WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic remains up as the year winds down. Figures for the week ending Dec. 14 saw U.S. railroads move 526,166 carloads and intermodal units, a 4.8% increase over the same week in 2023, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Those figures include 228,400 carloads, down 2.4% from […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate has passed a bill eliminating cuts to railroad unemployment benefits, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden for his signature. S1274, the Railroad Employee Equity and Fairness (REEF) Act, passed the Senate today after earlier passage in the House of Representatives. It ends a tax of $50 every two weeks […]
When mourners gather Thursday for services at the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Auburn, Calif., it will mark a special occasion for anyone associated with the once-upon-a-time Southern Pacific Railroad: a moment to appreciate a true SP hero, James C. Mahon, known from Sacramento to San Antonio as “The Bear.” Railroaders in charge […]
ERWIN, Tenn. — It could be September 2025 before CSX Transportation is able to resume operations on the badly damaged portions of its former Clinchfield Railroad route in Tennessee and North Carolina. The railroad has listed September 2025 as the date by which emergency repairs will be completed in its latest permit request for repairs […]
A tank car begins its descent from the crest of the hump at Union Pacific’s North Plate, Neb., hump yard. The mast atop the hump control tower is for radio communication with switch engines. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
WASHINGTON — A Coastal Carolina Railway conductor was seriously injured when struck while walking next to railcars during a gravity-drop move, the National Transportation Safety Board says in its preliminary report on a Nov. 19, 2024, incident in Rocky Mount, N.C. The incident occurred about 2:55 p.m. during switching moves on the Nash County Subdivision. […]
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Norfolk Southern estimates its former Southern Railway line from Newport, Tenn., to Asheville, N.C., and east to Grovestone, N.C., will reopen by the end of March 2025, a revision of its initial estimate. In October, shortly after the line was severely damaged by Hurricane Helene, the railroad estimated service could be restored […]
HOUSTON — Union Pacific will adjust its operations to avoid running trains during the primary arrival and departure times for students at a Houston high school, the railroad said today (Tuesday, Dec. 17). The move on a UP line adjacent to Houston’s Milby High School comes after a 15-year-old student was killed while crossing the […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has introduced a bill that would provide $200 billion in funding over five years for high speed rail and electrification of major rail corridors. The “All Aboard Act” also seeks to expand existing passenger rail service and electrify major rail yards. U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) has introduced […]
CALGARY, Alberta — The $100 million Patrick J. Ottensmeyer International Railway Bridge is officially complete. The second span across the Rio Grande— linking Laredo, Texas, with Nuevo Laredo, Mexico — doubles Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s cross-border capacity because it allows the railway to eliminate the four-hour northbound and southbound directional running windows that created bottlenecks […]
DARTMOUTH, Nova Scotia — A broken rail caused by an undetected fatigue flaw led to the derailment of a Canadian National train new Dunsinane, New Brunswick in October 2023, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in an investigation report released today (Tuesday, Dec. 17). Four cars derailed in the Oct. 30, 2023, incident, with […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has added four more Certified Sites to its existing list of 38 trackside shovel-ready, rail-served industrial development properties. The new sites, which were announced yesterday, include in Everett, Spokane, and Plymouth, Wash.; and Springfield, Mo. “We’re excited to announce these four new locations to our growing list of certified […]
