WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are summoning executives from the six Class I freight railroads to a rare public hearing to explain how their companies plan to invest in and grow their business amid concern over recent negative volume trends. In a notice published today (Friday, July 12), the Surface Transportation Board said it also welcomes […]
Class I railroads’ volume trends in the second quarter varied considerably, with Norfolk Southern traffic up 5.1% and Canadian Pacific Kansas City down 4.2%, according to the railroads’ Association of American Railroads carload reports. Norfolk Southern’s volume was boosted by 8.2% year-over-year growth in intermodal traffic. Its carload volume, less coal, was up 1.7%. Coal […]
WASHINGTON — Three labor organizations have opposed Amtrak’s request for a waiver allowing installation of a device the company claims will prevent incidents where trains fail to trigger track circuits. As a result, a decades-old issue that recently has forced Amtrak to assign at least seven Superliners to trains operated over Canadian National’s Chicago-Carbondale, Ill., […]
LAVAL, Quebec — Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference have voted to reauthorize strikes at Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National, the union announced Saturday, June 29. Overall, 89.5% of union members participated in the vote, with 98.6% voting to reauthorize the strike, the union said. At CN, conductors, engineers, and yard workers […]
MATTESON, Ill. — Authorities ordered an evacuation, then lited it about two hours later after a Canadian National train derailed at the railroad’s busy junction of former Illinois Central and Elgin & Joliet Eastern lines today (June 27) in Matteson, about 25 miles south of downtown Chicago. WGN-TV reports there was a small leak of […]
JOGUES, Ontario — Ten cars of a Canadian National train derailed Monday, June 24, in northeastern Ontario, leading to a precautionary evacuation because of a diesel fuel leak from one of the cars. CTV News reports the incident occurred about 2:45 p.m. in Jogues. The community of 214 is about 5 miles southwest of Hearst, […]
The union representing more than 9,000 CN and CPKC workers is holding a second strike vote amid stalled contract negotiations with the railroads. “It is clear we cannot rely on a timely conclusion to these unfortunate circumstances and must protect our rights regardless of outcome,” the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) said in a press […]
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — After more than a month with no mention in the “Passenger Advisories” section of Amtrak’s website that the New York-Montreal Adirondack wasn’t running north of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the passenger operator has acknowledged that the summertime hiatus will extend until Sept. 9. The “Modified Adirondack Service” notice appeared a week after […]
MONTREAL — Beginning June 19, VIA Rail Canada is adding 90 minutes to the westbound schedule of its Montreal-Halifax, N.S. Ocean and 45 minutes to the eastbound train, “to provide passengers with a schedule which better reflects actual travel times,” according to a statement provided by VIA in response to a set of detailed questions […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City have rejected a Teamsters Canada Rail Conference proposal to stagger negotiations with both railways by two weeks. The union — which represents engineers and conductors on both railways, as well as rail traffic controllers on CPKC — said that staggering contract talks would avoid simultaneous […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway said today that it had formally offered binding arbitration to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference in an effort to reach a new contract. The labor union turned down the offer, made earlier this week, CN said in an update on the dispute between the railroad and its operating crews. CPKC […]
HAMILTON, Ontario — Canadian National Railway, the Southern Railway of British Columbia, and a consortium including several short lines in Saskatchewan and Alberta are among recipients of up to C$51.2 in funding from the Canadian government for digital infrastructure projects under the National Trade Corridors Fund. A total of 19 projects will receive funding, announced […]
