OMAHA, Neb. — Major operational changes that have reduced Union Pacific’s costs are helping the railroad land new merchandise traffic, CEO Lance Fritz told an investor conference this week. Precision Scheduled Railroading is now “building into our DNA, into our culture” and will continue once outgoing Chief Operating Officer Jim Vena hands the reins to Senior […]
More Friday morning rail news Stockton Diamond gets $100 million grant from California The Stockton Diamond project, which seeks to replace a busy at-grade Central California rail crossing with a flyover, has received a $100 million grant from the California Transportation Commission. The Manteca Bulletin reports the grant will help fund a $237 million project that plans […]
Additional Friday morning rail news: Relatives ask for police investigation, Prime Minister’s intervention in CP derailment case The mother of a crew member killed in the February 2019 runaway incident of a Canadian Pacific train near Field, B.C., has filed formal complaints with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police asking them to step into an investigation […]
Friday late morning rail news: Washington’s Point Defiance Bypass likely to reopen in spring or summer 2021 The Washington State Department of Transportation projects Amtrak train service will return to the Point Defiance Bypass in spring or summer 2021. The website Urbanist, reporting on an online presentation by WSDOT Operations Program Manager Jason Biggs, says Amtrak will begin testing […]
Friday morning rail news: Leadership of House transportation committee to return Democratic and Republican leadership of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will remain unchanged after Democrats elected Peter DeFazio (Ore.) as the committee chair and Republicans chose Sam Graves (Mo.) as the Ranking Member. In a statement, DeFazio — a member of the committee […]
Thursday midday rail news: Five MTA employees charged in overtime fraud scheme Five current and former employees of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority have been charged for participation in an overtime fraud scheme that made them some of the agency’s highest-paid workers. The New York Times reports acting U.S. attorney Audrey Strauss said the scheme involved claims […]
Thursday morning Canadian Pacific and Canadian National news: CP announces plans for new Vancouver-area transload and logistics facility Canadian Pacific plans to build a transload and logistics facility adjacent to its intermodal rail facility in Pitt Meadows, B.C. The proposed facility, CP Logistics Park: Vancouver, is in the early stages of design and is subject […]
Still more Thursday morning rail news: City council to help fund Burlington Junction line relocation The Burlington, Iowa, city council will pay $170,000 to help fund a Burlington Junction Railway project to relocate part of its line, helping the city save on the cost of a floodwall project. The Hawk Eye newspaper reports the railroad will move […]
Tuesday morning rail news: Amtrak to pay $2.25 million, repair stations to meet ADA standards Amtrak will pay $2.25 million to settle claims it discriminated against disabled passengers by failing to accommodate those passengers at its stations. The Washington Post reports the passenger railroad will also fix dozens of stations over the next decade to accommodate people […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation sees the potential for growth through its planned acquisition of New England regional Pan Am Railways. “If you look historically, they’ve been able to grow a little bit faster than what we’ve been able to achieve. So we think the growth profile is attractive for us,” Chief Financial Officer Kevin […]
Wednesday midday rail news: Two hurt as BNSF train derails in New Mexico Two BNSF Railway crew members were injured in a derailment Wednesday morning in Vado, N.M., KVIA-TV reports. The station says the derailment caused millions of dollars in damage and will require weeks of cleanup, according to the New Mexico State Police. The derailment […]
The continued strength of intermodal traffic lifted overall U.S. rail volume for November to a 3.1% increase over that of November 2019, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, while traffic for the week ending Nov. 28 was up 3.7% over the same week a year earlier. “U.S. rail traffic continued to make […]
