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WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board has created a passenger rail office that will be responsible for investigating and analyzing Amtrak on-time performance on host railroads. The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 authorizes the STB to investigate the causes of substandard passenger rail on-time performance, to identify mitigating measures, and, under specified […]
FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Members of the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers, which represents 2,400 workers, have ratified their tentative contract agreement with the U.S. Class I railroads. The vote was passed with a 58.7% margin in favor of the contract recommendations made by the Presidential Emergency Board, the union announced on Thursday. “The […]
WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board on Tuesday granted a request from all parties involved to extend by 14 days the board-sponsored mediation regarding Amtrak’s effort to launch Gulf Coast passenger service. Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Alabama State Port Authority will continue to talk through Oct. 25. All parties agreed that “an […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration has announced the availability of $600 million for new subway, light rail, and commuter railcars under its Rail Vehicle Replacement Program, part of $1.5 billion over the next five years under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. “One-third of subway and commuter rail vehicles are more than 25 years old,” FTA […]
WASHINGTON – The membership of the SMART Railroad, Mechanical and Engineering Department (SMART MD) has voted to ratify a tentative agreement with the U.S. Class I railroads, the union announced on Wednesday. The contract passed with 54% of the rank and file voting in favor of the deal. The ratified contract includes historic wage increases, […]
CHICAGO — BNSF Railway has been ordered to pay $228 million in a federal class-action lawsuit after a jury found that the railroad violated Illinois state law by collecting employee fingerprints without prior consent. The decision is the first in a case involving the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act, the first law passed by a […]
WASHINGTON — Carload and intermodal traffic remain below 2021 levels in the latest weekly statistics from the Association of American Railroads. For the week ending Oct. 8, overall traffic of 494,413 carloads and intermodal units represented a 2.4% drop from the same week a year earlier. That figure included 232,930 carloads, down 2.8%, and 261,483 […]
DENVER — OmniTRAX has completed an agreement to purchase the assets of the bankrupt San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad, which will become the company’s 26th short line. Bankruptcy trustee William Brandt had said last month that the company had signed an agreement in principle to purchase the 155-mile Colorado railroad, a former Denver & […]
CALGARY, Alberta – Canadian Pacific’s Holiday Train will return this year after a two year pandemic-related hiatus. The train will again raise money, food, and awareness for local food banks in communities along the CP network – including, for the first time, stops in Maine and Quebec along the former Central Maine & Quebec. “I’m […]
NOVI, Mich. – Members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees union have rejected the tentative national agreement that was reached last month with the U.S. Class I railroads. Some 56% of the rank and file voted against the contract, the union announced on Monday. Union leaders and the National Carriers Conference Committee that […]
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Aerial photos from Trains News Wire contributor Sol Tucker provide some indication of the extent of the damage sustained by southwest Florida’s Seminole Gulf Railway as a result of Hurricane Ian. The photos were taken Friday (Oct. 7). Railroad officials said earlier this week that at least a half-dozen bridges on […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board hearings on the proposed Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern merger concluded Friday, Oct. 7, after seven days of testimony from shippers, communities, public officials, and other railroads. CP and KCS said the merger is a perfect fit, will increase competition, create new single-line routes, and provide their customers […]
