Rail Industry News
In Indiana, GOP seeking shortcuts to pass anti-union legislation
(The following appeared on the Indianapolis Star website on March 15, 2011.) INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Republican legislators considered a Plan B on Monday as Democrats began their fourth week of stalling action in the Indiana House. The alternative still requires...
Mind the gap on China’s idea to compete with Panama Canal
(The following appeared on the Maritime Professional website on March 13, 2011.) Colombia’s proposed junior partnership with China for a railway line to compete with the Panama Canal has caused reactions ranging all the way from A to B. Analysts have yawned or...
MARC to launch new Penn Line schedule
(The following appeared on the Baltimore Sun website on March 13, 2011.) BALTIMORE — The Maryland Transit Administration will launch a new schedule Monday on its Penn Line, adding eight trains to the timetable in an effort to alleviate overcrowding and improve on-time...
No Metra schedule changes at UP-North work resumes
(The following appeared on the Chicago Tribune website on March 11, 2011.) CHICAGO — Metra officials said today that Union Pacific North line riders should not expect any schedule changes when work begins this spring on a project to replace century-old bridges on...
Farmers speak up on possible bullet train through their land
(The following appeared on the Bakersfield Californian website on March 13, 2011.) BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Bees at work hummed from one almond bloom to the next across thousands of acres just north of Shafter Wednesday afternoon. Every few minutes, a train sounding its...
Sounder train between Everett and Seattle canceled for Monday
(The following appeared on the Seattle Times website on March 13, 2011.) SEATTLE — Sounder train service between Everett and Seattle has been canceled for Monday after a mudslide on the BNSF Railway tracks halted all passenger traffic on the line. It is possible that...
Asian demand driving increase in coal train traffic through Great Falls area
(The following appeared on the Great Falls Tribune website on March 13, 2011.) GREAT FALLS, Mont. — There's a noticeable number of longer trains rolling through central Montana, but instead of grain and manufactured goods, the 110-car-plus loads are hauling coal. Such...
Positive Train Control adds to cost of Illinois high speed rail improvements
(The following appeared on the State Journal-Register website on March 14, 2011.) SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The cost of proposed improvements to the Union Pacific rail line between St. Louis and Chicago has quadrupled since 2003, partly because an expensive collision...
Amtrak’s posts highest-ever Chicago ridership in February
(The Associated Press circulated the following on March 14, 2011.) CHICAGO — The Amtrak passenger rail service reports its ridership is up for the 16th consecutive month, with lines out of Chicago also reporting sharp increases. Amtrak says more than with 2 million...
Opinion: Ohio’s legislators ignore campaign promise for bipartisan focus on jobs
(The following blog post appeared on the Plunderbund website on March 13, 2011.) When John Kasich ran for Governor last year he promised to ‘focus like a laser’ on creating jobs in Ohio. It may seem like a trite and obvious statement for a candidate to make in the...
Wisconsin union fight not over
(The following appeared on the USA Today website on March 14, 2011.) MADISON, Wis. — Opponents of Republican Gov. Scott Walker were back at work Sunday on recall efforts targeting Republican state senators who supported the new governor's overhaul of public employee...
DOT opens another $2.43 billion in rail grants
(The following appeared on the Journal of Commerce website on March 11, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is making available $2.4 billion in passenger rail grant money rejected by Florida Gov. Rick Scott so that other states can submit...
AFL-CIO’s TTD testifies against privatization of Amtrak
(The Transportation Trades Department issued the following on March 11, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) today, in testimony before a key congressional committee, called for full funding of Amtrak as the “centerpiece” of...
AAR: Gains in carload and intermodal traffic
(The Association of American Railroads issued the following on March 10, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported rail traffic gains for the week ending March 5, 2011, with U.S. railroads originating 300,953 carloads, up 5.5...
Former Amtrak chief David Gunn returns to Toronto
(The following appeared on the Globe and Mail website on March 10, 2011.) TORONTO — David Gunn kept the trains running on time – and on the cheap – in New York, Washington and across the United States as president of Amtrak. Now the conservative transit guru is poised...
BNSF rail spill in Montana includes tons of turkeys
(The following appeared on the Daily Inter Lake website on March 11, 2011.) KALISPELL, Mont. — Cleanup of a train derailment in the Middle Fork Flathead River corridor progressed Thursday, with BNSF Railway projecting the line would be reopened by this morning. By...
Sens. Franken, Vitter protest unfair rail costs for businesses
(The office of Senator Al Franken issued the following press release on March 10, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Minnesota and Louisiana industries that rely on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway to get their products to market may have to pay an unfairly...
Metrolink train crash victims to present claim to LA judge
(The Associated Press circulated the following on March 11, 2011.) LOS ANGELES — More than 100 survivors and families of those killed in one of the nation's deadliest passenger train crashes will get to tell a judge about the disaster's impact on their lives as they...
LaHood: ‘Line outside my door’ for Florida high-speed rail money
(The following appeared on The Hill's website on March 11, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. ‚ Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he plans to reallocate the $2.4 billion in high-speed rail money that was rejected by Florida's governor. Just this week, Sen. Bill Nelson...
Hoffa: ‘Our fight has just begun’
(The International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued the following statement from General President James P. Hoffa on March 9, 2011.) WASHINGTON, D.C. — “March 9, 2011 will go down in history as a tragic day for democracyand for the American Worker. "Last night’s...
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