WASHINGTON — Canadian Pacific Kansas City can send Midwestern grain to export at the ports of Houston and Galveston via haulage rights over Union Pacific south of Beaumont, Texas, the Surface Transportation Board said today. Union Pacific in 2023 had sought to block CPKC’s use of Kansas City Southern’s so-called South End haulage rights, which […]
Canadian Pacific Kansas City was the fastest-growing railroad in the second quarter, with its overall volume up 6%. CPKC’s industry-leading growth was due to double-digit increases in intermodal (14%), grain (16%), and coal (10%). Union Pacific ranked No. 2 for the quarter, with its volume up 4% overall, led by a 31% increase in coal […]
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec will further expand its digital rail inspection and detection business, announcing today (July 7, 2025) that it will acquire Austrian-based Frauscher Sensor Technology Group for €675 million ($792 million). The acquisition of Frauscher — an international supplier of rail detection, wayside object control, and axle-counting products — comes just days after Wabtec […]
SARDIS, Miss. — Twenty-seven cars of a Grenada Railroad train derailed Sunday (July 6, 2025) in Sardis, Miss., the third significant derailment in the state in three two days. The Oxford Eagle reports the incident occurred Sunday evening and involved cars carrying corn and sulfuric acid, and occurred in a remote location difficult to access. […]
Every time an acquaintance or travel writer returns from Europe and sets foot on American soil, you’ll hear the same refrain: “Oh, if only we had passenger trains like that.” What they mean, of course, is that Amtrak cannot possibly compare. Not on frequency, not on speed, not on equipment, not on stations, not on […]
PORT JERVIS, N.Y. — Operation Toy Train, organizer of special holiday trains across the U.S. to benefit the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots foundation, has announced a 2025 schedule including two new operations. Trains on the Northern Division of the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway in central New York and the East […]
MOBILE, Ala. — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have ratified a new contract with Terminal Railway-Alabama State Docks, the short line connecting the Port of Mobile to five Class I railroads. The BLET announced Sunday (July 6) that the five-year agreement was ratified on June 26. It runs through 2027 and […]
LAC-MÉGANTIC, Quebec — Canada’s Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, Chrystia Freeland, issued a statement today to mark the 12th anniversary of the Lac-Mégantic disaster, the derailment and fire involving a runaway, unmanned Montreal, Maine & Atlantic oil train that occurred about 1:14 a.m. on July 6, 2013. “Twelve years ago, the community of Lac-Mégantic […]
GLENDORA, Miss. — A derailment and fire involving a Canadian National Railway train occurred today (July 5, 2025) in the town of Glendora, with the hazardous materials involved leading to the evacuation of about 200 residents. The Clarksdale Press Register reports Tallahatchie County Emergency Management Agency Director said 13 cars had derailed, with a tank […]
TACOMA, Wash. — Sound Transit has approved plans to build a new Tacoma Dome station for its Link light rail system, a plan which would require the demolition of the Freighhouse Square market dating to 1909. The choice was part of the Sound Transit board’s selection of a final route for its Tacoma Dome Link […]
With only six Class I freight railroads remaining and stringent merger rules set by the Surface Transportation Board’s 2001 framework, the consensus largely held that the window for large-scale transactions was closed. Any potential merger, under these rules, must not only demonstrably enhance competition but also clearly articulate public benefits — typically improved service or […]
MOBILE, Ala. — It has been a long wait for the launch of Amtrak’s Gulf Coast service. Clearly, some people can’t wait to take a trip. A day after the start date for service was announced and tickets went on sale, the first regular run of Amtrak Mardi Gras Service in each direction on Aug. […]
