WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic was down 9.5% in January compared to January 2021, mostly because of a significant drop in intermodal traffic, according to Association of American Railroads statistics. Intermodal traffic was down 14.6%, while carload traffic was down 3%, with 14 of 20 carload categories tracked by the AAR showing declines. “For most […]
GATINEAU, Quebec — Failure of a key component caused a coupler to fall from a rail car, triggering a 22-car derailment in New Brunswick in January 2021, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in a report issued Tuesday. The board also cautioned that if design of such components is not reassessed based on changes […]
EAGLE, Colo. — Officials in a Colorado county plan to challenge the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of a new rail line in Utah over concerns about resulting crude-oil shipments that will pass through their area. The Vail Daily News reports commissioners in Eagle County have approved pursuing action in U.S. District Court, in either Denver […]
CHICAGO — “Give yourself a big round of applause,” conductor Erik Newsom enthusiastically announced over the public address system of Amtrak train No. 303 as it left Chicago for St. Louis on Tuesday morning. “You’re the very first to ride Amtrak’s new Midwest cars!” Clapping followed, but that was the extent of the morning’s fanfare […]
FILLMORE, Calif. — Sierra Railroad of Davis, Calif., announced today it has purchased the majority of the remaining locomotives, rolling stock and other assets from the former Fillmore & Western Railroad operation in Ventura County. The Montalvo-to-Piru line, owned by the Ventura County Transportation Commission, has been operated by Sierra Railroad’s Sierra Northern Ventura Division […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has set details for its upcoming hearing on Amtrak’s effort to launch passenger service on the Gulf Coast. The initial phase, public comments, is set for Feb. 15, with the hearing on Amtrak’s request to begin on March 9. Public comment will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 15. […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has announced a new series of cancellations because of a winter storm, this time for today (Wednesday, Feb. 2) and Thursday, Feb. 3, on Midwest state-supported routes and some long-distance trains beginning or ending in Chicago. Trains affected today include City of New Orleans departures from Chicago and New Orleans; the westbound […]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some may take the physical presence of a station agent for granted, especially in a world that has learned to do more with less interaction. But the story of how West Virginia regained its only agent back helps underpin the importance of humanizing the passenger railroad experience. In April 2018, before the […]
WASHINGTON — The spike in COVID-19 infections and quarantines among Class I railroad employees has continued this month and hit a pandemic high in the week ending Jan. 22, according to the most recent data from the Federal Railroad Administration. Overall, 2,275 Class I employees contracted the virus, including 1,374 in the East and 901 […]
WASHINGTON — Canadian Pacific wants federal regulators to toss out Canadian National’s request to gain control of Kansas City Southern’s line linking Springfield, Ill., and Kansas City, Mo., as a condition of the CP-KCS merger. CN’s proposal for divestiture of the line is “without merit,” CP argued in a Jan. 28 filing with the Surface […]
MOBILE, Ala. — The Alabama Port Authority will build an intermodal container transfer facility in Montgomery, Ala., to be served by CSX Transportation, after the authority’s board of directors approved a $2.042 million purchase of 272 acres for the new inland terminal to serve traffic from the Port of Mobile. The first phase of the […]
Amtrak has extended some of its service cancellations and modifications in the Northeast into today (Sunday, Jan. 30) in the wake of Saturday’s major winter storm. Most trains are running, as are most of the region’s rail transit systems. Cancelled today, according to an advisory on the Amtrak website, are Northeast Regional trains 150, 160, […]
