Rail Industry News
Opinion: Senate can’t let STB roll back progress
(Source: The Hill opinion column by Marc Scribner, March 27, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Few Americans give much thought to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), the nation’s economic regulator of railroads. Yet, the STB oversees a critical infrastructure network that...
CN’s former CEO paid more than $12 million in 2017
(Source: Canadian Press, March 27, 2018) MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway Co.’s former chief executive received $12.3 million in compensation last year, before he left the company as it struggles through operational and customer service challenges, the...
Canadian railways in a catch-22 over crude shipments
(Source: Reuters, March 27, 2018) NEW YORK — Canadian railway operators see a lucrative opportunity to transport more crude oil to the United States as a rise in output force producers to find new routes to its southern neighbor. However, their need for long-term...
Canada’s crude by rail terminals sit idle as oil glut grows
(Source: Bloomberg, March 27, 2018) NEW YORK — Stranded Canadian crude is waiting for trains to take it to U.S. refineries. Full story: Bloomberg
NTSB updates rail safety progress for Most Wanted List
(Source: NTSB Safety Compass blog post by NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt, March 26, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — On November 14, 2017, the day before our Most Wanted List (MWL) progress meeting, we concluded our investigation into the April 2016 Amtrak train derailment...
UP: Putting the ‘Big Boy’ back together
(Source: Union Pacific press release, March 22, 2018) OMAHA, Neb. — Since disassembling UP No. 4014, the ‘Big Boy,’ the Union Pacific Steam Team has cleaned, inspected and repaired nearly every part of the locomotive down to its smallest piece. Full story: Union...
UP crews work to fix sagging Marysville train trestle
(Source: CBS Sacramento, March 26, 2018) MARYSVILLE, Calif. — Emergency repairs being made to an unstable trestle in Marysville. The whole track is shut down to Amtrak and freight trains, which have been rerouted through the Sacramento subdivision. Full story: CBS...
Rail Passengers Association applauds Congress for increasing rail spending
(Source: Transportation Today, March 26, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress’ recent increased funding for Amtrak, passenger rail, and transit in the $1.3 billion fiscal year 2018 budget is a victory for the industry, the Rail Passengers Association said. Full story:...
Funding for Gateway tunnel and Amtrak as Trump signs spending bill
(Source: Railway Age, March 23, 2018) NEW YORK — President Trump on Friday signed the $1.3-trillion omnibus spending bill, keeping the government running through September and freeing up federal funding for Amtrak and the Gateway project he had opposed. Full story:...
STB: Class I employment up a bit since January
(Source: Progressive Railroading, March 23, 2018) As of mid-February, Class Is in the United States employed 144,815 workers, up 0.34 percent as of mid-January, but down 2.71 percent compared with mid-February 2017's employment, according to the Surface Transportation...
Metro-North workers injured after getting pinned to tracks
(Source: New York Post, March 24, 2018) NEW YORK — Three Metro-North workers were injured — two seriously — when an iron beam fell off a boom truck and pinned them on the tracks in East Harlem Saturday morning, officials said. Full story: New York Post
Amtrak grades performance of host railroads
(Source: Progressive Railroading, March 23, 2018) Amtrak has begun posting a quarterly "report card" that rates how long its trains are delayed while traveling on host freight railroads' tracks. Full story: Progressive Railroading
NS trains blocking traffic in S.C. city
(Source: Associated Press, March 23, 2018) SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Norfolk Southern trains are blocking traffic for hours at a time in one South Carolina city. Full story: www.usnews.com
Metra ponders 25-cent fare increases in 2019 and 2020 due to state funding shortfalls
(Source: Chicago Tribune, March 21, 2018) CHICAGO — Metra officials are already pondering the need for more fare increases in 2019 and 2020 — by perhaps 25 cents per ride in each year — if state revenues do not improve. Full story: Chicago Tribune
Impact of NAFTA negotiations on cross-border railroads: CFO of KCS speaks
(Source: Freight Waves, March 21, 2018) NEW YORK — Michael W. Upchurch, the CFO and Executive VP at Kansas City Southern de Mexico, very much had NAFTA on his mind when he addressed the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2018 Global Industrials Conference in London...
LIRR unveils performance improvement plan
(Source: Progressive Railroading, March 22, 2018) MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) on Monday shared details of its performance improvement plan. The plan outlines nearly 60 actions the railroad will take to boost service reliability, seasonal preparedness and customer...
NS says culvert failure/ washout caused Attica train derailment
(Source: The Daily News, March 22, 2018) ATTICA, N.Y. — A culvert failure has been blamed for the Feb. 15 train derailment that injured two crewmen and sent burning locomotives into a nearby field. Diesel fuel spilled from at least one of the locomotives and caught...
Transit spending gets boost in congressional spending bill
(Source: Curbed, March 22, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The $1.3 trillion spending bill Congress unveiled last night offered renewed hope for transit advocates, who feared the steep cuts initially put forth in the president’s budget proposal. Full story: Curbed
How Congress got around Trump’s threat to veto Gateway tunnel funding
(Source: www.nj.com, March 23, 2018) NEWARK, N.J. — Funds in the federal spending bill for Amtrak and a special account controlled by the governors of New Jersey and New York will provide $540 million for the Gateway Tunnel even though the project is not mentioned by...
Fight over funding for Gateway tunnel doesn’t end with spending bill
(Source: Bloomberg, March 23, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The battle over designating money for the Northeast Corridor rail project is finished, but the war over funding it goes on. Full story: Bloomberg
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