Rail Industry News
STB: U.S. Class I workforce grew in October
(Source: Progressive Railroading, November 21, 2018) In mid-October, U.S. Class Is employed a total 148,719 people, up 0.37 percent over mid-September and 1.62 percent over October 2017, according to Surface Transportation Board employment data. On a month-over-month...
Fatal accident at CP Rail in Calgary
(Source: Teamsters Canada Rail Conference press release, November 22, 2018) CALGARY — A train conductor employed by Canadian Pacific (CP) died as the result of a workplace accident on Monday afternoon. The accident occurred on the CP rail tracks adjacent to 9th avenue...
San Joaquin Valley Amtrak trains grappling with ridership declines
(Source: Fresno Bee, November 20, 2018) FRESNO, Calif. — Amtrak’s San Joaquin trains that roll daily through Fresno en route to Bakersfield, Oakland and Sacramento marked their eighth consecutive year carrying at least 1 million passengers, and maintained their status...
Santa Claus ditching his reindeer for SEPTA’s Santa Express
(Source: CBS Philadelphia, November 20, 2018) PHILADELPHIA — Santa Claus is ditching his reindeer and hopping on SEPTA to kick-off the holiday season in Center City Friday for the 28th annual SEPTA Santa Express. SEPTA and the Center City District are encouraging...
For 76 years, the Santa Train has brought Christmas to Appalachia
(Source: Louisville Courier-Journal, November 20, 2018) LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Santa Train tradition began in 1943 when Flem Dobyns decided he wanted to thank the folks in the region who traveled through the mountains to buy implements of their life from his hardware...
Fire in train car at BNSF shops in Topeka extinguished early Tuesday
(Source: Topeka Capital-Journal, November 20, 2018) TOPEKA, Kan. — Topeka Fire Department crews extinguished a blaze early Tuesday at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway shops in East Topeka. Full story: Topeka Capital-Journal
Port of LA sets new monthly cargo record
(Source: Progressive Railroading, November 20, 2018) The Port of Los Angeles processed 952,554 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo last month, marking a 27.2 percent increase over October 2017 and setting a port record for the amount of cargo handled in a single...
R.J. Corman acquires six rail companies
(Source: Transport Topics, November 20, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — R.J. Corman Railroad Co. has acquired six rail companies, according to a Nov. 5 press release. Nicholasville, Ky.-based R.J. Corman is expected to take over operations in January of Nashville & Eastern...
Canada’s Bombardier frontrunner to win 999-car NJ Transit rail deal
(Source: Reuters, November 20, 2018) MONTREAL — Canada’s Bombardier Inc. is the front-runner to win a New Jersey Transit (NJT) rail car contract, two sources familiar with the matter said, in a boost for the plane-and-train-maker’s North American business that has...
Passenger railroads struggle to implement lifesaving technology
(Source: Television station KCRA, November 20, 2018) SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The latest numbers from the Federal Railroad Administration show just 24 percent of passenger tracks have fully operational PTC. Congress' watchdog, the nonpartisan Government Accountability...
FRA issues final rule regarding high-speed passenger rail operations
(Source: Federal Railroad Administration press release, November 20, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a final rule establishing modern, performance-based safety standards for railroad...
Historic price crash plunges Canadian oil patch into crisis
(Source: Bloomberg, November 21, 2018) NEW YORK — While the U.S. oil industry has hit a speed bump with the recent $20 drop in oil prices in New York, producers in Canada are in a full-blown crisis. Heavy Canadian crude has been on a downward spiral since mid-May,...
Surge of Thanksgiving travelers flock to Amtrak
(Source: ABC 27, November 21, 2018) HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Thanksgiving season is one of Amtrak's busiest travel periods of the year with a surge of travelers taking to the railroads. Amtrak's busiest day in history was in last year, the Sunday following Thanksgiving....
Brightline-Virgin rail service from Tampa to Orlando has estimated cost of $1.7 billion
(Source: Tampa Bay Times, November 20, 2018) TAMPA, Fla. — Leave it to the arrival of a visionary investor like Sir Richard Branson to help flesh out the vision for Brightline’s proposed Tampa-to-Orlando passenger train service. Full story: Tampa Bay Times
This Florida passenger line was privately financed and built: Can the state regulate it?
(Source: Miami Herald, November 19, 2018) MIAMI — A Treasure Coast lawmaker plans to again pursue more state oversight of private high-speed passenger rail service, as Florida analysts have outlined a number of steps lawmakers could take. Full story: Miami Herald
Canadian crude could travel by rail in dry ‘puck’ form
(Source: Railway Age, November 19, 2018) NEW YORK — Canada’s largest railroad recently filed a patent for CanaPux™, a pellet-like product that wraps tar sands extract bitumen in a layer of polymer for transportation by rail. It can be handled like dry bulk...
Runaway NS tank car rolls from Emmaus to Bethlehem
(Source: Lehigh Valley Live, November 19, 2018) EASTON, Pa. — A runaway tank car took a trip on the rails Sunday from Emmaus to Bethlehem. Rail cars were delivered last Tuesday to an interchange point in Emmaus for a short line railroad, said Norfolk Southern...
XPO workers in Indiana, New Jersey seek Teamster representation
(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, November 19, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — XPO warehouse workers in Indianapolis, Indiana and XPO freight drivers in Rockaway, New Jersey filed for Teamster representation today, the latest action by workers...
Kentucky Supreme Court upholds right-to-work law, rejecting union challenge
(Source: Television station WDRB, November 15, 2018) LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously upheld the right-to-work law passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature in 2017, rejecting unions’ arguments that the law violates the state and...
Congress creates new cybersecurity agency
(Source: Progressive Railroading, November 19, 2018) Congress last week passed legislation creating the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The new bill (H.R. 3359), which President Trump has...
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