CHICAGO — Some projects of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency, or CREATE, program are begun and completed with relatively limited fanfare. That is certainly not the case with the Forest Hill Flyover, which carries the tracks of CSX Transportation over lines used by Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, the Belt Railway of Chicago, and […]
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WASHINGTON — A coalition of rail and environmental groups has submitted comments to the Surface Transportation Board on the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, asking the board to clarify whether “substantive filings” from stakeholders other than parties directly involved would be part of the review process. The organizations — the Rail Passengers Association, Southern Rail […]
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CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City has reached a tentative five-year agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen for engineers on the former Soo Line in the United States. The agreement announced Thursday, Nov. 13, would cover approximately 300 engineers on the former Soo Line in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, and […]
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CHICAGO — Big railroad mergers have often been plagued by problematic computer cutovers that lead to service meltdowns, most recently this spring when CPKC extended its system to the legacy Kansas City Southern network in the U.S. Union Pacific pledges to avoid the same fate if its proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern wins […]
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WASHINGTON — The ongoing dispute between Metra and Union Pacific over commuter rail operations in the Chicago area was back before the Surface Transportation Board as the board resumed activity following the shutdown of the federal government. Both parties filed a joint status report on negotiations today (Nov. 13), while Metra offered a fairly brief […]
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WASHINGTON — Video shows a BNSF conductor struck and killed by a passing train was walking in the “foul” of the track — the area extending four feet on either side of the rails — prior to being struck, the National Transportation Safety Board says in its preliminary report on the Oct. 19, 2025, incident […]
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MONTREAL — The union engaged in what was to have been a month-long strike against Montreal’s public transit agency has suspended its job action — but another strike will shut down the system this Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 15-16. The Syndicat du Transport de Montréal, which represents maintenance workers, began a walkout on Nov. 2 […]
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A Union Pacific intermodal train heads east through Lombard, Ill., on Oct. 11, 2025. Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena this week responded to a BNSF claim that a UP-Norfolk Southern merger would lead to the elimination of 300 intermodal lanes. David Lassen A back-and-forth exchange this week between the CEOs of Union Pacific and BNSF […]
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NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit will overhaul its existing fleet of 429 Multilevel railcars under a $917 million program approved today (Nov. 12, 2025) by the agency’s board of directors. The oldest of the Multilevel I and II cars, built by Bombardier, date to 2006. They will eventually be joined by 374 Multilevel III cars […]
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KEARNY, N.J. — The cutover of traffic to the new Portal North Bridge on the Northeast Corridor in early 2026 could disrupt Amtrak and NJ Transit traffic for up to six weeks, according to NorthJersey.com. Some trains could be canceled or rerouted during that period. NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said plans are being finalized […]
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CHICAGO — Getting stranded on a long-distance train can be a maddening experience. Passengers have little recourse but to endure the delay, uncertain of its duration and knowing that appointments and connections will be missed. As Trains.com has frequently reported, there have been many instances where highway crossing collisions, debris strikes, and especially “mechanical assessments” […]
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SAN FRANCISCO — “Operator fatigue” led to a September incident in which a San Francisco Muni light rail train ran through a stop and operated at high speed, jostling passengers who through the train was going to crash, the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency said Monday. The train did not derail , but one passenger […]
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