CHICAGO — GATX expects 98% to 99% utilization of its newly expanded railcar leasing fleet in North America by the end of 2026, with North America profits projected to jump by $55 million to $65 million to about $415 million, the company said on its quarterly earnings call last week. The Feb. 13 investor call […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has reached a tentative five-year agreement with members of the Transportation Communications Union Intermodal group, the railroad announced on Friday, Feb. 20. “This new tentative agreement reflects the vital role our TCU intermodal team members play in our operation,” BNSF CEO Katie Farmer said in a press release. “Open, […]
WASHINGTON — Federal Railroad Administration officials have briefed the Rail Passengers Association on a plan that would recast Amtrak as a holding company that would oversee separate entities responsible for operations, equipment management and leasing, and infrastructure and construction. According to a statement on the RPA website, there are only cursory details of how the […]
COLMA, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation providing a $590 million loan to transit agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area, avoiding service cuts until a ballot initiative can go to voters. The money provided under AB 117 will go to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the agency coordinating transit funding and planning […]
WASHINGTON — Marc Molinaro, head of the Federal Transit Administration, has resigned his position as of today (Friday, Feb. 20), reportedly to run for the New York State Assembly. Molinaro said in a social media post last week that he was “coming home to be closer to my family and get back into the fight.” […]
MIAMI — Canadian Pacific Kansas City CEO Keith Creel says the Surface Transportation Board’s rejection of the initial Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger application shows the $85 billion transaction is not a done deal. “I’m not drinking the merger Kool-Aid that this thing’s going to get approved. It may or it may not,” Creel told an […]
AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin agency overseeing the city’s planned light rail network has selected the construction contractor for the project. The selection of Austin Rail Constructors, a joint venture of firms Stacy Witbeck and Sundt Construction, was approved on Wednesday (Feb. 18) by the board of the Austin Transit Partnership, the local government corporation […]
TORONTO — Hitachi Rail will open a new Canadian headquarters in Toronto, the company announced today. The 125,000-square-foot headquarters will span 5.5 floors at Consilium Place, a three-building complex in Toronto’s Scarborough district, and is due to open this summer. It will host the company’s Global CBTC Competence Centre, which provides engineering and technical expertise […]
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A new documentary about the Iowa Interstate Railroad marking the railroad’s 40th anniversary is now available at the company’s YouTube page. “Revival and Redemption: Iowa Interstate at 40” is a 34-minute feature looking at the railroad’s growth from startup in 1984 to its current regional role linking Iowa and Illinois with […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic rebounded after two down weeks, with overall volume up 6.2% for the week ending Feb. 14. According to the Association of American Railroads, overall traffic was 510,399 carloads and intermodal units, accounting for the gain compared to the same week a year ago. That included 225,283 carloads, up 7.7% from […]
NEW YORK — The Gateway Development Commission has received the full $205 million in Hudson Tunnel funding that had been withheld by the federal government, the commission said today (Feb. 18). As a result, tunnel construction, which halted on Feb. 6, should resume next week. “We are working with our contractors to deploy these funds […]
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Union Pacific’s plans to submit its revised Norfolk Southern merger application slipped from March to April after federal regulators clarified how certain data must be formatted, UP CEO Jim Vena says. On Tuesday, UP and NS told the Surface Transportation Board that they would file their updated merger application on April […]
