Rail Industry News
Operation Lifesaver notes reductions in 2011 U.S. grade crossing collisions, pedestrian-train casualties
(Source: Operation Lifesaver press release, March 7, 2012) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sustained public education efforts, engineering improvements and law enforcement programs have contributed to a nationwide reduction in vehicle-train collisions and pedestrian-train deaths...
New CTA train cars had dangerous safety flaw
(Source: Chicago Tribune, March 8, 2012) CHICAGO — Internally defective and potentially dangerous steel parts from China that could break and lead to a derailment were installed on new rail cars manufactured for the CTA by Bombardier Transportation, according to a...
CN wants voice recorders to check up on employees
(Source: Toronto Star, March 7, 2012) TORONTO — The Toronto Star is reporting that CN, Canada's biggest railway, supports putting voice recorders in trains. But CN officials want to use the technology to monitor their employees as well as provide information to...
Teamsters Canada Rail Conference files bad-faith bargaining complaint against CP Rail over pension issues
(Source: Canadian Labor Reporter, March 7, 2012) TORONTO — On March 5, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint against the Canadian Pacific Railway with the Canada Industrial Relations Board. The bad-faith bargaining...
Senate would act quickly on transport bill, Boxer says
(Source: Journal of Commerce, March 7, 2012) WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to the Journal of Commerce, the Senate could pass a transportation bill quickly whenever Senate leaders agree to a package of amendments for debate, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said Wednesday....
A collision of visions on California bullet train
(Source: Los Angeles Times, March 8, 2012) LOS ANGELES — The bullet trains that would someday streak through California at 220 mph are, in the vision of their most ardent supporters, more than just a transportation system. They are also a means to alter the state's...
Engineer injured when Amtrak train hits big rig in rural California
(Source: Associated Press, March 7, 2012) ALPAUGH, Calif. — An Amtrak train carrying 84 passengers crashed into a truck at a rural rail crossing in northern California Wednesday, sending the locomotive engineer to a hospital and knocking the train out of commission,...
Energy provides engine for rail recovery, BNSF exec says
(Source: FuelFix.com, March 7, 2012) David Garin, BNSF Railway's vice president of industrial products, said the railroad's business is nearly back to where it was in 2006 before the recession. He attributed the railroad's transportation of energy-related cargo — such...
CP expands Bakken crude-by-rail origination capability on North Dakota network
(Source: Canadian Pacific Railway press release, March 6, 2012) MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Canadian Pacific today announced that it will be moving additional Bakken crude oil by unit train rail from a planned industry logistics hub served by its North Dakota network. The...
High-speed trains to begin test runs in Illinois this summer
(Source: State Journal-Register, March 7, 2012) SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The first 110-mph passenger trains in Illinois should begin test runs this summer on a 20-mile section of the Chicago-St. Louis line, the State Journal-Register reported. Full story: State...
New head of California high-speed rail optimistic
(Source: The California Report, March 7, 2012) SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California's High-Speed Rail Authority has a new chairman. Dan Richard is now the public point person for the agency, and he's bracing to take a lot of the political heat over questions ranging from...
Borrowing costs for California bullet train revised upward
(Source: Los Angeles Times, March 7, 2012) LOS ANGELES — California's distressed state budget will have to allot more than $700 million each year to repay billions of dollars that officials plan to borrow to build the first phase of a proposed bullet train, a...
VIA Rail derailment triggers call for voice recorders in locomotive cabs
(Source Toronto Star, March 7, 2012) TORONTO — Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) stressed it is not ready to attribute the derailment of VIA Rail train 92 to human error at this early stage of the investigation, but there are renewed calls for making voice...
Canada’s TSB sounds the alarm on railway safety after derailments
(Source: The Province, March 7, 2012) QUEBEC — The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) expressed concerns Tuesday about the safety of Canada's railway system in light of a deadly train crash in southern Ontario last week, which bears similarities to a derailment in...
BLET members among Arizona unionists who rally against anti-labor bills
(Source: Huffington Post, March 6, 2012) TUCSON, Ariz. — A thousand union members and supporters rallied on the lawn of the Arizona State Capitol March 1 to protest a suite of anti-labor bills currently being considered by the state Legislature. Among the protesters...
Buffett’s ‘wager’ on BNSF Railway also paying off in oil industry
(Source: Bloomberg News, March 4, 2012) NEW YORK — When Warren Buffett bought the BNSF Railway, he called it an "all-in wager" on the U.S. economy. It's turning out to be a pretty good bet on the oil industry, too. Full story: Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Southern Pacific boiler explosion in 1912 called worst in U.S. history
(Source: San Antonio Express News, March 4, 2012) SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Just before 9 a.m. on March 18, 1912, a locomotive boiler exploded at the Southern Pacific roundhouse on North hackberry Street in San Antonio, Texas. Historians call it one of the worst locomotive...
Union Pacific to make track improvements on West Central Colorado line
(Source: Union Pacific press release, March 5, 2012) OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Railroad will continue improving the transportation infrastructure in Colorado by investing nearly $1 million in the rail line that runs in the Grand Junction area. Crews will be...
Amtrak measures its carbon footprint
(Source: Amtrak press release (PDF), February 5, 2012) WILMINGTON, Del. — Amtrak recently achieved Climate Registered status by successfully measuring its carbon footprint according to The Climate Registry's best-in-class program, then having it third party verified...
As pipelines stall, railways keep oil flowing
(Source: Financial Post, March 2, 2012) OTTAWA — On any given week, three to seven CP Rail trains laden with crude oil from the North Dakota Bakken field whisk across North America, bypassing the pipeline bottlenecks in mid-continent that are depressing oil prices and...
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