Eastern Maine Railway to acquire former Central Maine & Quebec branch from Canadian Pacific

WASHINGTON – Short line Eastern Maine Railway next month will acquire 45 miles of track in the Pine Tree State from Canadian Pacific’s Central Maine & Quebec subsidiary. Eastern Maine Railway, owned by the New Brunswick-based J.D. Irving Ltd., will gain 36.57 miles of main line along with nine miles of branch line trackage in […]

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Patriot Rail names new chief operating officer

patriotraillogo

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Shortline holding company Patriot Rail has named Jerry Hall as its chief operating officer, the company announced Monday. Hall brings over three decades of rail industry experience to the Patriot team, most recently as vice president of transportation at Norfolk Southern. Hall now leads Patriot Rail’s operations nationwide, with responsibility for safety, […]

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Union Pacific: Video of KCS train misled federal regulators about Houston terminal

WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has taken issue with a video that Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern showed federal regulators of a KCS grain train “breezing through Houston.” The railroads played the video, shot from the lead locomotive, for the Surface Transportation Board on the sixth day of their merger hearings earlier this month. CP […]

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British government seeks to restrict impact of rail strikes

British train stops next to worker at tower

LONDON — The British government announced plans in October to introduce a new law to restrict the impact of rail strikes — the Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill — and it is now on the list of bills being worked on by the British Parliament. The law is intended to ensure that even during […]

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BNSF sues airline over use of ‘Northern Pacific’

Logo of Northern Pacific Airways

  FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has filed suit over a start-up airline’s effort to use the name “Northern Pacific.” In a paywalled article, Bloomberg Law reports BNSF has filed suit in federal court for the Northern District of Texas against FLOAT Alaska, which is working to launch Northern Pacific Airways, a low-cost airline […]

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CN sets weekly Canadian grain volume record

Train pulling multiple cars

MONTREAL – Canadian National set a new weekly tonnage record for Canadian grain the week of Oct. 16, the railroad announced Monday. CN move more than 806,000 metric tons of grain from Western Canada, eclipsing the previous record by more than 50,000 metric tons. The record, CN says, comes after CN posted its second-best September […]

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Progress Rail CEO Haycraft to retire; Newman named as successor

Man in dark coat with red tie

ALBERTVILLE, Ala. — Progress Rail CEO Marty Haycraft, senior vice president of Caterpillar Inc., has announced plans to retire at the end of 2022, and will be succeeded by John Newman, the company has announced. Haycraft joined Progress Rail in 1993 when Corbin Railway Services purchased Progress predecessor Steel Processing Services, rising through the company […]

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CN would accept trackage rights as alternative to divestiture of KCS Springfield Line (updated)

Two trains side-by-side

Kansas City Southern ES44AC No. 4753 leads train MVNKC (Manifest Venice-Kansas City) through Roodhouse, Ill., where the KCS line from Springfield, Ill., splits to go to Kansas City or St. Louis, on Sept. 17, 2021. Power for the Roodhouse local sits to the left. Steve Smedley WASHINGTON — Canadian National has asked federal regulators to […]

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STB turns down bid to purchase part of former Northwestern Pacific line

Map of the former Northwestern Pacific

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has denied a bid by the owner of the Skunk Train tourist operation to acquire 13 miles of abandoned Northwestern Pacific right-of-way, increasing the likelihood the entire route will become a public trail. In a Thursday decision, the board ruled that Mendocino Railways, the Skunk Train owner, “has failed […]

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Intermodal service has improved since summer, J.B. Hunt executives say

LOWELL, Ark. — Railroads’ intermodal service improved considerably during the third quarter, J.B. Hunt executives said this week on the company’s earnings call. “Rail service has shown real signs of improvement in both velocity and reliability during the quarter with positive momentum building, the most notable increase coming from our friends at the BNSF,” J.B. […]

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California awards contracts for design work on first high-speed stations

Illustration of arch-shaped structure across rail line

SACRAMENTO — The California High-Speed Rail Authority has awarded its first contract for design of stations on the initial segment of the rail operation in the state’s Central Valley. The Fresno Bee reports the board has awarded a $35.3 million, 30-month contract for preliminary site planning and design for stations in Fresno, Merced, Hanford, and […]

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As CSX earnings grow, executives see service improvements on horizon

Train on bridge along river

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation today posted double-digit growth in revenue and earnings for the third quarter and maintained its financial outlook despite high inflation and signs that the economy might be softening. Executives said they were confident that the railroad could regain volume as service improves, which would help offset a potential decline in […]

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