RailTrends opens with sharp debate over UP-NS merger

Yellow and black locomotives leading train of tank cars

NEW YORK — Rail industry officials focused on only three topics during the opening day of the RailTrends conference: Merger, merger, and merger. Union Pacific’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern dominated conversations and presentations on Thursday. Can the plan to create a transcontinental railroad win regulatory approval? Can it lead to volume growth […]

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Laura Jacobson, museum co-founder, dies

Man and woman standing on turntable in front of steam locomotive. Laura Jacobson, museum co-founder, dies.

Laura (Schlabach) Jacobson, co-founder of the Jerry and Laura Jacobson Foundation, which established the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum in Sugarcreek, Ohio, died on Nov. 18, 2025, the museum announced in a statement today. Jacobson remained on the museum’s board of directors until her death. She was active in the organization’s leadership, helping ensure a […]

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Norfolk Southern grant to support Tennessee museum’s Pullman restoration

Black-and-white side view of passenger car

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has received a $50,000 grant from Norfolk Southern to support restoration of the museum’s Pullman sleeping car Maitland. The funding comes from the NS Thriving Communities Grant Program, which supports organizations working to further safety, sustainability, workforce development, and community resilience. “The Maitland was donated to TVRM […]

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BLET announces tentative agreement with SEPTA

Logo of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union

PHILADELPHIA — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has reached a tentative one-year deal with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, a rare bit of good news for the problem-plagued transit agency. The union announced that the deal, covering engineers who operate Regional Rail trains, would include a 5% pay increase effective July 5, 2026. […]

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Railroad CEOs to highlight MARS Winter Meeting

Mars logo

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The CEOs of BNSF, CPKC, and Union Pacific are among speakers scheduled to take part in the annual Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting, set for Jan. 13-15 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel. Registration is available here, and is $395 through Dec. 12, $450 thereafter, and $500 at the […]

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Short line association to participate in STB review of UP-NS merger

American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association logo

WASHINGTON — The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association has informed the Surface Transportation Board that it intends to participate in the review process of the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, although the organization has not indicated what position it might take. Short lines are individually and collectively are working to determine how the […]

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Weekly U.S. rail traffic down again

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal volume.

WASHINGTON — Slumping intermodal traffic continues to keep weekly U.S. rail traffic below 2024 levels. For the week ending Nov. 15, 2025, U.S. volume was 493,880 carloads and intermodal units, a 4.5% decline from the same week a year ago. The total included 223,101 carloads, down 0.2%, and 270,779 containers and trailers, down 7.7%. It […]

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Third-quarter intermodal volume remains ahead of 2024 levels

Double-stack train with three orange-fronted locomotives

CALVERTON, Md. — International container traffic helped total intermodal volume remain ahead of 2024 levels in the third quarter of 2025, according to the Intermodal Association of North America. Overall, intermodal volume increased by 2.8% over the same quarter a year ago. International container volume increased by 4.4%, from 2,317,879 to 2,419,908 containers, while domestic […]

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Rebrand just part of Gold Runner’s path forward

Train and bus with multicolored striping parked at right angles

  STOCKTON, Calif. — The transportation menu of trains and buses running between the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California via the state’s Central Valley didn’t change following a Nov. 14 ribbon-cutting ceremony for what is now known as Gold Runner service. But that event at the Altamont Corridor Express maintenance facility in Stockton, […]

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BNSF joins in creation of Alliance Logistics District in Texas

Aerial view of trucks, containers, and intermodal terminal

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway, the city of Fort Worth, and Dallas-based development company Hillwood have announced creation of the Alliance Logistics District, a logistics hub in Hillwood’s AllianceTexas development in north Fort Worth. Creation of the logistics district will allow benefits to those within its boundaries including the ability to use private hostler […]

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News photos: CN marks 30th anniversary of privatization

Ten people standing in front of red CN banner with confetti falling

Canadian National Railway celebrated the 30th anniversary of its privatization on Tuesday (Nov. 17), with CEO Tracy Robinson and Shauneen Bruder, chair of the railroad’s board of directors, marking the event by ringing the opening bell at the Toronto Stock Exchange and the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. CN raised Ca$2.25 billion […]

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