BNSF and Norfolk Southern reach sick time agreements with two unions

BNSF Railway and Norfolk Southern have reached paid sick time agreements with two more of the unions representing their employees. BNSF and the International Brotherhood of Railway Carmen reached their agreement as part of larger ongoing discussions about modernizing the work environment, the railway said on Monday. Building upon existing BNSF paid time off and […]

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National Steel Car: Steel coil car wheelsets didn’t play role in Norfolk Southern derailment

New coil steel car

HAMILTON, Ontario – It turns out that the railroad industry’s emergency advisory sidelining 675 new steel coil cars with suspect wheelsets was a false alarm. In the wake of a March 4 Norfolk Southern derailment in Springfield, Ohio, the Association of American Railroads issued an equipment advisory recommending that the cars, built by National Steel […]

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CPKC unveils new logo on first day as a merged system

Canadian Pacific Kansas City, the first railroad to link Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, made its debut today and unveiled its new logo and website. Officials from Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern will celebrate the historic merger at a final spike ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Knoche Yard in Kansas City, Mo., […]

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More Midwest Venture cars enter service; California still waits

Train with four matching Siemens Venture passenger cars

Second of two parts CHICAGO — The introduction of Venture business/coach cars on some state-supported Amtrak routes in the Midwest reflects an increase in availability of the Siemens-built equipment, delayed by a variety of production and acceptance issues. Meanwhile, there is still no firm date for the introduction of California’s Venture equipment, although a spokesman […]

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MBTA trains had four near-miss incidents with track workers in a month

Maintenance workers watch train pass in subway tunnel

BOSTON — The new general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority received a sampling of the safety issues that have plagued the transit agency on Thursday, taking part in a meeting that revealed four incidents in the last month in which track workers were nearly struck by subway trains. CommonWealth Magazine reports General Manager […]

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PATH to begin use of new railcars

Rapid-transit car with blue paint on front end

HOBOKEN, N.J. — The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will begin operating the first of its 72 new PATH rail cars next week, the agency announced Thursday, and showed off some of the new cars. The Kawasaki-built cars, completed at a facility in Yonkers, N.Y., are being added to an existing 350-car […]

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R.J. Corman’s Broyles named vice chair of ASLRRA executive board

Man in coat and tie

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. — Justin Broyles, executive vice president, commercial affairs for the R.J. Corman Railroad Group, has been appointed vice chairman of the executive board for the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. Broyles will serve a three-year term while also continue to serve as vice president of the ASLRRA’s Eastern Region and will […]

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Chemical shippers say rail service remains mired below pre-pandemic levels

Yellow locomotives on train of tank cars

WASHINGTON — Most chemical shippers say railroad service has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to a survey released today by the American Chemistry Council. Some 77% of ACC members surveyed said rail service was worse in January than it was in early 2020 before the pandemic hit. Some 22% said service had returned […]

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Cimarron Valley Railroad marks start of $15 million upgrade project

Woman and two men in high-visibility safety vests with locomotive in background

HUGOTON, Kan. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and other officials were on hand Wednesday for groundbreaking ceremonies to mark the beginning of $15 million in improvements for the Cimarron Valley Railroad. KSCB Radio reports funding includes money from private sources, from the federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements, or CRISI, grant program, and from […]

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U.S. weekly rail traffic continues slide, compared to 2022

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal traffic

WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic saw its largest weekly drop so far this year, measured against 2022 traffic, in the week ending April 8, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. Traffic for the week was 451,336 carloads and intermodal units, down 11.2% from the same week a year earlier. It is the […]

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Stadler to host Railway Interior Innovation Summit in Salt Lake City

Two trainsets parked at station

SALT LAKE CITY — Stadler will host RedCabin’s Railway Interior Innovation Summit on April 18-20, featuring an exclusive tour of the Stadler facility including its assembly and production areas. The three-day event will feature interior developments to enhance the passenger onboard experience, including a keynote presentation on transit interiors by the Utah Transit Authority; a […]

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Labor leaders welcome FRA’s train makeup safety advisory, while railroads emphasize their train-building tools and techniques

Aerial view of derailed boxcars and auto rack

Rail labor leaders welcomed the safety advisory that the Federal Railroad Administration issued last week that encourages railroads to take steps to reduce the in-train forces that can cause long trains to derail. Railroads, meanwhile, said they were reviewing the advisory to make sure their operating practices are in line with the FRA’s recommendations. “For […]

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