U.S. weekly rail traffic dips below 2024 level

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

WASHINGTON — The shipping “pause” that developed when tariffs slowed container traffic from China appears to have finally caught up with U.S. rail traffic. With container traffic down by 4.9%, overall U.S. rail traffic for the week ending June 7 was 1.3% below the same week in 2024, according to the Association of American Railroads. […]

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Engineers ratify new agreement with CSX

Train with one engine under blue sky with white clouds

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation engineers have ratified a new five-year contract, the railroad and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen announced today (Wednesday, June 11, 2025). The union said 53.6% of those returning ballots voted in favor of the contract. The BLET represents about 3,500 CSX employees. The agreement, which runs through Dec. 31, […]

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Two men sentenced for building of secret apartments in Caltrain stations (updated)

Mission-style passenger station

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The two men charged with embezzling for their roles in the construction of secret apartments in Caltrain passenger stations have been sentenced to 120 and 60 days in jail, respectively. Joseph Navarro, a former Caltrain deputy director, was sentenced on Wednesday to 120 days in county jail and two years of […]

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FRA introduces new rail safety data website

Image of website

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has launched a new public safety data website, which it says is a more user-friendly site replacing two older sites, one dating to the 1990s. The updated site is available here. Required under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, it was designed by a group including representatives […]

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Uinta Basin Railway backers set hearing on bonds

PRICE, Utah — The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, the governmental body behind the Uinta Basin Railway project, has scheduled a public hearing for Thursday, June 12, on its intent to seek $2.4 billion in private activity bonds for construction of the 88-mile rail line. The coalition last week approved a plan lto seek the funding […]

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Support structures for multi-deck layouts

Color photo showing bottom of upper deck on HO scale layout

Q: I have a bedroom sized N scale railroad with a four track staging/fiddle yard on one wall. I would like to run a branch line to a quarry over the staging, but I am concerned about the gradient to get the tracks to the right height. I will need about 6″ clearance for my […]

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Union Pacific worker killed in Texas (updated)

Union Pacific logo without slogan. UP Bailey Yard explosion appear to be accidental.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas — A Union Pacific employee was killed Monday (June 9) in an incident near a grade crossing, the Nacogdoches Police Department reports. KETK-TV reports that police responded to a report of an individual struck by a train about 3:28 p.m. Union Pacific, in a statement to the station, said, “We are saddened by […]

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CPKC system cutover triggers service woes in some former KCS locations

Train with three engines passes under signal bridge on track next to river.

CHICAGO — The Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger has gone smoothly over the past two years — until a long-planned computer system cutover last month in former Kansas City Southern territory in the U.S. CPKC Chief Operating Officer Mark Redd says the cutover — during which CP’s operations system replaced the old KCS system and […]

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NJ Transit engineers ratify new contract

Two commuter trains on curve

NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit engineers have ratified a new agreement, ending a five-year contract dispute including a three-day strike in May. Neither side immediately released details of the seven-year deal, retroactive to 2020. But the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen said it includes a pay increase that will raise hourly wages to more […]

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Reading & Northern promotes Raffa to EVP marketing and sales

Head shot of man with mustache in pink shirt

PORT CLINTON, Pa. — The Reading & Northern Railroad has promoted Jim Raffa to executive vice president, marketing and sales, the company has announced. In his new position, Raffa will assist CEO Andy Muller and President Wayne Michel in creating and implementing the company’s commercial strategy. The R&N has seen freight traffic increase more than […]

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FRA, FTA projects among those to receive grants from funding backlog

View of underground station platform

WASHINGTON — Thirty-four Federal Railroad Administration projects and 154 under the Federal Transit Administration are among a batch of more than 500 Department of Transportation projects that had previously been approved that have now received their financial obligation, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced today (June 10, 2025). The 529 projects, with funding of more than […]

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Ohio Senate eliminates funding for membership in rail passenger group

Map of existing and proposed Ohio passenger rail service

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s Senate has moved to eliminate funding for the state to rejoin a Midwest passenger rail planning group, public broadcasting’s Statehouse News Bureau reports. The version of the state’s biennial budget passed by the House includes $25,000 for each of the next two years for membership in the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail […]

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