Canadian regulators propose more detailed requirements for reporting railroad performance metrics

Canadian Pacific and Canadian National trains pass

OTTAWA, Ontario – Class I railroads operating in Canada would be required to report additional performance and staffing metrics under a proposal Canadian regulators unveiled on Friday. Transport Canada’s move was announced on the same day that the Surface Transportation Board said it will temporarily require the big railroads to provide more detailed operational and […]

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ATCO to build hydrogen facilities for Canadian Pacific

Green and gray cowl locomotive with blue trim

CALGARY — ATCO Group will build two hydrogen production and refueling facilities for Canadian Pacific’s program developing hydrogen fuel-cell locomotives, ATCO announced. The facilities in Calgary and Edmonton will each include a 1 megawatt electrolyzer, compression, storage, and fuel dispensing. The Calgary facility will be powered in part by a solar power facility at CP’s […]

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Derailment blocks highway in New Brunswick

Logo of New Brunswick Southern Railway

HARVEY STATION, New Brunswick — Ten cars of a New Brunswick Southern Railway train derailed early Thursday in the village of Harvey Station, blocking provincial Route 3, the CBC reports. Harvey Fire Department Chief Jerrard Swan said firefighters were informed of the accident about 5 a.m., and that 10 cars were involved. Only one was […]

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Major changes planned for Montreal light rail project

A map of the REM de l'Est route

MONTREAL — The province of Quebec and city of Montreal will take over a controversial light rail project after the province’s pension-fund manager withdrew from the project, and will make major revisions to what had been a proposed C$10 billion, 20-mile system. The Montreal Gazette reports Quebec Premier Francois Legault and Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante […]

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Track-repair error led to 2019 CN oil-train derailment

Diagram of derailment site in Canada showing location of tank cars and site of oil spill

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A track-repair error led to a rail-joint failure, causing a 2019 derailment of a Canadian National oil train, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in its summary of a report released Friday. The Feb. 16, 2019, accident near St-Lazare, Man., led to the derailment of 37 cars of a 110-car crude […]

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New GO Transit service draws 6,300 riders in six months

Toronto GO Transit logo

TORONTO — The latest update on commuter rail ridership between London, Ontario, and Toronto continues to show limited ridership, but provincial transit agency Metrolinx says it’s difficult to gauge the pilot program’s success because of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transit. The CBC reports total ridership for the first six months of […]

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Outgoing CN CEO Ruest received major bonus in 2021

JJ Ruest

MONTREAL — Canadian National executives including now-departed CEO JJ Ruest received significant bonuses last year for the first time since 2018, the Globe and Mail reports. Ruest, who stepped down in January, received a $2.32 million bonus in 2021 as part of overall compensation totaling $13.55 million. A year earlier, his bonus had been $313,334. […]

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Signal workers walk out at Toronto Union Station

Logo of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

TORONTO — Signal and communications workers at Toronto Union Station have gone on strike, creating the possibility of service disruptions at the station which sees more then 300 trains daily. The CBC reports 95 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers walked out at 12:01 a.m. today (Wednesday, April 20) after the union failed […]

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VIA seeks to electrify High Frequency Rail route

VIA Rail Canada logo

MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada wants about 90% of its proposed High Frequency Rail route between Toronto and Quebec City to be electrified, the passenger operator’s CEO has told the Montreal Gazette. VIA CEO Cynthia Garneau said the 90% figure “is not a written goal” but that the company will aim to electrify as much […]

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VIA Rail Canada sets restoration of most service

Passenger train with dome-observation car

MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada has announced plans to restore most service by June, ending suspensions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the previously announced return of two weekly round trips for the flagship, Toronto-Vancouver Canadian, plans announced last week will see three weekly round trips for the Montreal-Halifax Ocean, tentatively beginning June […]

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