WASHINGTON — The slow pace of the Surface Transportation Board hearing on Amtrak Gulf Coast service continued Tuesday, the proceeding’s second day, when just one additional witness testified and was questioned. But the appearance of that witness, CSX Senior Vice President of Mechanical and Engineering Ricky Johnson, provided significant insight into how CSX operates on […]
MINNEAPOLIS — Commuter rail operator Northstar is ending dedicated service for Minnesota Twins home games this season, citing a withdrawal of funding by one of the three counties involved in the service. KARE-TV reports Metro Transit, the parent agency for Northstar, as well as light rail and bus service in the Twin Cities area, said […]
OAKLAND, Calif. — Union Pacific has filed suit against the city of Oakland and major-league baseball’s Oakland Athletics over a proposed ballpark and related mixed-use development near Jack London Square. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the railroad is challenging the project’s environmental analysis, saying in the suit filed in Alameda County Superior Court fails to […]
WASHINGTON — Monday’s first day of a Surface Transportation Board hearing on Amtrak’s request to initiate service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., moved so slowly that some attorneys speculated that the four days this week allotted for the hearing may not be enough. In almost eight hours, the hearing barely progressed past opening statements […]
Second of two parts. Part 1 is available here. CHICAGO — Amtrak’s ability to meet increasing customer demand has been hampered by a shortage of equipment on both short-haul and long-haul trains. State-supported trains in California and the Midwest are still awaiting the Siemens Venture cars, even though the first cars were delivered in 2020. […]
WASHINGTON – BNSF Railway is taking several steps to improve its service to grain shippers, including boosting crew and locomotive availability, CEO Katie Farmer wrote in a letter to the National Grain and Feed Association this week. The trade group representing grain shippers complained to the Surface Transportation Board last week regarding deteriorating service from […]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Forest products company Canfor will cut production at sawmills in Western Canada because of “extreme supply chain challenges” relating to rail service, the news site Business in Vancouver reports. Subsidiary Canfor Pulp Produces had previously announced it would continue to curtail production at its plant in Taylor, B.C., for at least […]
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Coast Guard official asked to meet with the parties involved in the Amtrak Gulf Coast dispute says the service branch will deal directly with federal regulators, the parties have informed the Surface Transportation Board. In a joint filing Monday by Amtrak, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Alabama State Port Authority […]
WASHINGTON — The trade group representing grain producers says severe delays on BNSF Railway, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific have forced its members to shut down flour mills as well as feed mills that produce food for livestock. The National Grain and Feed Association outlined the rail service problems in a letter posted to the […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today (Monday, March 28) on a case hinging on whether a locomotive is “in use” when it is not actually in motion. The SCOTUS Blog reports the case, LeDure vs. Union Pacific, involves former UP engineer Bradley LeDure, who suffered injuries when he fell […]
A forklift exits one of the New York Central’s distinctive Pacemaker service boxcars at one of the railroad’s freight stations in the late 1940s. NYC photo […]
CHICAGO — Shared trainsets, running through between Washington D.C. and San Antonio, Texas, via Chicago, are part of the plan when the Texas Eagle and Capitol Limited resume daily operation on Monday, March 28. This will end a reduction to five-day-a-week departures that began in January. The Eagle, between Chicago and San Antonio, and the […]
