Normally the addition of a 3.5-mile stretch of second main line isn’t a cause for celebration. But when those 3.5 miles happen to be the final section of regular double track added to BNSF Railway’s 2,200-mile Southern Transcon, well, then it’s a major milestone. BNSF cut over the new trackage between Rose Hill and Mulvane, […]
MONTREAL – Canadian National today unveiled its first new medium horsepower hybrid electric locomotive, a Q19-2.4GH developed in collaboration with Knoxville Locomotive Works. The 3,200 horsepower unit, No. 7100, includes a modern control system and is powered by a 2.4MWh-700HP battery-diesel engine that is 100% biofuel ready. Former BNSF Railway Genset 3GS21B No. 1259 was […]
MIAMI — How much money Amtrak was willing to pay and the Florida Department of Transportation was willing to accept for use of the Miami Intermodal Center headhouse was apparently the main sticking point in a years-long impasse that ended when the passenger carrier notified FDOT in November that it would not move its South […]
WASHINGTON — Carload traffic was down considerably but intermodal volume remained strong in the latest report on U.S. weekly rail traffic. According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, traffic for the week ending Jan. 11, 2025, included 465,390 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.8% from the same week in 2024. That included 199,511 […]
WORCESTER, Mass. — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has proposed a 10-year, $8 billion transportation plan including an immediate move to stabilize the finances of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority — using funds from the state’s Fair Share tax on annual incomes over $1 million while requiring no new taxes. Legislation to enact the plan, part […]
CALGARY — Members of Canadian union Unifor have voted to authorize a strike against Canadian Pacific Kansas City if the railroad and union do not reach a new deal by Jan. 29, 2025. The union said the vote was 99% in favor of authorization by members of Local 101R, which represents more than 1,200 CPKC […]
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The question of the day, on the first day of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting, is probably one being asked in one form or another at every business in the United States — or that does business with the U.S. What about tariffs? The consensus during today’s first day […]
WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board today issued a decision partially granting complaints filed by the North America Freight Car Association and several other associations and individual shippers regarding Union Pacific’s charges for the movement of empty, privately owned tank cars to repair facilities. The decision clarifies UP’s obligations regarding charges moving forward and directs […]
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The power of data, or more accurately, of well-used data, may not have explicitly been the topic of BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer’s presentation at the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers’ Winter Meeting. But it was a recurring theme with several subjects she touched on as part of her morning keynote address […]
Members of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers’ Mechanical and Engineering Department (SMART-MD) have voted to ratify a new contract agreement, the National Carriers Conference Committee announced yesterday. SMART-MD is the fifth national agreement ratified, following agreements reached by the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers, Transportation Communications International Union, […]
SACRAMENTO – The California Air Resources Board has scrapped its controversial rule that would have required the use of zero-emissions locomotives in the state beginning in 2030. The board, or CARB as it’s known, informed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week that it was withdrawing its requests to enforce zero-emissions rules covering trucks and […]
MISSOULA, Mont. — An obscure but classic motion picture about logging in the Northwest, and the unique log-hauling locomotive that starred in it, are returning to the spotlight. In February 1955, “Timberjack” made its world premiere on the screens of the Roxy and Fox theaters in Missoula, not far from where the movie had been […]
