WASHINGTON — An Amtrak regulatory filing supporting Canadian Pacific’s bid to merge with Kansas City Southern provides a roadmap of what the two parties say is needed for passenger service to begin on new routes, or for frequencies to be increased where Amtrak trains already run. Operating and infrastructure agreements between Amtrak and its hosts […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation aims to round up shipper support before a Surface Transportation Board hearing this month regarding Amtrak’s controversial quest to launch passenger service on the Gulf Coast. In an email to the railroad’s customers, CEO Jim Foote asked shippers to sign a petition or to write to the STB directly regarding […]
ALBANY, N.Y. — The state of New York has awarded $76.4 million in grants to fund 38 freight rail infrastructure projects, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday. The awards range from $100,000 for the Ontario Midland Railroad to resurface a grade crossing to $5 million to Norfolk Southern for projects in the capital region including 15 […]
WASHINGTON — The Canadian National-Canadian Pacific Chicago interchange dispute is back before the Surface Transportation Board. At issue: Whether CP should pick up the tab for Belt Railway of Chicago switching fees for CN-bound traffic interchanged at BRC’s Clearing Yard. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in December vacated an October 2020 STB decision […]
WASHINGTON — The California Coastal Commission is asking the Surface Transportation Board to order mediation in the long-running dispute between it, the city of Del Mar, Calif., and the North County Transit District over the transit agency’s plan to build a safety fence along its rail line on the Del Mar Bluffs. The transit district […]
Amtrak has added to its previously announced list of storm-related cancellations for today (Thursday, Feb. 3; see “Winter storm brings cancellations …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 2, 2022), while also modifying schedules for trains in New England today and Friday and adding one Friday cancellation in the Midwes Added to the previously list of cancellations […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — Thousands of truck drivers have descended on Canada’s Parliament in recent days, clogging the streets of the Canadian capital and blocking U.S.-Canadian border crossings in response to a Jan. 15 government vaccine mandate requiring truckers returning from the U.S. to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccine. Dubbed the “Freedom Convoy,” and originating […]
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 […]
