WASHINGTON – Canadian Pacific today won Amtrak’s support for its proposed merger with Kansas City Southern after CP and Amtrak reached a deal to expand passenger service in the Midwest and South. CP agreed to more frequent Amtrak service on the Hiawatha route linking Chicago and Milwaukee, as well as extending the corridor to St. Paul, […]
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PHOENIX — Union Pacific is nearing agreements to purchase battery-electric locomotives for tests in yard use, CEO Lance Fritz says, with plans to try the locomotives in one cold-weather location and one warm-weather site. “We think you can get an 8-hour shift out of a properly designed [battery-electric],” Fritz said during a short conversation with […]
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PHOENIX — Never underestimate the value of experience and institutional knowledge. That’s one of the many lessons from Union Pacific’s Dry Canyon Bridge reconstruction project in 2022. The project, which replaced a major fire-damaged trestle in Northern California in 2021 — about a month faster than was originally projected — has been much discussed and […]
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The state of Alabama this week announced the creation of the A-USA Corridor, a proposed $231.6 million program of rail projects to upgrade economic development infrastructure in central and southern Alabama. The first phase of the A-USA Corridor initiative involves a $71.6 million initiative to link the Port of Mobile with the McCalla […]
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WASHINGTON — The well-publicized snowstorm that stranded motorists for 24 hours along Interstate 95 near Fredericksburg, Va., didn’t spare Amtrak trains operating through the region from cancellations and monumental delays. But the disruptions weren’t limited to the Northeast, as mudslides, cold temperatures, and snow caused route truncations and delays elsewhere. In Virginia, trees laden with […]
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PHOENIX — Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz will be the featured guest speaker and all seven Class I railroads are scheduled to outline capital spending plans for the year at the 2022 National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference set for this week in Phoenix. The conference kicks off with a Wednesday evening reception, with […]
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WASHINGTON – Amtrak and Massachusetts transportation officials have asked federal regulators to impose conditions that would protect current and future passenger and commuter service in the Bay State as part of CSX Transportation’s proposed acquisition of Pan Am Railways. Their comments were among those filed yesterday, the Surface Transportation Board’s deadline for receiving briefs regarding […]
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WASHINGTON — Metra has asked federal regulators to force Canadian Pacific to hand over more documents that would help it evaluate how the proposed CP-Kansas City Southern merger may affect commuter service in the Chicago area. Metra, in a filing with the Surface Transportation Board, said CP omitted necessary documents, provided dated versions of other […]
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WASHINGTON – CSX Transportation has ironed out a wrinkle in its proposed acquisition of New England regional Pan Am Railways by reaching an agreement with Vermont Rail System and the Vermont Agency of Transportation. In exchange for a combination of new trackage rights, haulage rights, and interchange agreements, Vermont Rail System and Vermont transportation officials […]
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WASHINGTON — Although airlines cancelled thousands of flights, resulting in horror stories for stranded travelers, Amtrak was mostly able to keep its trains running during the Christmas-New Year holiday period. There were some cancellations, though. While booked passengers were asked via email or text to choose a different train or travel another day and no […]
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HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. — Damage from what has subsequently been identified as a small tornado halted CSX Transportation traffic on New Year’s Day in Hopkinsville, the second time in less than a month that a tornado has affected the railroad’s operations in the area. WZTV in Nashville reports the damage, initially attributed to high winds, was […]
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The Battle for Kansas City Southern, culminating in Canadian Pacific’s triumph over Canadian National, is Trains’ top railroading story of the year. (Editor’s note: This may have seemed like a foregone conclusion, but balloting was close, with this story receiving just one more first-place vote and nine more points than the No. 2 story.) Stage […]
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