Short Line Safety Institute releases new resources
The Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) has published several new online resources designed to address identified opportunities for improving safety culture on short line railroads.
Freight
Rail Group On Air: Gil Lamphere and Henry Chidgey talk PSR, growing top and bottom lines
Everything you need to know about Precision Scheduled Railroading—how it got started, who started it and why, its promises and principles, and what it has become, for better or for worse—is here in this discussion featuring two of PSR’s “founding fathers,” Gil Lamphere and Henry Chidgey, who have more than 75 years of combined railroading experience.
Homeland Security chief announces plans to implement new rail and rail transit cybersecurity directive
Cybersecurity continues to be a major threat to the integrity and stability of our nation’s railroad network, and the Department of Homeland Security is planning for the future.
NTSB report on Nov. 30, 2018 employee fatality
The NTSB has released its report on a CSX employee fatality that took place on Nov. 30, 2018.
Bells & Whistles—Calif. lawmaker goes to Transportation Secretary to reject coal rail project
RT&S Editor-in-Chief Bill Wilson covers the top news stories of the week.
NTSB urges railroads to better protect rail roadway workers
NTSB tells the railroads they must use the new worker protection system in PTC.
Lawmaker to Transportation Secretary: Do not fund disastrous rail project
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) wrote a letter to the Natural Resources Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee and to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeg to stop federal funding of a rail project.
Environmental expert Carlos Swonke joins HNTB
Carlos Swonke, former director of environmental affairs for the Texas Department of Transportation, has joined HNTB Corporation as a national practice consultant.
Environmental surveys take place along the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension route
Environmental assessments have become standard events for just about all rail projects, including new lines, line expansion, and some types of repair.
New railyard in S.D. will triple capacity, make it the largest on short line route
A groundbreaking ceremony was held recently in Belle Fourche, S.D., in honor of its newly planned railway expansion.
Delay in rail shipping center construction stinks for onion shippers
Onion shippers in Oregon have joined together to make moving their product quicker on the rails, but recent developments might make them cry.
Wheeling & Lake Erie receives grant for bridge
On September 15, 2021, the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) approved grant funding to Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway (WLE) in the amount of $125,000 to improve the clearance of a railroad bridge over a state route in Tuscarawas County.
SNC-Lavalin wins mandate to study feasibility of potential northern railway route in Quebec
SNC Lavalin has been awarded a mandate to look at the possibility of a northern railway in Quebec.
Indiana Rail Road launches intermodal expansion
Indiana Rail Road is expanding its intermodal capacity.
FRA: Proper safety checks by BNSF could have prevented December derailment
A Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) report says vandalism may have caused the derailment of a BNSF train in Custer, Wash., back in December. The FRA, however, has not cleared BNSF of any wrongdoing.
Woman convicted of attempting to use shunts to disrupt signal system, derail trains
The U.S. District Court in Seattle convicted a woman on Sept. 9 who used shunts on BNSF railroad tracks near Bellingham, Wash.
FRA releases PTC Safety Advisory
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has published a Safety Advisory on a Positive Train Control (PTC) issue recently identified during testing of ACSES II (Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System II) and I-ETMS (Interoperable Electronic Train Management System) technology.
Sept. NRC column: 2022 NRC Conference will be ‘well worth the wait’
There’s no denying it. The decision to cancel the NRC’s annual conference in 2021 was painful.
CN announces plan to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all employees in Canada
Canadian National has joined the ranks of other companies that require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Two CN locomotives collide in Ontario, tearing up tracks
Investigators are trying to figure out what happened when two trains collided in Prescott, Ontario, on Sept. 2.