A northbound Canadian National merchandise train overtakes a local near Byron, Wis., in July 2019. With carloads down 6% this year, CN has currently furloughed 7% of its workforce. TRAINS: David Lassen MONTREAL — Canadian National will cut costs as carload volume falls amid the coronavirus pandemic, but the railway expects bulk and domestic intermodal […]
A New Haven-bound Metro-North train arrives in Westport, Conn., in August 2019. Metro-North reported an almost 50 percent drop in ridership during Thursday’s morning commute. TRAINS: David Lassen Friday morning rail news related to the coronavirus outbreak: — Some commuter rail agencies are seeing reduced ridership in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, with significant […]
The indigenous group manning Canada’s last significant rail blockade has allowed Canadian Pacific to inspect its tracks near Montreal, and is expected to make an announcement about the future of the protest today. The Montreal Gazette reports CP employees cleared some debris from the track Wednesday afternoon after Mohawks in Kahnawake, Quebec, allowed the railroad […]
The Wednesday morning rail roundup: — In a significant blow to the fledgling commuter rail service, California voters in Sonoma and Marin counties have turned down a measure extending the quarter-cent sales tax that funds Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit. Approval of the measure would have guaranteed funding through 2059, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports; without […]
Tuesday morning rail news: — Union Pacific and the city of Palestine, Texas, have been ordered to go to mediation over UP’s efforts to do away with a 150-year-old agreement requiring the railroad to keep a set number of jobs in the community. The Palestine Herald-Press reports a federal court is requiring the sites to […]
New blockades continued to appear on Canadian rail lines on Tuesday, extending the disruption of rail service which is approaching the start of its fourth week. In the Toronto area, a protest that blocked GO Transit’s Milton line, which runs west of the city, was broken up about 3 a.m. today by police. Three people […]
In a deal brokered by the Canadian government, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National trains have been sharing some rail routes to bypass blockades by protesters, most notably the Tyendinaga Mohawk blockade near Belleville, Ontario, that was broken up Monday by Ontario Provincial Police. The CBC reports the arrangement began last week but was kept quiet […]
News reports say several people were arrested Monday at a rail blockade near Belleville, Ontario, after protesters ignored a midnight deadline to clear the site, the first in a series of locations where rail service has been disrupted across Canada. New blockades appeared elsewhere over the weekend. Some VIA Rail Canada and commuter rail service […]
VIA Rail Canada has laid off 1,000 workers as a result of the blockades of rail lines at locations across Canada, joining about 450 Canadian National workers laid off earlier this week. Some of the Canadian passenger carrier’s plans to partially restore service were thwarted Wednesday as new blockades appeared. The blockades are part of […]
Wednesday morning rail news: — Quebec has entered into an economic development agreement with the James Bay Cree that would see new rail lines and roads built in northern Quebec. Work on the C$4.7 billion dollar deal would take place in see phases and see roads and rail extended as far north as Whapmagoostui and […]
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday his government remained focused on resolving the protests that have blocked rail lines “quickly and peacefully,” but Canadian National Railway’s frustration at the ongoing protests is continuing to grow. Sean Finn, CN’s senior vice president and chief legal officer told the Globe and Mail, “This has been long […]
More Monday morning rail news: — Canadian National has withdrawn an application to expand yard facilities in East Chicago, Ind., to handle carloads of petroleum coke from BP’s Whiting, Ind., refinery, the Times of Northwest Indiana reports. The application by CN’s U.S. subsidiary Wisconsin Central Ltd. would have allowed the railroad to fill in wetlands […]
