Canadian Pacific appointed the Hon. Jim Prentice to the company’s board of directors.
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley appointed James Smith, Jr., as secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Robert Smith as the administrator for the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA).
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has approved construction authorization at four highway-rail grade crossings in Crawford, Darke, Medina and Preble counties.
Union Pacific plans to strengthen Illinois’ and Missouri’s transportation infrastructure by investing more than $20 million in the rail line between Chester and near Scott City, Mo.
United Transportation Union Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (UTU-SMART)-represented hostlers employed by Canadian National have ratified a new five-year agreement by a unanimous majority.
ACF Industries’ rail car manufacturing plant in Milton, Pa., reopened its doors June 5, 2013 after four years of being shut down.
CSX and its transportation and intermodal terminals subsidiaries broke ground on a new intermodal terminal in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QB, Canada, on June 3; the terminal is expected to open in 2015.
Coos Bay Rail Link (CBR) and the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay have signed a 10-year agreement, effective May 31, authorizing CBR to be the operator the 134-mile line.
The state of Connecticut has allocated more than $8 million in Rail Freight Infrastructure Program funding, which will be released to four regional railroad company projects in an effort to improve and modernize Connecticut’s rail freight system.
America’s privately owned Class 1 freight railroads could lose revenue up to 80 percent of their entire annual capital budgets if a forced competition scheme proposed by the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) was adopted, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said in comments filed with the Surface Transportation Board (STB).
Union Pacific published its 2012 Sustainability and Citizenship Report, underscoring the company’s innovations in the areas of environmental stewardship, safe operations, employee well-being, community development and customer value, as well as its commitment to upholding the highest standards of corporate governance and ethics.
Billboards showing two feet poking out from a white sheet in a morgue have the tagline, “I raced a train and all I got was this lousy toe tag.” Another billboard shows a cast on a person’s leg with the caption, “I raced a train and all I got was this lousy full-body cast.”
United Transportation Union Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation workers (UTU-SMART)-represented train and engine workers employed by Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad Company have ratified a new five-year agreement by an overwhelming 89 percent majority.
The agreement provides for wage increases equal to the 2011 national UTU agreement, including percentage increases to crew consist payments, full back-pay and increases in training pay.
The agreement also provides improved bereavement leave, establishes a Rule-G bypass agreement and establishes a health and welfare benefit package that replicates the National Health and Welfare package, including the Early Retirement Major Medical Benefit Plan.
Lake Superior & Ishpeming’s primary business is the transportation of iron ore over a 16-mile shortline from the Empire-Tilden Mine, operated by Cliffs Natural Resources, south of Ishpeming, to Lake Superior for transport.
The Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railway was organized in 1893 as a subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company (now Cliffs Natural Resources), the iron ore mining company. From its beginning, the railroad’s primary business was the transport of iron ore from the Marquette Iron Range, west of Marquette, to docks on Lake Superior, from which the ore could be shipped to steel mills on the lower Great Lakes.
The National Freight Advisory Committee (NFAC) has named its list of members, a diverse group of professionals that will provide advice and recommendations aimed at improving the national freight transportation system.
Union Pacific started a grant program for community railroad safety initiatives. Grants ranging from $500 to $5,000 will be provided to support initiatives that enhance railroad safety in Union Pacific communities.
Watco Transportation Services has named Brit Sonnier as general manager for the Baton Rouge Southern Railroad (BRS).
Canadian National (CN) is accelerating work on the $33-million upgrading of its Whitehall Subdivision in Wisconsin to increase car-loading capacity and train velocity for the growing frac sand supply chains
In a letter to the United Transportation Union, Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo pushed for more integrated rail systems. In the message, he said:
“We know well the population growth, mobility and environmental challenges revealing a clear need to invest in passenger rail and of passenger rail’s skyrocketing ridership, be it intercity, commuter, light or heavy.
Union Pacific has been named one of the 2013 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles from the National Business Group on Health (NBGH). The award honors U.S. companies for their ongoing commitment to promoting healthy work environments and encouraging employees to live healthier lifestyles.
The Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded more than $4.7 million in federal disaster funding for the Chenango Industrial Development Agency (IDA) to move forward with the Utica Main Rail Line Revitalization project in New York.