LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas is the latest state to consider a law limiting how long trains can block grade crossings. House Bill 1752, introduced on Tuesday by Rep. Denise Jones Ennett (D-Little Rock) would prohibit trains from blocking a crossing for more than 15 minutes. It sets penalties from $400 to $1,000, escalating to […]
FOLEY, Minn. — A 41-year-old man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for climbing aboard a BNSF Railway train last year and attacking the engineer with a knife. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports Samuel D. Hohman of Sauk Rapids, Minn., was sentenced Wednesday in Benton County District Court after pleading guilty in February […]
SCRANTON, Pa. — Steamtown National Historic Site has announced its schedule of train rides for 2023, with trips ranging from 30-minute trips exploring the park’s rail yard to full-day excursions through the Poconos. The seasonal rides resume May 11, with tickets on sale online as of April 1 for excursions in May through August. Excursions […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. rail traffic slump continued in the week ending March 25, with volume down 7.5% compared to the same week in 2022, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Total traffic was 469,958 carloads and intermodal units. That included 236,526 carloads, down 0.2% from the corresponding week a year ago, […]
PORT ALLEN, La. — No chemicals were released after about 25 tank cars carrying liquid petroleum gas and butadiene derailed Wednesday morning, WAFB-TV reports. The Union Pacific derailment, on a spur serving a plant for industrial gases firm Air Liquide America, led to a response by the Louisiana State Police hazardous materials unit, Louisiana Department […]
DEL MAR, Calif. — The California Transportation Commission has awarded more than $37 million to the San Diego Association of Governments for its continuing project to stabilize the rail line along Del Mar Bluffs, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The next phase in the project, scheduled to begin in November, is expected to cost more […]
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The city of Cincinnati’s plan to sell the Cincinnati Southern Railway to Norfolk Southern — which had been in jeopardy — has been revived by the state legislature. WXIX-TV reports that, after the state House and Senate passed versions of a transportation bill with conflicting language regarding the sale, a conference committee […]
BEVERLY, Mass. — A lawsuit filed Monday seeks to do away with quiet zones at pedestrian crossings in Massachusetts, an effort that pits safety concerns against quality-of-life issues in the state. The Boston Globe reports the suit was filed by Mark Layman, a former MBTA locomotive engineer whose train killed a teen walking along the tracks […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joseph Sellers Jr. general president of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, or SMART, will retire on May 31. Sellers announced his retirement in January, but the union publicized the news in a Tuesday press release. Sellers will be succeeded by current Assistant to the General President […]
KELSO, Calif. — Union Pacific reopened its Cima Subdivision today less than 26 hours after part of an iron ore train ran away and derailed on the 2.2% Cima Hill grade near Kelso. “Union Pacific crews worked around-the-clock to rebuild the tracks in the Mojave National Preserve, east of Barstow, where 55 railcars and two […]
CHICAGO — The Illinois Commerce Commission found violations on just 1.3% of the 8,549 railcars inspected in 2022, the commission said in its annual report on accidents and hazardous-material incidents, released last week. When the inspections began in 1981, violations exceeded 12%. “The disaster in East Palestine has rightfully turned attention to our nation’s rail […]
ANACORTES, Wash. — BNSF Railway violated terms of an easement agreement with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community by running 100-car trains of crude oil across the Swinomish reservation in Anacortes for years, a federal judge ruled Monday. The Seattle Times reports that U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik said in a written order Monday that […]
