Rail Industry News
President Obama considers tapping oil reserves
(The following appeared on the Journal of Commerce website on June 9, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama is keeping open the option of drawing oil out of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to drive down gasoline and other fuel prices that economists say have...
May marks 19 consecutive months of Amtrak ridership growth
(Amtrak issued the following press release on June 8, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — May marked 19 consecutive months of year-over-year ridership growth for Amtrak, was the best May ever with more than 2.6 million passengers and keeps America’s Railroadsm on track to set...
MBTA breaks ground on $16 million Boston station
(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on June 8, 2011.) Yesterday, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick joined Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and other officials at a groundbreaking ceremony for the $16 million Talbot Avenue...
NS McCalla hub on track for late 2012 opening
(The following appeared on the Birmingham News website on June 7, 2011.) BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Norfolk Southern's $97.5 million railroad hub in McCalla won't create that many direct jobs, but officials said Monday the project will deliver a major economic boost to the...
Long wait for high-speed rail in U.S., Canada
(The following appeared on the Montreal Gazette website on June 9, 2011.) MONTREAL — Don’t buy your high-speed train ticket to New York just yet - wait another 10, 20, or possibly 30 years. That's when a viable high-speed corridor between Montreal and the Big Apple...
UP conductor hurt in collision with rig
(The Associated Press circulated the following on June 8, 2011.) PARAGOULD, Ark. — Greene County authorities say a worker aboard a Union Pacific Railroad train is recovering from injuries after the train collided with a tractor-trailer rig. Authorities said the driver...
AAR report: U.S. roads ramped up carloads, workforce in May
(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on June 8, 2011.) In May, U.S. carloads increased 0.5 percent to 1.16 million units and intermodal volume rose 7.5 percent to 932,956 units compared with May 2010 totals, according to the Association of...
Operation Lifesaver unveils Rail Safety Challenge on International Level Crossing Awareness Day
(Operation Lifesaver Inc. issued the following on June 9, 2011.) HARRISBURG, Pa. — Statistics show that approximately one out of four railroad crossing crashes involve vehicles that require a Commercial Driver License (CDL) to operate. To address this issue, Operation...
Western rails get ready to redraw intermodal map
(The following appeared on the DC Velocity website on June 7, 2011.) The two Western rail giants, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad Co., are positioning themselves to capitalize on a potential bonanza: The conversion of millions of...
Hearings scheduled to look into bin Laden rail threats
(The following appeared on The Hill website on June 8, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said Wednesday that he would hold a hearing next week on rail safety to examine reports that terrorist Osama bin Laden was planning to target American...
Mullins to join the National Mediation Board
(The National Mediation Board issued the following press release on June 7, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Mediation Board (NMB) is pleased to announce that Ms. LoValerie Mullins will join the agency’s Office of Mediation Services on June 20, 2011, as...
Railcar owners parked 2,855 more units in May
(The following appeared on the Journal of Commerce website on June 7, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — North American owners of railcars parked 2,855 additional cars during May, expanding the fleet of idled units at a time when bulk rail freight shipments had weakened from...
Can high-speed rail advocates lobby D.C. with public funds? Yes and no
(The following appeared on the Miami Herald website on June 8, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Skeptics question whether the California High-Speed Rail Authority can lobby the federal government with public funds. The answer is: yes and no. It all depends on what pocket the...
BNSF cross-border railway project under scrutiny
(The following appeared on the El Paso Times website on June 8, 2011.) EL PASO, Texas — A group of U.S.-Mexico border residents is asking the U.S. Justice Department to look into whether the BNSF Railway did anything improper to influence a massive railway project in...
Amtrak routes Empire Builder & California Zephyr disrupted by flooding
(Amtrak issued the following press release on June 7, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amtrak services on two routes in the Central U.S. are affected by current and predicted flooding. Passengers with travel plans on these routes are urged to call 800-USA-RAIL for additional...
Railroads face Missouri River flood delays
(The following appeared on the Journal of Commerce website on June 7, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rising floodwaters on the Missouri River have begun disrupting some rail operations, just the latest in a series of weather problems for U.S. railroads in recent weeks....
Railroads try to stay ahead of flooding
(The following appeared on the Omaha World-Herald website on June 8, 2011.) OMAHA, Neb. — Nobody at Union Pacific or Burlington Northern Santa Fe wants a repeat of 1993 or 2008. The flooding that swept through the Midwest in those years took out railroad bridges and...
How high-speed rail died in Texas, thrived in Spain
(The following appeared on the Miller-McCune website on June 8, 2011.) Once upon a time there was sharp controversy in Spain over a plan for a high-speed rail line from Madrid to somewhere in Andalusia, which lies southeast of the capital, toward Morocco. Critics...
Suit accuses U.P., BNSF of fixing prices
(The following appeared on the Omaha World-Herald website on June 8, 2011.) OMAHA, Neb. — A mining and energy company is suing the country’s two largest railroads, arguing that they conspired to keep prices high and avoid competition. The lawsuit says the Union...
Tab for NJ tunnel fight exceeds $1 million
(The following appeared on the Bergen Record website on June 7, 2011.) The cost of fighting the federal government over a shuttered commuter $1 million, records released Monday show. Attorneys for NJ Transit billed New Jersey's taxpayers $72,588 for work done in...
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