Digest: Senators introduce bill to provide $2.5 billion for grade-crossing improvements

Passenger train on straight track

Senators’ legislation would provide $500 million annually for grade-crossing separation, other improvements U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Roy Blunt (R.-Mo.) have introduced legislation to provide $2.5 billion — $500 million annually for five years — for grade-crossing separation projects and other track relocation projects to improve safety or reduce congestion. “Too many people are […]

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Grain train on the prairie

Diesel powered freight train switches cars at wooden grain elevator

Grain train on the prairie A Canadian Pacific GP9 switches the grain elevator at Headingley, Manitoba, in August 1980. In this time of transition, the cars to be loaded are a mix of cylindrical covered hoppers and boxcars. John Uckley […]

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Digest: Biden to appear at Amtrak anniversary event

Amtrak logo.

President Biden to appear at Amtrak event in Philadelphia President Joe Biden will travel to Philadelphia on Friday to take part in Amtrak’s 50th anniversary celebration, the White House has announced. The New York Times reports Biden will appear at an event at 30th Street Station, promoting his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, as well as […]

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STB delays Watco’s acquisition of CN branches in Wisconsin, Michigan

Watco logo

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have indefinitely postponed Canadian National’s proposed sale of former Wisconsin Central branches to short line operator Watco. The Surface Transportation Board ordered Watco to respond to concerns that some shippers, shipper associations, and U.S. Rep Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., have raised about the sale of 650 miles of light density branches, including […]

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Canadian National orders 75 locomotives to handle traffic growth

Red and black locomotives leading train under bridge

MONTREAL — Canadian National has ordered 75 locomotives for delivery this year and next in order to handle projected traffic growth. CN, which made the announcement on Monday during its quarterly earnings call, is the only Class I railroad to place a locomotive order this year. The railway’s board approved the order before CN made its […]

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CN raises outlook for year as economy recovers, volume remains strong

CN logo

MONTREAL — Canadian National has raised its financial outlook for the year amid record first-quarter intermodal and Canadian grain volumes, and expectations for continued economic improvement that will boost merchandise traffic. CN now expects volume to grow in the high single-digit percentage range this year, up from around 5% forecast in January, executives said while […]

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CN envisions finalizing KCS merger deal within 30 to 40 days

Canadian National and Kansas City Southern logos

MONTREAL — Canadian National could finalize a merger deal with Kansas City Southern in the next 30 to 40 days, executives said today. With the KCS board agreeing over the weekend to consider CN’s unsolicited $33.7 billion merger offer, CN tomorrow will begin poring over confidential KCS data and negotiating a final merger agreement. Rival […]

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CP says broad CN overlap with KCS system poses regulatory hurdle

Map of central U.S. highlighting areas where Canadian Pacific says Kansas City Southern and Canadian National routes overlap

CALGARY, Alberta — A combined Canadian National and Kansas City Southern system would reduce railroad competition across wide swath of its expanded service territory, which would pose a regulatory challenge to a potential merger, Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel says. “The competition between KCS and CN is not limited to a ‘handful’ of shippers as CN […]

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News photo: Exo donates gallery coach to Exporail

Locomotive pulling two commuter coaches

Exo, the Montreal-area commuter railroad, has donated a gallery coach, to Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum in Saint-Constant, Quebec, on Montreal’s south shore. AMT No. 900 — the abbreviation refers to Exo predecessor Agence métropolitaine de transport — was moved to the museum on Friday from Exo’s Pointe St-Charles maintenance facility. The transit agency had […]

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Union Pacific warily watching CP-CN battle for Kansas City Southern

Train with two locomotives and hopper cars on track parallelling street

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific is closely watching the battle for Kansas City Southern and how an acquisition by either Canadian Pacific or Canadian National could affect its cross-border traffic. UP CEO Lance Fritz notes that U.S. regulations require that mergers between Class I railroads must enhance competition and improve service for all shippers. “For […]

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