News Photos: CSX traffic in Kentucky halted by tornado damage

Debris on railroad tracks

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. — Damage from what has subsequently been identified as a small tornado halted CSX Transportation traffic on New Year’s Day in Hopkinsville, the second time in less than a month that a tornado has affected the railroad’s operations in the area. WZTV in Nashville reports the damage, initially attributed to high winds, was […]

Read More…

Explosion damages CSX coal facility in Baltimore

Smoke rising from coal facility

BALTIMORE — No injuries have been reported after an explosion Thursday morning at a CSX coal silo in South Baltimore’s Curtis Bay. The facility sustained significant damage after the blast that residents reported feeling miles away. The explosion occurred about 11:30 a.m. The Baltimore Sun reports the explosion occurred on a conveyer belt and resulted […]

Read More…

CSX, NS documents offer harsh rebuttal to Amtrak filing in Gulf Coast case

Freight train with blue and yellow engine leaving main line

WASHINGTON — In filings that maintain if not elevate the level of acrimony between the two sides, CSX and Norfolk Southern have attacked almost every aspect of Amtrak’s response to their initial argument in the dispute over Gulf Coast passenger service that is before the Surface Transportation Board. The main document filed by the two […]

Read More…

News Wire Top 10, No. 5: Amtrak spars with CSX, NS over Gulf Coast service

People on station platform to welcome special Amtrak train

MOBILE, Ala. — Amtrak’s intention to begin two daily round trips between New Orleans and Mobile in 2022 has led to a Surface Transportation Board proceeding likely to  determine the rights and obligations of host railroads in granting access over routes that currently don’t have passenger service. The case before the STB grows out of […]

Read More…

‘Pop-up’ inland port in Atlanta eases Savannah congestion, but spurs neighborhood concern

Logo of Georgia Ports Authority

ATLANTA — A CSX rail yard in Atlanta has become one of four “pop-up” inland ports to ease congestion at the Port of Savannah, Ga., but some nearby residents have mixed feelings. They’re concerned about a resulting increase in truck traffic, but also have felt the supply-chain issues the temporary facility is meant to address. […]

Read More…

News Wire Top 10, No. 7: Railroad crew shortages

Man in orange vest climbing onto black locomotive

At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Class I railroads furloughed train crews as volume sank at its fastest rate ever. When volume rebounded, crew members were not called back to work at the same rate as traffic returned because railroads were moving their tonnage on fewer but longer trains. Then three things happened […]

Read More…

Retired exec says Precision Scheduled Railroading gets a bad rap — Analysis

Train passing under signal bridge

Precision Scheduled Railroading has become a target for members of Congress, federal regulators, shippers, and rail labor. Hunter Harrison’s low-cost operating model — in place on all of the Class I railroads except BNSF Railway — has come under criticism as rail traffic has rebounded from pandemic lows. Intermodal terminals faced monumental congestion this summer. […]

Read More…

Analysis: Do railroad mergers match their rosy growth projections?

Red, yellow, and black locomotive at grade crossing

Do railroad mergers live up to the hype? It’s a question that’s been rattling around in my head as federal regulators review the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, the first between Class I railroads in two decades. First, the projections. Within three years of the merger, Canadian Pacific Kansas City expects to gain 80,000 carloads […]

Read More…

DOT-FRA filing in Gulf Coast case offers detailed criticism of CSX-NS arguments

U.S. Department of Transportation logo

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Railroad Administration call for the Surface Transportation Board to order the restoration of Amtrak service along the Gulf Coast — and offer detailed criticism of arguments by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern against that service — in a Tuesday filing with the Surface Transportation Board. The […]

Read More…

News Photos: Train derailed by tornado in Kentucky

Aerial view of train derailed by tornado

EARLINGTON, Ky. — Photos of today’s tornado-caused derailment of a CSX train near Earlington, Ky., show the train caught in widespread devastation resulting from the overnight storm. CSX says 28 cars derailed shortly after midnight today [see “Tornado derails train in Kentucky, Trains News Wire, Dec. 11, 2021]. An initial report said the cars were […]

Read More…