MARS presentation sees autonomous railcars as tool in pursuit of truck-to-rail conversion

Man and woman speaking from stage

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — If there’s a white whale that railroads have long hunted, it’s the goal of converting truck traffic to rail. It’s a centerpiece of Union Pacific’s effort to show public benefits to its merger with Norfolk Southern, but the goal is hardly a new one. Janet Drysdale, Canadian National’s chief commercial officer, said […]

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Don Toles, caretaker of Cajon Pass’ Hill 582, dies at 97

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Don Toles, avid Southern California railfan and caretaker of Hill 582 on Cajon Pass, died Jan. 17, 2026, in San Bernardino, Calif. He was 97. Toles was well known in the local train-watching community thanks to his constant tending of the Hill 582 site, getting rid of leaves, cleaning out garbage, […]

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CRRC plant in Massachusetts to lay off workers because of customs seizures

Six-car train of rapid-transit equipmen

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — CRRC MA, the Massachusetts affiliate of Chinese rail manufacturer CRRC, will lay off 161 employees beginning March 16 because shells for subway cars being imported from China remain held up by U.S. customs officials. The Springfield Republican reports the company, which employs more than 400 people at its Springfield, Mass., plant, announced […]

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Kansas DOT awards $11.2 million for rail infrastructure projects

Logo of Kansas Department of Transportation

TOPEKA, Kan. — Ten rail infrastructure projects will receive a total of $11.2 million in funding from the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Rail Service Improvement Program, the state announced last week. The projects awarded were selected from 20 applications seeking a total of more than $33.5 million in funding. The projects also will receive more […]

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Two shipper groups voice support for STB decision on UP-NS merger application

Train rounds curve in late afternoon sunlight

WASHINGTON — Other railroads were not the only parties welcoming the Surface Transportation Board’s decision to reject the initial application for the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. Shipper groups also voiced their approval. The board, citing three areas in which it said the almost 7,000-page application was incomplete, rejected the UP-NS application on Friday, Jan. 16 […]

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Plan scrapped to expand Metrolink service to Santa Barbara

Passenger train with cab car leading passing through rocky hillside

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger has, indirectly, ended a proposal to extend Metrolink commuter rail service from Ventura to Santa Barbara County. In its place, those two counties are now looking at a proposal from the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency that would serve the same desire to create a commuter rail […]

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Amtrak offers $250 USA Rail Pass, regional bargains

people taking pics of Amtrak train

WASHINGTON — Through Tuesday, Jan. 20, Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass, normally $499, is being sold for $250. The pass, on sale here, permits passengers to ride up to 10 trains in coach over a 30-day period, regardless of trip length, so this is an especially good deal for anyone looking to make multiple stopovers traveling […]

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Regulators reject UP-NS merger application (updated)

Two trains, one yellow and one black, approach the camera

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board today issued a setback to Union Pacific’s effort to acquire Norfolk Southern, rejecting the railroads’ merger application as incomplete — although that move offers little clue to the eventual prospects for the first transcontinental merger. The decision will slow the merger process, requiring the two railroads to rework three […]

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North Carolina Railroad Museum granted $280,000 for exhibits

Man standing inside a baggage car. North Carolina Railroad Museum granted $280,000 for exhibits.

NEW HILL, N.C. — The North Carolina Railroad Museum, home of the New Hope Valley Railway, was recently awarded $280,216 in federal grants to support interactive exhibit development. The new exhibits will illustrate North Carolina’s railroad history and its role in transportation innovation. The Institute of Museum and Library Services grants will support the creation […]

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Alstom, Toronto finalize deal for new subway trainsets

Illustration of red subway car

TORONTO — Alstom and the Toronto Transit Commission have finalized an agreement for Alstom to build 70 six-car Metropolis subway trainsets for the New Subway Train program to replace the fleet on the TTC’s subway Line 2, as well as for use on subway extension projects. The purchase of the new equipment had been announced […]

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House bill would require study of tank car pressure relief valves

Black cloud of smoke above town

WASHINGTON — House members from Pennsylvania and Ohio have introduced a bill requiring the Federal Railroad Administration to study tank car pressure relief valves, and provide a report to Congress on their findings, nearly three years after the disastrous February 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, hazardous materials derailment. The Under Pressure Act was announced Thursday (Jan. […]

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J.B. Hunt says UP-NS merger filing lacks intermodal detail

LOWELL, Ark. — J.B. Hunt executives are disappointed that the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger application did not include more details about the railroads’ intermodal plans. “We continue to digest the application and had expected more intermodal-specific questions to be addressed in the merger application than there were,” Darren Field, president of J.B. Hunt Intermodal, said […]

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