NEW YORK — A Long Island Rail Road dispatcher supervisor and dispatcher have been disciplined after being found asleep on the job by investigators from the Office of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Inspector General. A report by Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny says the office received a tip that overnight dispatchers were turning off the lights […]
OTTAWA — Transport Canada has announced changes to track inspection rules increasing the frequency of inspections in some areas, as well as rules governing use of automated track-inspection technology. The rules announced by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra will increase the frequency of track inspections in higher-risk areas where trains travel at greater speeds while carrying […]
FILLMORE, Calif. —California short line operator Sierra Northern Railway will be the new operator of Ventura County’s Piru to Montalvo, Calif., rail line, the Ventura County Transportation Commission has decided. By a 13-1 vote, the commission approved the contract for operation of the 30-mile, county-owned former Southern Pacific branch, to be known as the Sierra […]
ROSELLE, Ill. — Eight Chicago suburbs are forming a coalition to voice concerns over the potential increase in rail traffic through their communities if the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger is approved. The suburban Daily Herald reports Roselle, Elgin, Barlett, Hanover Park, Schaumburg, Itasca, Wood Dale and Bensenville are asking residents to submit comments to […]
WASHINGTON — A Surface Transportation Board decision has cleared the way for construction of Utah’s Uinta Basin Railway. In a decision issued Wednesday, the board granted the exemption sought by the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition to construct the 85-mile line to connect oilfields in western Utah to the national rail network at a junction with […]
MIAMI — Tri-Rail and Brightline are each suggesting the other party is at fault after Tri-Rail management told the agency’s board last week that the commuter agency’s trains would not clear the platform at Brightline’s MiamiCentral station [see “Tri-Rail service to Brightline’s Miami station faces clearance issues …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 13, 2021]. The […]
LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — Railcar manufacturer The Greenbrier Companies has joined the Rail Pulse coalition, becoming the first company beyond the five founding members to join the effort to develop GPS and telematic technology for railcar tracking and other applications. Norfolk Southern, Genesee & Wyoming, Watco, GATX Corp, and TrinityRail formed Rail Pulse in 2020. […]
ENID, Okla. — High winds are being cited as the cause of a derailment of a BNSF Railway intermodal train near Enid on Wednesday. KWTV reports the accident occurred about 1 p.m., and reports 21 cars carrying a total of 32 containers derailed. No injuries were reported and the cause is under investigation. The Weather […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Railroad Administration call for the Surface Transportation Board to order the restoration of Amtrak service along the Gulf Coast — and offer detailed criticism of arguments by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern against that service — in a Tuesday filing with the Surface Transportation Board. The […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak will revert to its original COVID-19 vaccination policy, which allows testing as an alternative to vaccination, in light of a court ruling halting a federal executive order blocking enforcement of a vaccination mandate. As a result, the passenger railroad does not anticipate that it will need to make any service reductions in […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern’s sale to Canadian Pacific has officially been completed, allowing the KCS shares to be placed into a voting trust while the deal is reviewed by federal regulators. The $31 billion deal sees KCS stockholders receive 2.884 shares of CP common stock and $90 in case for each share […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National has announced a seven-year deal with Google Cloud to modernize the railroad’s technology infrastructure and improve customers’ ability to ship and track cargo moves. CN says the move will use Google Cloud’s expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics to provide customers and supply-chain partners with planning, shipping, tracking, […]
