Regulatory filing seeks to create new Houston-area switching railroad

Aerial photo of industrial arok

WASHINGTON — A private railroad serving an industrial park in the Houston area has filed paperwork with the Surface Transportation Board to become a common-carrier operation. TGS Cedar Port Railroad will operate 1.28 miles of track in the Cedar Port Industrial Park in Baytown, Texas. The trackage, which connects with Union Pacific, originally was part […]

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Forest Service upholds decision on Uinta Basin Railway

Map showing proposed rail route in Utah

OGDEN, Utah — A U.S. Forest Service review has upheld a decision granting right-of-way to a portion of the Uinta Basin Railway project, the last major regulatory barrier to the proposed 85-mile line to serve oilfields in Utah. The Salt Lake Tribune reports several environmental groups had challenged the Forest Service’s decision to approve the […]

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Canadian Pacific joins UN Global Compact sustainability effort

Canadian Pacific Railway beaver logo

CALGARY — Canadian Pacific says it has become the first North American freight railroad to take part in the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. More than 15,000 companies in more than 160 countries are part of the program, launched in 2000, for the development, implementation, and disclosure of socially responsible […]

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CSX outsources IT jobs

CSX logo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation will cut 137 information technology jobs, outsourcing them through a deal with a company based in India. The Jacksonville Daily Record reports CSX said Tata Consultancy Services will provide operation, maintenance and support for the company’s IT systems. “Many impacted employees will have an opportunity to join TCS,” the company […]

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CN to spend $485 million on U.S. capital projects

Canadian National logo

HOMEWOOD, Ill. — Canadian National will spend $485 million on capital projects in eight states as the U.S. portion of its capital plan for 2022, the railroad has announced. Overall, the company will spend more than C$2.6 billion on its capital program. It had previously announced almost C$2 billion in Canadian projects [see “CN announces […]

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June rail traffic provides mixed signals on state of economy

Weekly table showing U.S. carloads by commodity type plus overall intermodal figures

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic in June was down 3.2% from 2021 levels, providing mixed indicators about the state of the nation’s economy, according to the Association of American Railroads. The June figure included a 1.5% decline in carload traffic and a 4.6% drop in intermodal units. “As conjecture grows about the direction of the […]

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SMS Rail Services plans passenger excursions on new trackage

Steam locomotive undergoing work in shop building

BRIDGEPORT, N.J. — SMS Rail Services, perhaps best known to enthusiasts as the operator of a roster of Baldwin diesel locomotives that work on several rail switching operations, is preparing to enter the passenger excursion business on its newest line acquisition. SMS, established in 1994 to serve the large Pureland Industrial Park in Bridgeport, N.J., […]

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Four railroad themed novels for summer reading

Covers of four train-themed books

You might enjoy these four railroad themed novels on your summer travels. Rene Schweitzer details these four works of fiction that you may have overlooked.   The Christmas Train David Baldacci Genre: Fiction First published: 2004 Journalist Tom Langdon, due to an “incident” at an airport, is banned from flying commercial airlines and takes Amtrak […]

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