INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Train and engine service workers at the Utah Central Railway have voted to join the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the union has announced — the seventh short line to join the union since 2023. The vote, certified by the National Mediation Board in December, was unanimous, the union said in […]
SALT LAKE CITY — Jeff Roberts has become CEO of Savage Cos., the multifaceted supply-chain company whose businesses include short line railroads and other rail operations and logistics. Roberts becomes just the fourth CEO in the history of the privately held company established in 1946. He replaces Kirk Aubry, who announced plans to retire in […]
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have ratified a five-year contract with Genesee & Wyoming’s Berkshire & Eastern Railroad, the union announced this week. The contract, ratified unanimously, includes wage increases totally 22.5% over the life of the contract: 5% at signing, 5% in 2025, 4% in 2026, 4% […]
PORT CLINTON, Pa. — The first winter “Iron Horse Ramble” will provide an early start to the 2025 steam excursion schedule for the Reading & Northern, the railroad announced today (Dec. 28, 2024). In all, four steam excursions are planned, with tickets on sale at this Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, at 9 a.m. The season […]
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Railroads on the Gulf Coast and in the East are familiar with hurricane preparedness and plan accordingly for wind, storm surge, and flooding. But they cannot prepare for a hurricane causing an unprecedented, once-in-a-thousand-years event. That’s what happened about 24 hours after Hurricane Helene made landfall on Sept. 26, 2024, as a […]
The Santa train season is nearing its end — which may be just as well, considering a weekend with minor mishaps involving three such trains, from one side of the country to the other. On Friday, the Polar Express operated by the California State Railroad Museum from its station in Old Sacramento was involved in […]
Several freight rail business developments did not rank among our Top 10 stories of the year — but were still important in the grand scheme of things. They include: New Southeast-Mexico corridor CSX and Canadian Pacific Kansas City on Dec. 1 began service over the former Meridian & Bigbee short line that serves as a […]
MOLINE, Ill. — An exceptionally long-running effort to launch Amtrak service to the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa may be extended even longer, if some federal lawmakers have their way. Three members of Illinois’ congressional delegation — U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, and U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen — have written Transportation Secretary […]
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has approved $55 million in funding for 30 rail freight improvement projects, the agency announced on Wednesday (Dec. 18). The funds, for a mix of railroads and rail customers, are from the state’s Rail Transportation Assistance Program and Rail Freight Assistance Program; PennDOT said they would create […]
TOPEKA, Kan. — Fourteen rail projects in Kansas will receive $13 million in funding from the state Department of Transportation’s Rail Service Improvement Program, Gov. Laura Kelly announced Wednesday (Dec. 18). The projects were selected from 22 applications for projects with a total cost of more than $33 million. Projects require a 30% match from […]
WASHINGTON — A Coastal Carolina Railway conductor was seriously injured when struck while walking next to railcars during a gravity-drop move, the National Transportation Safety Board says in its preliminary report on a Nov. 19, 2024, incident in Rocky Mount, N.C. The incident occurred about 2:55 p.m. during switching moves on the Nash County Subdivision. […]
CHICAGO — If there were two messages hammered home during a press conference to celebrate the latest federal funding for the CREATE project, they were these: CREATE may be a local program, but it has national implications. And it is the textbook example of public-private partnership. The event today (Friday, Dec. 13) was to mark […]
