HARRISBURG, Pa. — A bill seeking to introduce a broad range of rail regulations in the wake of the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment easily advanced out of a Pennsylvania House committee on Wednesday, despite concerns voiced by some members that the matter is one for federal, not state, action. PennLive.com reports that House Bill 1028 […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. freight rail traffic in April was down 6% from the same month in 2022, a slight improvement over the previous month, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Traffic for the week ending April 29 was also down compared to a year earlier, showing a drop of 4.9% The figures […]
A westbound Canadian National train crosses the Thompson River on the CN main at Lytton, British Columbia, in May 2015. CN will continue to add capacity west of Edmonton, Alberta, to support traffic growth. Alex Mayes CHICAGO — During an investor day presentation today, Canadian National touted its operational improvements over the past year […]
CHICAGO — Starting today, Amtrak’s Lincoln Service trains will begin operating at 110-mph maximum speeds over Union Pacific’s former Gulf, Mobile & Ohio speedway between Laraway Road, south of Joliet, Ill., and the Alton, Ill., Amtrak station. Shortened schedules will be established at a later time “to ensure everything on the system is running properly […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California has passed regulations requiring dramatic measures to reduce diesel locomotive emissions within the state — including all new locomotives to offer zero-emission operation by 2035 — although the rail industry says the rules exceed the technology needed to meet them. In a move last week, the California Air Resources Board passed […]
NEW YORK — The last portion of a massive concrete box to carry the planned Gateway Tunnel project under development in Manhattan will cost more than $690 million — which could leave Amtrak to come up with more than $260 million in funding, NJ.com reports. The Gateway Development Commission, the bi-state organization overseeing the planned […]
CHICAGO — Improvement projects at 28 stations highlight Metra’s construction plans. The Chicago-area commuter operator began its construction season in April and will continue projects through the fall, weather permitting. Nearly a quarter of Metra’s $119.5 million in capital spending for 2023 is focused on rebuilding or refurbishing station facilities, part of a five-year plan […]
MARION, Ohio — Local, state, federal, and railroad officials were continuing clean-up and investigation this evening (Tuesday, May 2) after a freight car on a CSX Transportation train was discovered to be leaking a hazardous material earlier today. The Marion Star reports a leak of phosphoric acid was reported at 3:21 a.m. The leak from […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National, Union Pacific, and Ferromex have significantly tightened the schedules for the new intermodal service they will launch on May 15 to link Canada and Detroit with Mexico. The changes to the Falcon Premium service, announced in customer advisories on Monday, take 40 hours out of the Detroit-Monterrey transit time and trim […]
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators will require BNSF Railway, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific to continue to provide biweekly service progress reports through the end of the year. The Surface Transportation Board, in a decision released today, said the three systems had not yet made enough progress toward the operations, service, and employment goals they had […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has told federal regulators that it wants to find a way to resolve a complaint from freight customers who will lose access to Norfolk Southern service for several weeks during trackwork on the Philadelphia-Harrisburg main line. Amtrak plans to shut one track to all traffic starting this month, which would prevent NS […]
WASHINGTON — Norfolk Southern yesterday sought regulatory approval for its acquisition of the Cincinnati Southern Railway, the municipally owned railroad that forms the 338.2-mile Chattanooga-Cincinnati backbone of NS’s key corridor linking Chicago with Atlanta and the Southeast. NS asked the Surface Transportation Board to approve the $1.62 billion acquisition as a minor transaction. Norfolk Southern […]
