May 30, 2024 | FRA, Headlines, Railroad Safety, Train Length
(Source: Trains.com, May 29, 2024) The risk of derailment increases with freight train length, according to an academic study published today, which found that a 200-car train is 24% more likely to derail than a 50-car train. The study — by researchers from Brigham...
May 23, 2024 | East Palestine-NS, Headlines, PSR
(Source: Reuters, May 23, 2024) Norfolk Southern agreed to pay a $15 million civil penalty and $57.1 million in past government cleanup costs as well as millions in future costs to resolve a U.S. government lawsuit over a 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio,...
May 23, 2024 | East Palestine-NS, Headlines, Lawsuit
(Source: Associated Press, May 22, 2024) A federal judge has signed off on the $600 million class action settlement over last year’s disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment in eastern Ohio, but many people who live near East Palestine are still wondering how much they...
May 23, 2024 | Canada, CPKC, Headlines, Teamsters Canada
(Source: Trains.com, May 23, 2024) Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference made no progress on their stalled contract talks this week and no further negotiations are planned, the railway and union said in updates on Wednesday....
May 21, 2024 | East Palestine-NS, FRA, Headlines, Railroad Safety
(Source: Associated Press, May 20, 2024) New federal certification rules finalized Monday for train dispatchers and signal repairmen will set minimum standards to counteract the investor pressure on railroads to continually cut costs while making sure those employees...
May 21, 2024 | DOT, Headlines, High Speed Rail
(Source: Smart Cities Dive, May 17, 2024) An air of optimism prevailed at this year’s U.S. High Speed Rail conference, held May 14-15 in Washington, D.C. With the Las Vegas to Southern California line starting construction, the California project continuing to...
May 17, 2024 | AAR Freight Trends, Headlines
(Source: Association of American Railroads press release, May 15, 2024) The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 11, 2024. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 468,748 carloads and intermodal...
May 17, 2024 | CPKC, Headlines, Teamsters Canada
(Source: Reuters, May 16, 2024) Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) said on Thursday its leadership, with the assistance of federal mediators, will resume contract negotiations with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) union on May 17. Full story:...
May 17, 2024 | Derailment, East Palestine-NS, Headlines, Railroad Safety, Train Length
(Source: Claims Journal, May 16, 2024) The longer the freight train, the greater the risk of derailment, new research from the Society for Risk Analysis shows. The study, published in the journal Risk Analysis, was led by Peter Madsen of Brigham Young University’s...
May 17, 2024 | Fatality, Headlines, NTSB, UP
(Source: Trains.com, May 16, 2024) A communication breakdown over granting permission for a train movement into the yard, as well as regarding placement of a portable derail device, was the probable cause of the August 2022 fatality of a Union Pacific conductor at a...
