Thirty-seven years ago, Montana businessman Dennis Washington entered into a 60-year lease with Burlington Northern for nearly 1,000 miles of ex-Northern Pacific Railway trackage and launched the Montana Rail Link. The newly created Class II regional stretched from Spokane, Wash., across southern Montana to Huntley, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it community not far from Billings, Mont. The railroad […]
Despite mounting uncertainty over tariffs, trade policy, and the economy, most major railroads held firm on their 2025 outlooks — contrasting with a wave of guidance cuts across other industries. Among the five publicly traded Class I railroads, Canadian National, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific kept their guidance intact, while Canadian Pacific Kansas City and […]
WASHINGTON — Short line holding company Regional Rail is acquiring the Minnesota Commercial Railway, which operates 86 miles of trackage around the Twin Cities. “The transaction will promote Regional Rail’s strategic and growth objectives, and help sustain MNNR’s efficiency, financial strength, and ability to meet the needs of shippers,” Regional Rail said in a regulatory […]
EL PASO, Texas — Fort Bliss, the 1,700-square-mile Army post in Texas and New Mexico, is undergoing an expansion of its rail capacity. The El Paso Times reports that groundbreaking was held April 22 for construction of 4.3 additional miles of track at its rail yard, built to accommodate 565 railcars in 72 hours — […]
FIELD, British Columbia — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will investigate the derailment of a CPKC train early this morning near Field, the agency has announced. The TSB said it will send a team of investigators to gather information and assess the occurrence, which occurred about 4:30 a.m. today (May 1, 2025) about 12 […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National reported stronger first-quarter earnings today despite the impact of harsh winter weather across its system, which crimped train length and the railway’s ability to meet demand for intermodal and merchandise service. “We are very pleased today to be reporting strong first-quarter results,” CEO Tracy Robinson said on the railway’s earnings call, […]
Price: Single car, $37.99; six-pack, $219.99 Manufacturer Otter Valley Railroad Inc. 37 Tillson St., Unit E Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada N4G 0B7 ovrtrains.com Road names: American Iron & Metal Co. (20000 and 21000 series), Midwest Railcar Corp., Triple M Metal, and XRMX. Also available painted black with data only. Six to 12 road numbers per paint […]
CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City executives say they are encouraged by discussions with the Federal Railroad Administration about rolling out new track and train inspection technology. It’s a turnabout for the FRA, which during the Biden administration stymied Class I railroad efforts to combine automated track and equipment inspections with traditional visual inspections […]
ARLINGTON, Va. — Members of the International Association of Machinists have ratified a new national agreement with the National Carriers Conference Committee, bargaining group for the National Railway Labor Conference. The ratification announced today (May 1, 2025) makes the IAM the ninth union to finalize a contract during the current round of bargaining and means […]
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon’s legislature has passed a bill seeking to expand the state’s collaboration with Washington state and other entities to improve passenger and freight rail operations in the Cascades Corridor. HB3233 was passed by a 16-12 vote of the state Senate on Tuesday, April 29, after the House passed it by a 44-12 […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has eliminated 20 chief dispatching positions at its Network Operations Center. “We consolidated some duties to better reflect the flow of traffic on our network,” railroad spokesman Zak Andersen says. “Those affected will return to their previous roles as dispatchers.” Separately, BNSF is seeking to extend a crew district […]
WASHINGTON — In a companion move to earlier House legislation, two U.S. Senators have introduced a bill to update a key tax credit for short line infrastructure investment. Like the House version, the Senate bill — S.1532, introduced on Wednesday, April 30 — has bipartisan sponsorship. In this case, it comes from Sens. Mike Crapo […]
