WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has asked parties involved in the upcoming hearing on Amtrak Gulf Coast service to be prepared to report on a meeting with the U.S. Coast Guard over drawbridge operations on the route, as well as several other issues, at the hearing scheduled for April 4. In a decision issued […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON — Railroad Workers United, which describes itself as “an inter-union, cross-craft solidarity caucus of railroad workers and their supporters,” has expressed its support for Amtrak’s efforts to launch service on the Gulf Coast — while taking more than a few shots at CSX and other Class I railroads. In a statement filed with the […]
Read More…
Bash Canadian Pacific Kansas City Day – otherwise known as Feb. 28, the deadline for comments on the CP-Kansas City Southern merger – has come and gone. What have we learned from the flurry of regulatory filings from other railroads, shippers, and lineside communities? The Class I railroads behaved like you’d expect: Following a tradition […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON — Norfolk Southern sees the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger as a threat to its Meridian Speedway intermodal traffic. NS announced its intention to protect its Meridian Speedway traffic in a pair of Monday regulatory filings posted to the Surface Transportation Board website on Tuesday. NS may exercise its option to purchase the KCS-served […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has granted CSX Transportation’s request to delay the hearing on Amtrak Gulf Coast service, which was unopposed by Amtrak and the other parties to the case. The evidentiary hearing, which had been scheduled to begin March 9, will now be held April 4-5, with April 6 and April 8 […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation has asked for a delay in the evidentiary phase of the Surface Transportation Board hearing over Amtrak Gulf Coast service — but the public will not be informed why. A filing posted to the STB website today (Wednesday, Feb. 23) says the railroad “does not likely make this request, given the […]
Read More…
SPENCER, Mass. — Three people were injured when a Loram rail grinder collided with a stopped CSX freight train early Sunday morning, requiring some of the injured to be freed by first responders. WCVB-TV reports a CSX statement indicated the accident occurred about 1:30 a.m. Spencer Fire and Emergency Services wrote on Facebook the three […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON — Questions raised by Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman and other board members Wednesday, during the second day of a hearing over Amtrak service on the Gulf Coast, pointed to the key issues on which the case will likely be decided. Following Wednesday’s conclusion of the public-comment portion of the case, which featured […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON – Active cross-examination by Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman and other board members marked almost eight hours of testimony Tuesday on the first of two days of public comment on the ramifications of two proposed daily Amtrak round trips between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. Some 45 witnesses spoke Tuesday. While most repeated […]
Read More…
Amtrak will square off against CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Port of Mobile, Ala., during Surface Transportation Board hearings this month and next regarding proposed Gulf Coast passenger service. Technically, this is about Amtrak’s disagreement with the freight railroads over starting a pair of daily round trips between Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans. But […]
Read More…
PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission has turned down a request by CSX Transportation to remove a 60-year-old bridge in Southwest Philadelphia, siding with the city of Philadelphia’s recommendation to replace the structure at a cost of $5 million. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that CSX filed the request to demolish the bridge on Cemetery […]
Read More…
WASHINGTON — The words “significant harm” and “unfair” on dozens of comments are countered by “boost tourism” and “economic growth” on dozens more. But comments filed with the Surface Transportation Board as it prepares for its hearing on Amtrak’s effort to start Gulf Coast service finds the phrase “precedent-setting impact” showing up on both sides […]
Read More…