Rail Industry News
NJ Transit: Atlantic City Rail Line to resume service on May 12
(Source: Cherry Hill Courier Post, April 17, 2019) TRENTON, N.J. — The Atlantic City Rail Line will resume service "with an improved schedule" on May 12, almost two weeks ahead of the original target date, NJ Transit said Wednesday. Full story: Cherry Hill Courier...
Union Pacific “pauses” construction of new $550 million Texas rail yard
(Source: Dallas Morning News, April 20, 2019) DALLAS — Union Pacific is "pausing" construction of its new $550 million rail yard in Texas. The Omaha, Neb.-based company said it will shift the money it committed this year to the Brazos project to instead make...
Third lawsuit filed in CSX Hyndman derailment
(Source: Altoona Mirror, April 19, 2019) ALTOONA, Pa. — A third lawsuit stemming from the derailment of a CSX Transportation freight train in Hyndman Borough 32 months ago was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Johnstown by a man who was forced from his home of...
Teamsters Local 528 members strike at Sysco over violations of workers’ rights
(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, April 19, 2019) ATLANTA — More than 400 Teamsters Local 528 members employed at Sysco are now on strike at the company’s College Park, Ga., distribution center after management unilaterally changed working...
Senators push Transportation Department, Amtrak for answers on future of Empire Builder
(Source: Flathead Beacon, April 19, 2019) KALISPELL, Mont. — Montana’s two U.S. senators are pushing Amtrak officials for answers about the future of long-distance passenger trains, including the Empire Builder. Full story: Flathead Beacon
Trouble ahead for New York’s Amtrak if Trump’s 2020 budget proposal advances
(Source: Albany Times-Union, April 19, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration's proposed 2020 budget would cut transportation funding by $5.9 billion, shifting rail infrastructure costs onto states and shrinking long-distance Amtrak routes like the Lake...
Portland activists block rail line at Zenith oil terminal
(Source: Portland Tribune, April 21, 2019) PORTLAND, Ore. — Operations at Oregon's only crude oil export terminal went off the rails on Earth Day weekend — after activists blocked all train traffic leading to the Northwest Portland facility. Extinction Rebellion...
KCS says PSR transition will benefit customers
(Source: Supply Chain Dive, April 19, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — After teasing interest in PSR principles last year, KCS' transition has begun in earnest. But the KCS story does have some nuance to it: The railroad admits it has been leaving a lot of volume on the table...
Shippers: Show us the benefits of PSR
(Source: Freight Waves column by Jim Blaze, April 16, 2019) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) promised scheduled rail freight operations resulting in more than a financial gain for a railroad and its investors. The business theory is that...
Amtrak supporters appeal for funding for Hoosier State line
(Source: The Statehouse File, April 17, 2019) INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — With the end of the legislative session nearing, Amtrak has only days left to hop on board the state budget. Unless the state agrees to add $3 million annually for Amtrak to the two-year state budget,...
Transport Canada announces funding for rail safety improvements
(Source: Progressive Railroading, April 17, 2019) The Canadian government will provide CA$16.5 million through the Rail Safety Improvement Program to support 136 new rail-safety improvement projects and initiatives, Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced yesterday....
Metra to start building 2 new Chicago stations after getting state funds
(Source: Chicago Sun-Times, April 17, 2019) CHICAGO — Construction on two new Metra stations is expected to start within the next year after the projects received long-awaited state funding Wednesday. The two Chicago stations have been planned for nearly a decade, but...
Union Pacific VP Rynaski sells $1.496 million in company stock
(Source: Baseball Daily News, April 18, 2019) NEW YORK — Union Pacific Co. VP Todd M. Rynaski sold 8,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $1,496,340.00. Following...
California port truck drivers awarded over $1.2 million for wage theft
(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, April 17, 2019) PORT OF LOS ANGELES/LONG BEACH, Calif. — Ten California port truck drivers who haul cargo for Best Buy, Puma and Lowe’s have been awarded more than $1.2 million by the California Labor...
PTC: Fifty years later, a lifesaving technology that could have saved over 300 lives inches toward completion
(Source: Washington Post, April 17, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — On an August evening in 1969, a Connecticut train wreck made history. A pair of passenger trains in Darien collided head-on, killing five people and injuring 35. Full story: Washington Post
Kansas City Southern’s Q1 2019 net profit jumped 16 percent
(Source: Freight Waves, April 17, 2019) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Kansas City Southern‘s said its first quarter 2019 net profits rose nearly 16 percent amid its ongoing transition to precision scheduled railroading (PSR). Adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2019...
Union Pacific reports Q1 2019 results
(Source: Union Pacific press release, April 18, 2019) OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Corporation today reported 2019 first quarter net income of $1.4 billion, or $1.93 per diluted share. This compares to $1.3 billion, or $1.68 per diluted share, in the first quarter...
AAR reports rail traffic for the week ending April 13, 2019
(Source: Association of American Railroads press release, April 17, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending April 13, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 528,167...
Utah prepares for 150th anniversary of the completion of transcontinental railroad
(Source: Radio station KPCW, April 16, 2019) PARK CITY, Utah — The Spike 150 Foundation has been organizing for two years to prepare for the sesquicentennial of the joining of the transcontinental railroad. Full story: www.kpcw.org
CN to appeal Canadian agency’s ruling on freight rail service
(Source: Progressive Railroading, April 16, 2019) CN will appeal a Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) ruling issued yesterday that determined the Class I had breached its freight-rail service obligations last year in Vancouver, British Columbia. Full story:...
BLET News
BLE gets organizing win
Employees of the Meridian Southern Railway today unanimously selected the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers as their collective bargaining representative.
BLE election results
What follows are the complete unofficial election results from the BLE’s Seventh Quinquennial International Convention, held in Miami Beach, Fla., from September 24-28, 2001.
BLE, not UTU, has remote control jurisdiction
BLE International President Don M. Hahs today challenged the United Transportation Union’s attempt to “circumvent the law” and gain jurisdiction over remote control technology, stating that the BLE — not UTU — is the union that carriers must bargain with to implement the new technology.
Coalition resumes S. 697 lobbying
The Railroad Retirement Coalition immediately resumes lobbying efforts today on behalf of S. 697, the Railroad Retirement and Survivors’ Improvement Act of 2001. Their efforts were temporarily suspended after the September 11 terrorist attacks on America.
Hahs takes reins of BLE
Newly-elected International President Don M. Hahs arrived in Cleveland today for his first day in office as head of North America’s senior rail labor union.
Hahs new BLE president
Delegates at the BLE’s Seventh Quinquennial International Convention yesterday elected Don Hahs to the office of International President.
BLE International Division convention to begin today
The BLE’s Seventh Quinquennial Convention in Miami Beach will begin at 9 a.m. today with a moment of silence for the victims of the September 11 attacks.
UTU attacks BLE on KCS after judge impounds merger ballots
Just 24 hours after a federal judge enjoined the counting of ballots in the proposed merger between the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) and the United Transportation Union (UTU), the UTU reversed its direction, and launched an attack on BLE members working for the Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS) and other KCS-owned properties.
Judge impounds BLE-UTU merger ballots
U.S. District Judge Ann Aldrich today granted a preliminary injunction, which, for the foreseeable future, effectively halts the proposed merger of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers with the United Transportation Union.
Judge to rule by 5 p.m. today on BLE-UTU merger vote count
U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aldrich indicated she would rule today — by 5 p.m. eastern daylight time — on the petition by three officers of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers halt the BLE-UTU merger-vote count.
