rail bridge

Fire destroys Genesee & Wyoming rail bridge across Colorado River

A rail bridge was almost reduced to ashes and crews are now in the process of building a replacement. The span went over the Colorado River and was owned by the Arizona

A look ahead to automatic

Aug. 27, 2019, will arguably be one of the single most important days in North American freight railroading in recent history. On a test track at TTCI (Transportation Technology Center, Inc.) in

Class 1 fuel surcharges

Union Pacific cleans site of train derailment in Illinois; environmental consultant says area is safe for residents

Damages from the Union Pacific train derailment in Dupo, Ill., appear to be limited to just the rail cars and track.

AAR rail traffic report for week ending September 7, 2019

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending September 7, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 469,285 carloads and intermodal units,

PTC interoperability moving forward, but slowly

Freightwaves is reporting that the Federal Railroad Administration’s Q2 PTC progress report released Monday said that 23.3 percent of the nation’s domestic railroad operations have achieved interoperability.  Interoperability was at 16 percent at

Illinois joins debate on train crew size

The debate around the number of crew members who should be in a locomotive cab on a freight train has been going on the past several years.  After a proposal by the

Union Pacific freight train derails, rail car catches fire

A Union Pacific freight train has derailed in Dupo, Ill., and the flammable liquids it was carrying have caught on fire.

freight containers

Amazon steps into the freight rail industry with branded containers

Amazon has not quite yet taken over the world, but it continues to get in position to be the global ruler.

Federal Railroad Administration provides Q2 PTC update

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today provided a quarterly status update on railroads’ progress in fully implementing positive train control (PTC) systems.  Based on railroads’ Second Quarter 2019 PTC Progress Reports which

Union Pacific derailment hits road bridge support

The Associated Press is reporting that two Union Pacific locomotives, along with three tank cars carrying liquified petroleum gas, derailed in Portland, Oregon on Saturday at about 9:20 a.m. Union Pacific reported

Nevada AFL-CIO takes stand on train crew issue

The debate between railroad management and agreement employees continued yesterday with the Nevada State AFL-CIO adopting a resolution that requests Federal action on the question of train crew size. The labor organization

Dorian impacting southeastern rail operations; picture improving as storm heads north

Freightwaves is reporting that Hurricane Dorian will continue to impact Norfolk Southern and CSX customers, according to the two railroads.  The Hurricane is traveling up the east coast, and the eastern U.S.

AAR rail traffic numbers for week ending August 31, 2019

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) yesterday reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending August 31, 2019, as well as volumes for August 2019. U.S. railroads originated 1,055,386 carloads in August 2019,

CSX

Class 1 freight heading towards a black hole, and that black hole is coal; Union Pacific cuts overall volume projections

Americans are using less coal, and Class 1 railroads are running down the track towards a wall.

Canadian National deepens intermodal partnership with COSCO Shipping

Canadian National announced yesterday that COSCO Shipping has chosen it to be the exclusive rail provider for COSCO Shipping’s discharge at the Ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Montreal, and Halifax to all

After verbal fallout, Union Pacific cancels industry-first fine system

Union Pacific’s tough talk did not last very long in the ring.

FRA

NS Resident Vice President, Pennsylvania State Legislature discuss crew size

The Altoona Mirror reports that at a hearing of the Pennsylvania State House Transportation Committee in Altoona last week, Norfolk Southern Resident Vice President Rudy Husband said “It’s mystifying to me that Pennsylvania

Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern cuts payroll at two locomotive shops, blames drop in demand for machine repair

Norfolk Southern furloughed approximately 130 locomotive shop workers, ranging from electricians to boilermakers, in Roanoke, Va. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union representative Shannon Spotswood does not think the workers released on

Canadian Pacific

Workin’ on the railroad—man or machine?

Since shortly after World War II, the number of people employed by the railroad industry has trended downward. Several years saw increases in rail employment. One example was the 2014 traffic boom,

CREATE Success

By Lillian Yan The Chicago Region Environment and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) program is one of the largest, most complex rail improvement programs in the country. With nearly half of its 70 interrelated projects

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