ORLANDO, Fla. — Brightline’s plan to extend its passenger route past the Orlando Convention Center, Disney World, and down the wide median of Interstate 4 to Tampa got a public boost Wednesday with the announcement that the U.S. Department of Transportation would release a $15.875 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant. The […]
WASHINGTON – U.S. rail traffic dipped 3.7% in May as both intermodal and carloads slumped compared to last year. U.S. railroads originated 928,742 carloads in May 2022, down 35,821 carloads from May 2021, the Association of American Railroads reported on June 1. U.S. railroads also originated 1,102,558 containers and trailers in May 2022, down 4.3%, […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Pan Am Railways is now a fallen flag. The New England regional officially became part of CSX Transportation on Wednesday, six weeks after the Surface Transportation Board approved the acquisition. “We are excited to welcome Pan Am’s experienced railroaders into the CSX family and look forward to the improvements we will make […]
June 1 marks 40 years since Southern and Norfolk & Western tied the knot and became Norfolk Southern. As this milestone passes, it’s important to recognize history that goes back even further – a lot further – and Norfolk Southern’s role in preserving it. Last fall, NS donated the Southern Railway archives to the Atlanta […]
RailPulse, the consortium effort to develop a remote monitoring system for freight railcars, has entered a 10-year agreement with Railinc Corp. to develop, maintain, and operate RailPulse’s technology platform. RailPulse says the agreement with Railinc, the rail-data affiliate of the Association of American Railroads, will allow it to deploy its monitoring system later this year. […]
Nearly five decades have passed since General Motors debuted two new EMD electric freight locomotives. There were two models: the 6,000-hp GM6C, which operated on two six-wheel trucks, and the 10,000-horsepower GM10B, which operated on three four-wheel trucks. The GM6C began testing in 1975, the GM10B in 1976. The only practical choice for evaluation at […]
Frisco steam to diesel transition: The mid-20th century was a time of great change for U.S. railroads. They were in the midst of a great steam to diesel transition that would revolutionize the industry for generations to come. An example of how the diesel changed part of one railroad may be found on the rolling […]
WASHINGTON — Rail unions are again seeking to declare an impasse in negotaitions with U.S. railroads, a move which could eventually lead to intervention by President Joe Biden and Congress. Bloomberg reports that three days of meetings between the two sides with the National Mediation Board will conclude today, with labor unions renewing a request […]
Southern Railway history: The earliest portion of the Southern Railway was the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Company, which was chartered in 1828 to build from Charleston, S. C., to Hamburg, S. C., on the north bank of the Savannah River. Its purpose was to bring trade to the port of Charleston from inland […]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Efforts by Class I railroads to hire more engineers and conductors are helping lift workforce numbers from record lows during the coronavirus pandemic. But other forms of railroad employment remain below pre-pandemic numbers, and overall employment is still dramatically lower than it was five years ago. According to the most recent Surface […]
MT. VERNON, Ill. — Merritt Becker is the new CEO of National Railway Equipment Co., the rail, marine, and power company has announced. Becker joins NRE from engine and power generation company Cummins Inc., where he has spent the last 12 years, effective June 1. He was most recently president and managing director of Cummins […]
WASHINGTON — After more than two years, the Surface Transportation Board is again accepting filings and other submissions in paper form. The board had limited filings to electronic form beginning in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying only the electronic filings would be accepted until further notice. While paper filings are now accepted, […]
