NASHVILLE — Union Pacific has trimmed its volume, productivity, and operating-ratio expectations for the year amid sluggish operations and a sharp decline in international intermodal traffic due to global supply chain problems. UP now says it will see a 4% volume gain this year, down from the previous forecast of 5% growth; productivity gains will total […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — VIA Rail Canada has provided the first detailed look at its new equipment for corridor service, unveiling the first full trainset at the Ottawa station. A total of 32 Siemens-built trainsets will serve the Quebec City-Windsor, Ont., corridor. Testing of the first trainset will begin this month, with the first of the […]
BERKELEY, Calif. — A new study says railroads could save $94 billion over 20 years by reducing air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions — and help avoid health impacts including an estimated 1,000 premature deaths each year — by retrofitting diesel-electric locomotives with battery power. The study from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — The Canadian government has extended deadlines for grade crossing improvements, while removing the lowest-risk crossings from the improvement requirements. Following up on a proposal made earlier this year [see “Digest: Canadian government proposes delay …,” Trains News Wire, June 21, 2021]. Transport Canada will provide a one-year extension beyond the original deadline […]
WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have adopted a final rule that will streamline the process railroads follow when applying for emergency temporary trackage rights. The new Surface Transportation Board rule, adopted in a decision today, eliminates a required 30-day notice period. Instead, the trackage-rights exemption would become effective within five days. The rule will make it easier […]
WASHINGTON — Score one small win for Amtrak in its ongoing effort to launch service along the Gulf Coast. The Surface Transportation Board on Monday issued a decision honoring Amtrak’s request for an order allowing it access to CSX Transportation’s Choctaw Yard in Mobile, Ala., to conduct a survey to determine a possible site for […]
NEW YORK — Wabtec is on a mission to help railroads wean themselves off the diesel-electric locomotive to reduce and ultimately eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. “We are absolutely taking a moonshot at zero emissions,” Gina Trombley, Wabtec’s executive vice president of sales and marketing and chief commercial officer, told the RailTrends 2021 conference this month. […]
WASHINGTON — In a departure from the post-Thanksgiving “Track Friday” sale that Amtrak has staged since 2016, this year’s version is only available from Maine to Virginia in the Northeast instead of on most routes nationwide. Through today (Monday, Nov. 29) the company is offering “Buy One, Get One Free” companion fares between Jan. 4 […]
HIRAM, Ga. — Two crew members suffered minor injuries Saturday night as three locomotives and at least seven cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed late Saturday night. The lead locomotive and seven cars overturned, while the other two locomotives remained upright. WSB-TV reports the railroad said in a statement that the crew members “have […]
BALTIMORE — CSX CEO Jim Foote and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan head the list of those those scheduled to take part today (Monday, Nov. 29) in a groundbreaking ceremony for the start of work on the long-sought Howard Street Tunnel project in Baltimore. The 1 p.m. ceremony will be at the former Mount Royal Station […]
CALGARY — Canadian Pacific’s Keith Creel has been named 2021 CEO of the Year by Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail’s Report of Business Magazine. A profile in the magazine focuses on the 53-year-old Creel’s skill as a strategist in efforts to merge CP with Kansas City Southern. The magazine recognized other CEOs for leadership, […]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Railroads are benefiting from China’s continued appetite for U.S. coal as America exports coal to China in volumes unseen in much of the past decade. American coal producers are supplying China for electricity generation and steelmaking due to a now year-long unofficial ban China imposed on Australia. In late 2020, China quit […]
