BATON ROUGE, La. — A decades-long effort to create a Louisiana passenger rail corridor between the state capital of Baton Rouge and New Orleans moved a step closer Wednesday when Gov. John Bel Edwards joined Amtrak, federal, and railroad officials on an inspection run along the route. Among those joining the governor, a Democrat, were […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation expects service to continue to improve throughout the year as its conductor and engineer ranks grow amid a hiring surge. “We are pleased with our results this quarter, though we’re not yet satisfied with our service performance,” Foote told investors and analysts on the railroad’s earnings call on Wednesday afternoon. […]
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 […]
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec Corp. has signed agreement to acquire Beena Vision, which manufactures machine-vision-based wayside inspection systems, from Sunnyvale, Calif., technology firm Trimble. Beena Vision’s rolling-stock wayside detectors assess components ranging from wheel surface condition to full train inspection for trains in motion., allowing companies to manage fleet maintenance through sensor and image-based inspection systems. […]
WASHINGTON — Switching details and conflicting traffic modeling assumptions dominated discussions at the Surface Transportation Board’s hearing into Amtrak plans to launch passenger service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. The seventh and eighth days of testimony and cross-examination, spread over three weeks, on the dispute over plans for two daily Amtrak round trips precedes […]
WASHINGTON — More transit agencies determined or clarified their stance on Tuesday in the wake of a Monday court ruling striking down a federal requirement for mask use on public transportation, with most — including some that initially planned to retain a mask requirement — dropping the mandate. Meanwhile, the Biden administration said Tuesday it […]
TORONTO — The government of Ontario has awarded a contract for major expansion of Go Transit service in the Toronto area, a plan calling for more than 120 miles of new track and electrification of more than 370 miles of the system. The electrification will also bring new trains capable of speeds exceeding 85 mph, […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation announced it has reached a tentative agreement with one of its operating unions to provide monthly advance payments against future wage increases expected when current bargaining over a national rail labor contract is completed. The railroad agreed to pay trainmen and yardmasters represented by the International Association of Sheet Metal, […]
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — The League of Railway Women is launching a four-part career webinar series beginning Thursday, April 21, with a session on applying for railway jobs. The session, set for 1 p.m. EDT, will be hosted by Erika Bruhnke, a director at large for the league and vice president, training services, at RailPros. […]
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 […]
ORANGE, Calif. — Jason Jewell has been appointed interim managing director of the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, which oversees Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service in Southern California. Jewell was appointed unanimously by the LOSSAN board of directors, effective April 18, the agency announced Tuesday. He will also continue to serve as chief financial officer, a position […]
WASHINGTON — Canadian National claims it has found additional train count inconsistencies in the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger application and related environmental filings. The Surface Transportation Board last month put review of the CP-KCS merger on hold until discrepancies in train density data could be sorted out. CP has provided the board with clarification […]
