NS to CP: Proposed merger “a poor combination”

Refuting practically every purported benefit that Canadian Pacific has given, and citing substantial regulatory risks and uncertainties as well as many other negatives, Norfolk Southern on Dec. 4, 2015 loudly and firmly rejected CP’s proposal to merge the two railroads into a transcontinental.

TSB makes five recommendations in OC Transpo bus, VIA Rail report

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s (TSB) investigation into the September 2013 collision between an OC Transpo bus and a VIA Rail train in Ottawa, Ontario, identified numerous contributory factors including company practices, work-related driving distractions, speed, the configuration of the Transitway and bus crashworthiness.

FAST Act on the fast track to approval

Congressional conferees on Dec. 1, 2015 reached an agreement on the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, a five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill and the first long-term bill of its kind in a decade. It comes after years of predeccesor-bill extensions and partisan bickering.

Apache Railway sold

The 98-year-old Apache Railway Company, a shortline railroad operating in Navajo County, Ariz., has been purchased by an entity formed by Aztec Land and Cattle Company Limited and related entities.

Gulf & Ohio Railways to operate Global Trans Park Rail Line in North Carolina

After a competitive solicitation for proposals to market and operate the state-owned Global Trans Park (GTP) railroad line in Lenoir County, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) selected Gulf & Ohio Railways, Inc. (G&O). The NCDOT Board of Transportation approved the new GTP Lease & Operating Agreement at its Nov. 5, 2015 meeting. Under the terms of the agreement, G&O will operate, maintain and market freight service on the GTP line.