Ottawa and the provinces need
to do a better job of coordinating policy on issues ranging from the
environment to tax reform, Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.’s top executive said, The
Canadian Press reports. Canadian Pacific representatives have spent a lot of
time in Ottawa — not to mention Washington — making the case for removing
"artificial barriers in the form of regulation or legislation," Fred
Green told shareholders at the firm’s annual general meeting.
CN said today that
customer-focused innovation and balanced accountability among transportation
partners are the keys to improving the effectiveness of Canada’s logistics
supply chain. CN, in a submission to the Rail Freight Service Review panel
appointed by the Canadian government, said hard facts compiled for the panel
establish the quality of CN’s rail transportation product, most notably in
terms of hub-to-hub transit time performance.
Saskatchewan shortline railways, which primarily
serve grain producers, will receive C$500,000 for this year’s infrastructure grants
to assist them with projects such as track maintenance, railway tie
replacements and bridge repairs.
Leon Benoit, MP for
Vegreville-Wainright, announced that the Government of Canada is trying to make
access to markets easier and will be providing $59,500 in grant funding to the
Battle River Railway New Generation Co-op that is headed by Daysland, Alberta,
resident Ken Eshpeter, the Camrose Canadian reports. The federal contribution
will be used by the co-op to acquire a short line railroad.
Persistence is paying off
in a big way for Levelland, Texas, suggests the dust flying above a 300-acre
tract on the south side of Highway 114 east of the city, the Lubbock Avalanche
Journal reports. Construction is in the early phases of the Levelland
Industrial Rail Park, which already has two companies signed on the dotted line
on a site that’s expected to attract $100 million in capital improvements and
1,000 new jobs to the Hockley County seat.
Nebkota Railway Inc., the
only company currently operating trains in Chadron, Neb., has withdrawn the
objection it filed just two weeks ago to the purchase of the rail line from
Chadron to Dakota Junction by a newly formed railroad company, the Chadron
Record reports. The move apparently clears the way for Nebraska Northwestern
Railroad to purchase the seven miles of track from Chadron to Dakota Junction
from the Dakota Minnesota and Eastern Railroad and to lease an additional 20
miles of line from Dakota Junction to Crawford, where the tracks connect with BNSF
network.
A new railroad company
based in Alliance, Neb., has filed papers with the federal Surface
Transportation Board to purchase the seven miles of railroad line from Chadron
west to Dakota Junction and to lease 21 miles of line from Dakota Junction to
Crawford. Chadron, Neb., the Chadron Record reports.
A Kalamazoo-based Michigan
railroad is approaching its first anniversary of service on its
Elkhart-to-Grand Rapids route, and officials with the Grand Elk Railroad say
St. Joseph County is proving to be a critical part of its success and growth, the Sturgis Journal reports. After working out a long-term track lease
with Norfolk Southern last March, the Grand Elk and its seven distinctive black
and yellow locomotives began rumbling along the north-south route on April 1.
A group of farmers from Rathwell,
Man., Canada, and the surrounding area are hoping to purchase a shortline
railway to keep their grain shipments on track, the Central Plains Herald
Leader reports. Harold Purkess, a retired farmer from Holland, who is interim
president of River Hills Railroad Inc., said the organization is made up of a
group of farmers and interested individuals who are investing in the project
and preserving their rail line.
The Association of American
Railroads issued the following on December 30, 2009
Intermodal volume was up but
both carload freight and total volume as measured in ton-miles slipped from
year-ago levels during the week ended December 26, the Association of American
Railroads reported today.
The AAR also reported that
volume during the most recent week remained sharply below levels reported
during the comparable 2007 week. In order to offer a complete picture of the
progress in rail traffic, AAR will now be reporting 2009 weekly rail traffic
with year over year comparisons for both 2008 and 2007. Comparison weeks from
all three years included the Christmas holiday.
Intermodal traffic totaled
141,699 trailers and containers, up 14.2 percent from a year ago but down 10.7
percent from 2007. Compared with the same week in 2008, container volume rose
21.6 percent and trailer volume dropped 14.5 percent. Compared with the same
week in 2007, container volume fell 4.5 percent and trailer volume dropped 34.4
percent.
Carload freight totaled
197,754 cars, down 1.1 percent from 2008 and 22.3 percent from 2007. In the
Eastern U.S., carloads were up 1.3 percent compared with the same week last
year, but off 25.2 percent compared with 2007. In the West, carloads were down
2.3 percent compared with 2008, and 20.7 percent compared with the same week in
2007.
Carload volume was down
largely because of a more-than 21,000 carload (19.1 percent) drop in coal
loadings. Seventeen of the other 18 carload freight commodity groups were up
compared with the same week last year, with fourteen reporting double digit
increases, including motor vehicles (52.1 percent); lumber and wood products
(44.8 percent); grain (31.1 percent); metals (31.7 percent) and chemicals (18.7
percent).
Total volume was estimated
at 22.1 billion ton-miles, down 0.9 percent from the comparable 2008 week, and
down 17.5 percent from the comparable 2007 week.
For the first 51 weeks of
2009, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 13,585,290 carloads, down
16.3 percent from 2008 and 18.2 percent from 2007; 9,731,474 trailers or
containers, down 14.3 percent from 2008 and 17.8 percent from 2007, and total
volume of an estimated 1.47 trillion ton-miles, down 15.4 percent from 2008 and
16.3 percent from 2007.
Canadian railroads reported
volume of 55,572 cars for the week, up 33.5 percent from last year, and 30,653
trailers or containers, up 49 percent from 2008. For the first 51 weeks of
2009, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 3,192,327 carloads, down
18.2 percent from last year, and 2,084,051 trailers or containers, down 14.2
percent from last year.
Mexican railroads reported
originated volume of 10,718 cars, up 37.7 percent from the same week last year,
and 5,462 trailers or containers, up 53.3 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican
railroads for the first 51 weeks of 2009 was reported as 594,083 carloads, down
9.5 percent from last year; and 284,211 trailers or containers, down 12.9
percent.
Combined North American rail
volume for the first 51 weeks of 2009 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and
Mexican railroads totaled 17,371,700 carloads, down 16.4 percent from last
year, and 12,099,736 trailers and containers, down 14.2 percent from last year.
The recent sale of the
Chamberlain, S.D.-based Dakota Southern Railway Company could result in lower
shipping prices for area producers served by the line, according to its new
owners, the Daily Republic reported. Mike Williams and Stan Patterson, who
purchased the line, met in Chamberlain with the Mitchell-Rapid City Regional
Rail Authority and laid out the broad strokes of a multi-year rebuilding plan.
This city (Chicago) was
built on railroads that moved meat from its famous packing houses, steel from
its mills, corn from surrounding fields. Today Chicago is still the nation’s
leading rail hub, with about 37,500 rail cars passing through daily, the Washington
Post reports. But massive congestion on Chicago tracks costs millions of
dollars in shipping delays, and it causes substantial noise and air pollution
as trains idle for hours, waiting for track clearance. The problem threatens to
get worse since freight traffic is expected to double in the next 20 years.
Freight traffic on U.S. railroads reached its highest level
so far this year during the week ended November 21, the Association of American
Railroads reports.
U.S. railroads reported originating 287,087 carloads for the
week, down 6.8 percent compared with the same week in 2008 and down .7 percent
from the same week in 2007. Volume was up 2.1 percent from the previous week
this year. In order to offer a complete picture of the progress in rail traffic,
AAR will now be reporting 2009 weekly rail traffic with year over comparisons
for both 2008 and 2007. Note that the comparison weeks from both 2007 and 2008
included the Thanksgiving Holiday.
In the West, carloads were down 8.8 percent compared with
the same week last year, and 4.8 percent compared with 2007. In the East,
carloads were down 3.8 percent compared with 2008, but up 6 percent compared
with the same week in 2007.
Intermodal traffic totaled 213,382 trailers and containers,
down 3.1 percent from a year ago but up 11.5 percent from 2007. Compared with
the same week in 2008, container volume rose 3.4 and trailer volume dropped
26.8 percent. Compared with the same week in 2007, container volume rose 19.4
percent and trailer volume dropped 16.6 percent. Intermodal traffic was up 2.6
percent from the previous week this year.
While 13 of the 19 carload freight commodity groups were
down compared with the same week last year, increases were seen in nonmetallic
minerals (26.5 percent), grain (8.1 percent), chemicals (8.1 percent), waste
and scrap metal (6.5 percent), grain mill products (6.4 percent) and food and
kindred products (.4 percent). Declines in commodity groups ranged from .3
percent for petroleum products to 22.1 percent for crushed stone, sand and
gravel.
Total volume on U.S. railroads for the week ending Nov. 21,
2009 was estimated at 32.1 billion ton-miles, down 6.1 percent compared with
the same week last year but up 4.9 percent from 2007.
For the first 46 weeks of 2009, U.S. railroads reported
cumulative volume of 12,325,563 carloads, down 17.3 percent from 2008 and 18
percent from 2007; 8,801,968 trailers or containers, down 15.6 percent from
2008 and 17.9 percent from 2007, and total volume of an estimated 1.32 trillion
ton-miles, down 16.4 percent from 2008 and 16.5 percent from 2007.
Construction work is
finished on the railroad tracks that will carry freight trains through Novato,
Calif. Now the tracks need to be inspected, and then freight trains are
expected to start rolling by March 2010, the Novato Advance reports. Meanwhile,
planning and design work is under way for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit
(SMART) commuter train, and construction work should start in 2011.
North Coast Railroad
Authority Chairman, Allan Hemphill said that $40 million in repairs to 62 miles
of the Northwestern Pacific railway between Napa County and Windsor have been
completed. He said Federal Railroad Administration inspection of the repairs to
trackway, crossing signals, and bridges between Windsor in Sonoma County and
the national rail interchange (Lombard), located North of American Canyon in
Napa County, will take up to 90 days.
A rail project set to start
construction In November will let the Port of Vancouver better handle long
trains and reduce delays as it loads and unloads cargo, port officials say. The
Terminal 5 project, currently out to bid, will add nearly seven miles of track
on recently acquired port property, the Daily Journal of Commerce reports.
A map from 1900 that
highlighted Kansas railways would have just been one giant black blob from all
the crisscrossing railways, The Morning Sun in Pittsburg, Kan., reports. That’s
no longer true. Five counties in the state no longer have any railway of any
sort (Rooks, Graham, Greenwood, Chautauqua and Comanche).
Union Pacific
Chairman and CEO Jim Young, Iowa Department of Transportation Director Nancy
Richardson and Boone, Iowa, Mayor John Slight commemorated one of North America’s
tallest double-track railroad bridges, the new Kate Shelley Bridge in Iowa
spanning the Des Moines River. Young, Richardson and Slight rode a Union
Pacific train over the bridge, which is more than 2,800 feet long and 190 feet
high.
Freight trains have begun
moving across a new $43-million bridge over Iowa’s Des Moines River that
reportedly is the tallest double-track railroad structure in North America, the Des Moines Register reports. The Boone High Bridge, which is 2,550 feet long
and 190 feet high, will improve operational efficiency and customer service on
Iowa’s busiest railroad corridor, said Mark Davis, a spokesman for the Union
Pacific Railroad, which commissioned the bridge project.
The collapse of the Union
Pacific railroad bridge in downtown Waterloo, Iowa, during last year’s historic
flood has cost the Iowa Northern Railway, the primary user of the span,
millions of dollars. Farmers, grain cooperatives and ag manufacturers have also
suffered economic and efficiency losses due to costly detours, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
