California congresswoman urges STB to reject CP-KCS merger

KCS3947Laredo

U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., has urged the Surface Transportation Board to reject the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, arguing that the first Class I combination in two decades would stifle competition. “The proposed merger represents a grave threat to competition in the domestic rail industry, which is already highly consolidated,” Porter wrote in […]

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Railroads report on-time performance to federal regulators for first time

NS8135Smedley

WASHINGTON – The Class I railroads submitted their first batch of expanded performance metrics to federal regulators this week, including a snapshot of on-time performance data. The board on May 6 ordered the railroads to report the data beginning this week in response to shipper complaints and testimony delivered during two days of hearings last […]

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NTSB report says slack action led to fatal fall for KCS conductor

Diagram of railyard with notations showing switching moves by train

WASHINGTON — A Kansas City Southern conductor killed in a December 2020 accident in Tupelo, Miss., fell in front of the train during switching because of unexpected slack action, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined in its final report. The report says that during a shoving move in the Tupelo yard on Dec. 23, […]

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U.S. rail traffic dips slightly in first week of May

WASHINGTON – For the week ended May 7, U.S. rail traffic registered 504,927 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.5% decline over the same period in 2021. Figures from the Association of American Railroads show the total number of carloads at 231,737, down 1.9% over the same week in 2021, while intermodal volume was 273,190 containers […]

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CP should have new merger data to STB well ahead of deadline, official says

Man in brown suit gesturing while speaking

KANSAS CITY — Canadian Pacific should file updated traffic data with the Surface Transportation Board pertaining to its planned merger with Kansas City Southern well ahead of a May 27 deadline, John Brooks, CP vice president and chief marketing officer, told the North American Rail Shippers conference on Wednesday. The STB requested updated baseline traffic […]

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News photo: KCS donates more than $500,000 for Ukraine relief

Four people with oversized check standing in front of passenger car with name "Harry Truman"

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern presented a check for $504,530 to the American Red Cross on Monday in support of global Red Cross efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. KCS announced in March it would donate $500,000, as well as match employee donations to the American Red Cross for its response […]

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STB settles CP-KCS merger traffic data issue

Maroon, gray and yellow locomotive leading train

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have ordered Canadian Pacific to resubmit specific traffic density data that will be used as part of its Kansas City Southern merger application. The Surface Transportation Board’s decision, issued on Wednesday, keeps review of the first Class I railroad merger in two decades on hold. CP must submit new baseline traffic density […]

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Poor rail service threatens U.S. economy, shippers tell federal regulators

Orange and black locomotives on freight train

WASHINGTON — Utilities are worried that the slowdown in coal deliveries could threaten U.S. electricity supply and destabilize the power grid. Chemical producers say erratic rail service has forced them to curtail production of essentials like chlorine used to treat public drinking water systems and the plastics used in medical products. And one of the nation’s […]

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Amtrak runs Baton Rouge-New Orleans inspection train

Aereal view of passenger train approaching city

BATON ROUGE, La. — A decades-long effort to create a Louisiana passenger rail corridor between the state capital of Baton Rouge and New Orleans moved a step closer Wednesday when Gov. John Bel Edwards joined Amtrak, federal, and railroad officials on an inspection run along the route. Among those joining the governor, a Democrat, were […]

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CN raises new train count data issues around CP-KCS merger

gray and blue passenger train passes next to red locomotive pulling freight train

WASHINGTON — Canadian National claims it has found additional train count inconsistencies in the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger application and related environmental filings. The Surface Transportation Board last month put review of the CP-KCS merger on hold until discrepancies in train density data could be sorted out. CP has provided the board with clarification […]

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April rail traffic declines slightly from year ago

AAR traffic data chart for week ending April 9

WASHINGTON — U.S. weekly rail traffic for April remains slightly below 2021 levels in the latest statistics released by the Association of American Railroads. U.S. rail traffic for the week ending April 9, 2022, was 508,343 carloads and intermodal units, down 1% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending […]

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Illinois state lawmaker files bill opposing CP-KCS merger

A Metra train approaches the Itasca station on the Milwaukee West line on March 16,2022. The commuter operator says Canadian Pacific traffic increases from the merger with KCS could increase its delays by 400%. (Trains: David Lassen)

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois lawmaker has introduced legislation opposing the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, saying the merger’s projected traffic increases “presents far too many risks” to lineside communities. State Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin) represents one of the eight communities in the Coalition to Stop CPKC. Those communities, along the Metra Milwaukee West route […]

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