SEPTA making progress in Silverliner repairs

Meet of electric multiple-unit commuter trains

PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is making progress in federally mandated repairs to its Silverliner IV fleet, meaning Regional Rail passengers could soon see an end to the overcrowded conditions that resulted from that equipment being sidelined. The news site Billy Penn reports that SEPTA has now received the thermal wire it needs […]

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Trans-isthmus railway remains closed following fatal derailment

Map of Mexico's FIT (Ferrocarril del Istmo de Tehuantepec)

NIZANDA, Mexico — Eleven days after a derailment that killed 14 people, two lines of Mexico’s Ferrocarril del Istmo de Tehuantepec remain closed, with no estimate when they will reopen. Along with the trans-isthmus railway’s Z Line, where the Interoceanic Train derailed on Dec. 28, an additional route known as the K Line also remains […]

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UP-NS merger likely to be focus of MARS winter meeting

Man at podium

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — CEOs with strongly opposing views of the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger will be the keynote speakers at the annual winter meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers, a key annual gathering of railroad officials and customers where discussion of the merger is likely to be the leading topic. The event at […]

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Weekly U.S. rail traffic shows 4% drop

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type and overall intermodal volume.

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic fell 4% for the week ending Jan. 3, 2026, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Volume for the week was 404,293 carloads and intermodal units, with 192,665 carloads, down 2.8% from the corresponding week a year earlier, and 211,628 containers and trailers, down 5.1%. Because of the […]

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Watco CEO Smith becomes chairman of company board

Watco logo, new version as of 2022

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Watco has announced changes in its leadership, adding new or additional roles for several of its top executives. CEO Dan Smith, who joined Watco in 2009 and became CEO in 2018, has also become executive chairman of the Watco board of directors, while Rick Baden, previously executive vice president and chief financial […]

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Nolan joins Anacostia as chief legal officer

Head shot of smiling woman

CHICAGO — Anacostia Rail Holdings has appointed Aimee Nolan as chief legal officer, the company announced today (Jan. 7). Nolan will oversee legal, compliance, governance, and risk functions. She most recently was general counsel at Zoro Tools Inc., a subsidiary of W.W. Grainger, and had previously spent 25 years at W.W. Grainger, most recently as […]

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CSX lays off 166 managerial workers, furloughs conductors

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX has laid off 166 management employees, about 5% of the non-union workforce, in cuts announced to employees today (Jan. 7). Other cost-cutting moves, according to Trains sources, include cuts to some management benefits and furloughs to 193 conductors, including 61 covered by the railroad’s Baltimore & Ohion union agreement and 132 […]

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January 2026

In every issue News, p. 4 CSX’s new CEO is willing to wait for a merger Bill Stephens, p. 12 Big new merger, same old problem Brian Solomon, p. 46 Heritage and rail travel on Cape Cod, Mass. Preservation, p. 48 Temple Lumber Co. No. 20 moves to a new home […]

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Weather-related issues lead to cancellations for Coast Starlight, Empire Builder

Starlight_Chatsworth_Lassen

CHICAGO — Amtrak is dealing with several days of operating issues for a number of long-distance services, with the Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, and Sunset Limited all experiencing disruptions, most of them weather-related. Some of California’s Pacific Surfliner service also continues to be canceled because of weather-related issues. In California, the northbound Coast Starlight scheduled […]

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BNSF warns customers about risks of UP-NS merger (updated)

Two locomotives on freight train

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway Chief Marketing Officer Tom Williams warned customers on Tuesday, Jan. 6, that the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger “poses serious risks to competition, service, and your supply chain.” BNSF has had time to review the 6,692-page UP-NS merger application that was filed with federal regulators on Dec. 19, Williams […]

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GATX car wrapped to promote heart health message

White covered hopper with red "move more" logo.

BEDFORD PARK, Ill. — Ingredion, a provider of food and beverage ingredients, and railcar leasing company GATX have introduced a covered hopper wrapped to support the American Heart Association and promote heart health. The car was unveiled Tuesday, Jan. 6, and is part of Ingredion’s long-term sponsorship of the Heart Association’s Heart of Chicago campaign. […]

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