Norfolk Southern adds capacity at Landers intermodal terminal in Chicago

Norfolk Southern logo

NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk Southern has expanded capacity at its Landers international intermodal terminal in Chicago amid record volume. “In the wake of recent record demand, NS is making multiple changes and upgrades at Landers to increase capacity and prepare for future growth and improve the driver experience,” NS said in a customer service advisory […]

Read More…

Norfolk Southern to close Cresson, Pa., engine house

Norfolk Southern logo

CRESSON, Pa. — Norfolk Southern will close its engine house in Cresson, Pa., eliminating seven jobs, the Altoona Mirror reports. The closure will come at the end of July. A Norfolk Southern spokesman told the newspaper in an email that the move “is part of our long-term business plans to evolve our operations to best […]

Read More…

J.B. Hunt says intermodal demand exceeds capacity

containers

LOWELL, Ark. — Demand for domestic intermodal service exceeds J.B. Hunt’s capacity because of slow customer turn times and the reduced velocity of the railroad network. “Demand for our intermodal capacity remains robust. In fact, demand continues to significantly outpace our available capacity, which remains constrained by rail performance and restrictions in addition to customer detention […]

Read More…

Norfolk Southern launches expedited, less-than-carload service

Illustration showing route of Norfolk Southern less-than-carload service

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. — Norfolk Southern has dipped its toes into a market that railroads abandoned decades ago: Expedited less-than-carload service. NS launched the door-to-door service this month as an experiment in the Chicago-Atlanta-Miami corridor. Trucks pick up small loads and deliver them to a rail-served warehouse where the shipments are cross-docked into waiting boxcars. The […]

Read More…

Norfolk Southern furloughs 86 at Altoona locomotive shops

Norfolk Southern logo

ALTOONA, Pa. — Norfolk Southern furloughed 86 workers at its Juaniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona on Friday, while eliminating another 14 jobs through attrition, the Altoona Mirror reports. The moves leave the shop with approximately 400 workers. Workers learned of the layoffs Friday morning when they arrived for their shift and were prohibited from entering […]

Read More…

Maximum speeds increase to 90 mph on Amtrak’s Chicago-St. Louis corridor

Passenger train passes signals

CHICAGO — As of today, top speeds are rising from 79 to 90 mph on much of Amtrak’s Chicago-St. Louis Lincoln Service corridor. With signal system testing complete and certified for reliability by the Federal Railroad Administration, the higher speed will be allowed between Laraway Road, south of Joliet, Ill., and CP Wann, two miles […]

Read More…

Analysis: Are trailers reaching the end of the intermodal road?

Black locomotive with train of trailers in the Midwest

  Intermodal analyst Larry Gross has gone out on a limb. In his latest “Intermodal in Depth” report, Gross predicts the demise of TOFC, or trailer on flatcar service, within the next four years. In some ways, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Trailers have become a smaller and smaller part of the intermodal world as […]

Read More…

Cleanup continues after NS derailment in Pennsylvania

Norfolk Southern logo

NEWBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Cleanup continued Tuesday after 33 cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed Monday afternoon midway between Harrisburg and York, Pa. The York Daily Record reports plastic PVC pellets spilled from one car, and hazmat teams were part of the initial response to the derailment because some of the cars involved displayed […]

Read More…

Digest: Canada increases fines for rail trespassing, interfering with operations

Transport Canada logo

Canadian government stiffens fines for rail trespassing, interfering with operations The Canadian government is increasing fines for trespassing onto railroad property and interfering with railway operations. Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra announced Wednesday that fines for trespassing will increase from $100 to $500, while the fine for not giving way at railway crossings will increase […]

Read More…

NS, CN, and KCS are hiring conductors to meet rising traffic demand

Black locomotives followed by cars carrying truck trailers

WASHINGTON – The chief executives of Norfolk Southern, Canadian National, and Kansas City Southern have told federal regulators that their railroads are hiring conductors to meet expected traffic demand as volume continues to rise. Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman, responding to shipper complaints about rail service as traffic has rebounded from the pandemic, […]

Read More…

Digest: KCS asks regulators to block Canadian Pacific’s request for information

Kansas City Southern Lines logo

Kansas City Southern asks regulators to reject Canadian Pacific request for information Kansas City Southern has asked the Surface Transportation Board to reject a request from Canadian Pacific for information it seeks for CP’s efforts to merge with KCS, saying that under the termination of the merger agreement between the two railroads, CP no longer […]

Read More…

Digest: MBTA to offer “Vax Express” at commuter rail stations

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority logo

MBTA commuter train to offer walk-up COVID vaccinations The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will operate a commuter train offering COVID-19 vaccinations June 16-20 at stations in Boston, Worchester, Lowell, Lawrence, and Fitchburg, Mass. The Boston Globe reports the “Vax Express” will offer walk-up vaccination; while no appointment is required, residents may book a time slot […]

Read More…