Rail Industry News
Crude by rail shipments set record high in December despite lower price discounts
(Source: Canadian Press, February 20, 2019) CALGARY — The National Energy Board says crude-by-rail exports from Canada reached a record high in December. Canada exported nearly 354,000 barrels per day of oil, up seven per cent from November's total of 330,400 bpd and...
Amtrak’s plan to boost ridership could hurt long-distance routes, report says
(Source: CNBC, February 20, 2019) NEW YORK — Amtrak is planning to boost its ridership by revamping its national network of passenger trains, which could bring changes to its storied long-distance routes. The train service wants to target the fastest-growing parts of...
Man, 70, tried to beat the train in fatal Amtrak crash
(Source: Patch.com, February 19, 2019) BROOKFIELD, Wisc. — Police say a 70-year-old Brookfield man died Monday when he drove his vehicle past closed crossing gates and into the path of an Amtrak train. The man drove around a vehicle that was stopped ahead of him, and...
Wisconsin officials, Lake Superior tribe critical of BNSF over derailment response
(Source: Duluth News Tribune, February 19, 2019) FOND DU LAC, Wisc. — The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and area emergency agencies said BNSF Railways waited hours to notify them about Saturday’s 40-car coal train derailment on the St. Louis River north...
Vermont gets more than $2 million in rail safety grants
(Source: Associated Press, February 19, 2019) MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Vermont Agency of Transportation is getting more than $2 million from the Federal Railroad Administration for safety upgrades along the route of the Amtrak Vermonter, addressing conditions that...
Nearly $165,000 worth of booze stolen from UP intermodal yard in NE Houston
(Source: Television station KPRC, February 19, 2019) HOUSTON — Two men have been charged following the theft of thousands of dollars in liquor from a Union Pacific intermodal yard in northeast Houston. Police said on Dec. 30, a man driving an 18-wheeler entered the...
UP employees step up to help laid off employee battling breast cancer
(Source: Television station KETV, February 19, 2019) OMAHA, Neb. — JoAnna Draper doesn't have a job; she lost it last Tuesday along with 149 other Omaha Union Pacific employees. KETV NewsWatch 7 shared Draper's story last week following the latest round of layoffs....
Hoosier State fans hold out hope as Amtrak line cut from state budget plan
(Source: Lafayette Journal & Courier, February 19, 2019) LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The future of Amtrak’s Hoosier State line, a passenger train that stops in downtown Lafayette four days a week running between Indianapolis and Chicago, took another hit Tuesday, when a...
Pittsburgh and Norfolk Southern spar over maintenance; Politician seeks investigation
(Source: Railway Track & Structures, February 19, 2019) NEW YORK — A Pittsburg politician has suggested that Norfolk Southern fails to follow up when its own inspections show damage to tracks or bridges. Full story: www.rtands.com
FRA issues national trespass prevention strategy
(Source: Federal Railroad Administration press release, February 19, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today issued to Congress the first “National Strategy to Prevent Trespassing on Railroad...
Alberta announces deal with CN, CP to ship crude by rail
(Source: CBC News, February 19, 2019) CALGARY — The Alberta government has signed contracts with Canadian National and Canadian Pacific to lease 4,400 rail cars to take oilsands crude to American and international markets. The first shipments of 20,000 barrels per day...
US DOT announces cancellation of grant funds to California HSR project
(Source: U.S. Department of Transportation press release, February 19, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Transportation announced today that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) intends to cancel $929 million in Federal grant funds yet to be paid...
Chicago commuters less than thrilled with Union Station makeover
(Source: CBS Chicago, February 19, 2019) CHICAGO — Broken beams and tracks out of service; it seems like Metra makes headlines every week. Repairs are underway at home base in Union Station, but commuters are struggling to see the benefits of another huge project that...
Tracks reopen after BNSF coal train derailment in Minnesota
(Source: Duluth News Tribune, February 18, 2019) DULUTH, Minn. — The railroad north of Cloquet has reopened to train traffic as crews continue to clean up a 40-car train derailment that dumped more than 4,000 tons of coal along the track and onto the frozen St. Louis...
Norfolk Southern COO Wheeler sells $858,000 in company stock
(Source: Fairfield Current, February 15, 2019) NEW YORK — Norfolk Southern Corp. COO Michael Joseph Wheeler sold 4,761 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 12. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.23, for a...
Judge rules coal company can eliminate retirees’ health care, union contract
(Source: Casper Star-Tribune, February 18, 2019) CASPER, Wyo. — Retired coal miners from Kemmerer likely lost their company health benefits Friday when a judge decided that Westmoreland Coal Co. could eliminate retirement health care and a union contract in order to...
Southwest Chief boosts states’ coffers
(Source: La Junta Tribune-Democrat, February 18, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thwarting plans to replace a portion of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief service with a bus between Albuquerque and Dodge City saved the economies of New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas from what would have...
Proposal would allot millions to maintain New Mexico tracks for Amtrak
(Source: Television station KRQE, February 19, 2019) SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexicans already pay a fortune to keep the Rail Runner going. Now, a state senator wants everyone to pitch in more money to keep Amtrak running here too. He is asking for $5 million a year to...
Federal budget measure would include $50 million for Amtrak’s Southwest Chief
(Source: Associated Press, February 18, 2019) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawmakers say a federal budget compromise approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump provides $50 million of additional federal funding to maintain Amtrak rail passenger service through...
No, Gov. Newsom didn’t just kill California’s high-speed rail project
(Source: Capital Public Radio, February 14, 2019) SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s remarks on California’s embattled high-speed rail project in his State of the State address this week seemed to confuse just about everyone. Full story: Capital Public...
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