadian Pacific-KCS merger, CSX Transportation says. NS sees Canadian Pacific Kansas City as a threat to its Meridian Speedway intermodal traffic. And so NS says it may […]

Read More…

CP asks federal regulators to resolve key CN Chicago interchange question

Canadian National and Canadian Pacific logos

WASHINGTON – Canadian Pacific has asked federal regulators to determine whether the Belt Railway of Chicago’s Clearing Yard is a reasonable location to interchange traffic with Canadian National. It’s the latest twist in the Canadian railways’ long-running dispute over where to exchange traffic in Chicago. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in December vacated […]

Read More…

Federal judge allows BNSF suit over Cicero sewer rates to proceed

Metra_Cicero_Lassen

CHICAGO — A federal judge has brushed off efforts by Cicero, Ill., to block a BNSF Railway lawsuit over a $1 million increase in sewer rates, saying the ordinance targeted at the railroad’s yard “does not simply impact railroads — it effectively holds them hostage.” The Cook County Record reports that U.S. District Judge Steven […]

Read More…

Wabtec to modernize 330 locomotives for Norfolk Southern

Black locomotives lead train through curve

PITTSBURGH — Wabtec will modernize 330 locomotives for Norfolk Southern, upgrading D9-44CW units that are more than 20 years old into AC44C6M models, under an agreement announced Wednesday. It is the third major modernization order by NS, which will give it a fleet of more than 950 such locomotives when the work is completed in […]

Read More…