NEW YORK — Former New York City Transit President Andy Byford will join Amtrak in a newly created role, senior vice president of high speed rail development programs. The new job, first reported by Streetsblog NYC, was announced in an Amtrak email to employees today (Thursday, March 23). He will join the company April 10. […]
Norfolk Southern and the SMART-TD union have ended negotiations over redeploying conductors to ground-based positions. The railroad and union instead will focus on implementing other immediate quality of life improvements, NS said today. “Over the next year, SMART-TD and Norfolk Southern have the opportunity to work together to implement important predictability improvements for our conductor […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has added two new marketing vice president positions for its intermodal and carload business segments. Yannik Thomas was named vice president of intermodal and automotive operations, while Stefan Loeb was named vice president of first and final mile markets. Both appointments are effective on April 2. “At Norfolk Southern, our goal […]
WASHINGTON – A federal agency has issued a safety advisory recommending that shippers and tank car owners stop using DOT-111 tank cars in the wake of the February derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio. “The safety advisory re-emphasizes concerns with the survivability of DOT-111 tank cars and encourages tank car owners […]
SCRANTON, Pa. — A two-year analysis of potential rail service between Scranton and New York City estimates the service could carry more than 470,000 riders per year and generate some $111 million annually in economic benefits. The study released by Amtrak and the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority includes development of a sample schedule, economic […]
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Metropolitan Transit Commission, the policy board for the Charlotte Area Transit System, has called for hiring an outside consultant to investigate a May 2022 light rail derailment and the transit agency’s failure to disclose significant issues revealed by that accident, as well as other problems. National Public Radio station WFAE reports […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s annual funding request to Congress seeks $1.7 billion for the Northeast Corridor and $1.95 billion for its National Network needs in the coming fiscal year, as well as almost $9.7 billion in additional funding, according to the General and Legislative Annual Report and Fiscal Year 2024 Grant Request released this week. The […]
ANACORTES, Wash. — An improperly aligned derail was responsible for the derailment of a BNSF Railway train on the Swinomish Reservation last week, a Federal Railroad Administration representative told a local National Public Radio station. KUOW radio reports the derail, which is mean to keep trains from proceeding when a swing bridge over a portion […]
PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has signed a bill authorizing $6.25 million in state funding for the rehabilitation of the Sisseton-Milbank Railroad, a 37-mile short line with a badly deteriorated right-of-way needed to move agricultural products. KXLG Radio reports Noem signed Senate Bill 16 earlier this week. The appropriation from the state’s […]
WASHINGTON — With intermodal traffic continuing to plummet, U.S. rail volume once again fell by the largest amount so far this year compared to the same week in 2022. Statistics from the Association of American Railroads for the week ending March 18 show overall traffic was 453,500 carloads and intermodal units, a 9.4% decrease from […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation has reached an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to provide paid sick level, the seventh such agreement it has reached with unions representing CSX workers. The railroad did not include terms of the agreement in its press release, but all prior agreements have included four days of […]
WASHINGTON — Senators put Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw in the hot seat today during a hearing on improving railroad safety in the wake of the toxic derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Shaw once again apologized for the East Palestine derailment, said the railroad is taking steps to improve safety, and will continue to support […]
