HARMAR TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Norfolk Southern train derailed after a grade crossing accident with a construction vehicle in a Pittsburgh suburb Thursday afternoon, injuring the driver and both members of the train crew. Seventeen cars derailed, with several going into a tributary of the Allegheny River, WTAE-TV reports, and a railroad bridge was damaged. […]
WASHINGTON — The freight railroads involved in the Surface Transportation Board’s proceeding over Gulf Coast passenger service have again asked that the matter be sent to mediation — and Amtrak is again opposing that request. In a May 19 filing, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Alabama State Port Authority and its its short line […]
WASHINGTON — The four largest U.S. Class I railroads have told federal regulators that their conductor training programs and hiring pipelines are full as they try to restore service to normal levels amid widespread crew shortages. The railroads’ service recovery plans, submitted to the Surface Transportation Board on Friday as required, outlined the steps BNSF […]
WASHINGTON – The Class I railroads submitted their first batch of expanded performance metrics to federal regulators this week, including a snapshot of on-time performance data. The board on May 6 ordered the railroads to report the data beginning this week in response to shipper complaints and testimony delivered during two days of hearings last […]
WASHINGTON — Host railroads and Amtrak have not presented enough information to allow the Surface Transportation Board to determine whether two daily passenger round trips between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., would “unreasonably” impair freight operations, board chairman Martin Oberman said Thursday. Oberman made the statement as part of a wide-ranging commentary at the conclusion […]
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Extension of Virginia’s state-supported Amtrak service to the stateline communities of Bristol. Va., and Bristol, Tenn., could cost up to $1.5 billion while attracting up to 15,500 riders annually, according to a new study by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. The Bristol Herald Courier reports the study projects one […]
MAD RIVER TOWNSHIP, Ohio — No injuries were reported when a Norfolk Southern train derailed Thursday evening southwest of Springfield, Ohio. NS reports preliminary information indicates 20 cars are involved. Crews were on hand as of Thursday night to begin rerailing equipment and clearing the scene, with additional support en route. Firefighters responded to a […]
WASHINGTON – For the week ended May 7, U.S. rail traffic registered 504,927 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.5% decline over the same period in 2021. Figures from the Association of American Railroads show the total number of carloads at 231,737, down 1.9% over the same week in 2021, while intermodal volume was 273,190 containers […]
WASHINGTON — Cross-examination of Jim Blair, Amtrak’s senior director of host railroads, consumed the full 8-hour, 28-minute session Monday as the Surface Transportation Board’s hearing on the effort to launch passenger service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., resumed after an almost three-week hiatus. Blair was questioned by lawyers from Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation, and […]
SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. — Two construction barges broke loose on the flood-swollen Potomac River, with one of them striking the 1904 Norfolk Southern deck truss bridge here before hanging up further east. Both runaway vessels were engaged in work at a section of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park to the north along the […]
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 […]
WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have ordered Class I railroads to provide more detailed operational and staffing metrics and will require the big four U.S. systems to submit service recovery plans in light of widespread service problems that were spotlighted during hearings last week. The Surface Transportation Board, in a decision issued on Friday, said “immediate […]
