Weekly U.S. rail traffic dips

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal traffic.

WASHINGTON — After a brief taste of positive numbers, weekly U.S. rail traffic slipped back below 2021 figures for the week ending Sept. 10. According to the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads, total traffic for the week was 464,261 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.9% from the corresponding week in 2021. That […]

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Sanders blocks Senate resolution to impose rail settlement

Trains Washington Watch logo

WASHINGTON — An objection by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday blocked a resolution offered by two Republican senators seeking to avert a rail work stoppage by imposing the recommendations made in August by a Presidential Emergency Board. The Capitol Hill website Roll Call reports Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) had sought […]

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WMSR debuts Western Maryland-painted locomotive

Black locomotive with Western Maryland Railroad logos and lettering

CUMBERLAND, Md. — Western Maryland Scenic Railroad’s locomotive roster continues to diversify with the unveiling of a Western Maryland-painted GE B32-8, NIWX No. 558. The nearly 33-year-old General Electric four-axle Dash 8 locomotive now sports Western Maryland’s black-and-yellow fireball paint scheme. It arrived at the railroad earlier this year with former Norfolk Southern paint and […]

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CN CEO hopes railroads and labor can avert a strike

Train of hopper cars rounds curve

LAGUNA, Calif. — Canadian National CEO Tracy Robinson hopes U.S. railroads and their labor unions can reach a tentative contract deal and avoid a strike. “We need to fix this labor situation down here in the United States,” she told an investor conference on Wednesday. “And it’s a critical one for all of us … […]

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Machinists reject tentative contract deal and authorize a strike

WASHINGTON – Members of the union representing machinists have rejected the tentative agreement that union leaders had reached with the Class I railroads and have voted to authorize a strike. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 19 said today that its 4,900 members had voted to reject the deal that had […]

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Ontario Northland releases ‘Every Child Matters’ unit

Orange locomotive with words "Every Child Matters" on black feather painted on long hood

NORTH BAY, Ontario — Ontario Northland Railway unveiled its “Every Child Matters” locomotive, GP38-2 No. 1808, on Monday, Sept. 12, at its North Bay shop facility, in a ceremony attended by local First Nations representatives and government officials. The “Every Child Matters” initiative is part of Canada’s National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, also known […]

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Residents speak out against CP-KCS merger at Iowa meeting

Freight train with red locomotives on tracks near river

DAVENPORT, Iowa — The second in a series of comment sessions on the draft environmental report for the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger was held Tuesday evening in Davenport, with Iowa residents questioning whether the report from the Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Assessment accurately reflected the impact on their communities. The Quad […]

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NS to halt bulk moves by unit train on Thursday

Train passing grain facility

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has told customers it will halt bulk commodity movements by unit train on Thursday, Bloomberg is reporting, stepping up that railroad’s plans for a potential shutdown ahead of Friday’s end of the cooling-off period for labor negotiations. NS has previously announced it would stop accept accepting intermodal and automotive shipments on […]

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More Amtrak services set to be suspended

Passenger train runs on single track with Chicago skyline in the background

Amtrak will suspend seven more long-distance trains as of today (Wednesday, Sept. 14) as it prepares for a possible interruption of national freight rail service. Also, the three regional operations in California — the San Joaquins, Capitol Corridor, and Pacific Surfliner — are preparing for service disruptions to begin Thursday and take full effect on […]

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Former Metro-North official sentenced in kickback scheme

Logo for MTA Metro-North Railroad

NEW YORK — A former Metro-North official has been sentenced to at least a year in prison in a kickback scheme, amNY.com reports. James Berlangero, 64, was a contract manager at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority commuter railroad. He received $70,000 from Long Island firm WRS Environmental Services for providing the company with inside information and […]

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