Wall Street analysts expect Class I railroad earnings to rise an average of 7% for the third quarter as a combination of rate hikes, cost-cutting, efficiency gains, and share buybacks offsets the impact of traffic declines at five of the six publicly traded systems. CSX Transportation, which kicks off the quarterly earnings reports on Oct. […]
Train Topic: Railroad Operations
NJ Transit begins operation of leaf-cleaning trains NEWSWIRE
NJ Transit uses this AquaTrack equipment to clear rails of falling leaves and their residue during the fall. The trains begin around-the-clock operation on Sunday. Ralph Spielman The AquaTrack equipment sprays the rails with water at a pressure of up to 20,000 pounds per square inch. Ralph Spielman LITTLE FALLS, N.J. — As autumn arrives […]
NS seeks temporary trackage rights in Missouri after bridge washed out NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — A Missouri bridge outage has prompted Norfolk Southern to seek temporary trackage rights on a parallel Kansas City Southern line. On Wednesday, NS filed a request with the Surface Transportation Board for “expedited” granting of access to the KCS line between Kansas City, Mo., and Mexico, Mo. The filing is the result of […]
AAR: Total rail traffic is down more than 7% NEWSWIRE
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads this week reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Oct. 5. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 515,061 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.1% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Oct. 5 were […]
Ask Trains: What are the rules on when locomotive bells should ring?
An eastbound BNSF Railway train passes a stopped BNSF freight at “Summit” in California’s Cajon Pass in 2013 — this meet is one of several conditions which might require a locomotive bell to be sounded. Trains staff Q: What are the rules concerning when a train should ring its bell at a crossing or elsewhere? […]
FRA to hold regional workshops on right-of-way trespassing NEWSWIRE
Trespassers stop to pose for photos on Florida East Coast Railway tracks in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in May 2018. Bob Johnston CHICAGO — The Federal Railroad Administration will hold six regional workshops in response to an alarming increase of the number of fatalities along railroad rights-of-way, in or near locations where such incidents are most […]
CSX executive: We can regain market share from trucks NEWSWIRE
Arthur Adams, CSX Transportation vice president of merchandise sales CSX Corp. BURLINGTON, Vt. — CSX Transportation can stop and ultimately reverse decades of market share loss to the highway through a combination of more reliable service and a better customer experience, a railroad executive told a rail shipper group last week. CSX has steadily improved […]
Genesee & Wyoming executive discusses impact of Precision Scheduled Railroading NEWSWIRE
BURLINGTON, Vt. — The spread of Precision Scheduled Railroading inflicts short-term pain on shortline railroads but offers the potential for long-term gain, Michael Miller, president of Genesee & Wyoming’s North American operations, told a shipper conference last week. The short-term impact includes unexpected service changes, the bunching of customer traffic, and the handling of larger […]
Railroads accuse union of refusing to negotiate on crew size NEWSWIRE
FORT WORTH, Texas — Eight major freight railroads filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court last week arguing that one of the nation’s largest labor unions is refusing to negotiate on the continuous issue of train crew size. On Oct. 3, attorneys representing eight freight carriers — BNSF Railway, Kansas City Southern, CSX Transportation, Grand […]
Surface Transportation Board hands down three decisions on U.S. railroad regulations NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board today announced that it is issuing a series of decisions on demurrage and accessorial rules and charges, continuing its efforts to improve dispute resolution processes, promote transparency, and make the agency more accessible. Informed by the agency’s two-day public hearing with more than 50 participants, the Board is issuing […]
Union Pacific leads decline in third quarter rail traffic NEWSWIRE
In a down year for North American rail volumes, Union Pacific led the third quarter decline in traffic among the six big systems, with its intermodal volume slumping 12% and its overall carloads off by 9%. Among the big four U.S. systems, BNSF Railway fared the best in the third quarter. Its intermodal volume was […]
Indiana Rail Road, rail industry groups, sue Illinois over mandatory crew size law NEWSWIRE
CHICAGO, Ill. — The Indiana Rail Road is taking the debate over laws requiring minimum crew sizes for freight trains to federal court in Illinois. According to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, Indiana Rail Road, along with railroad industry advocacy groups the Association of American […]
