Union Pacific asks STB to disallow some material from latest Metra filing (updated)

Commuter train on curve

WASHINGTON — Union Pacific has asked the Surface Transportation Board to disallow some of the material Metra included in its latest filing in its request for trackage rights on UP lines in the Chicago area, saying Metra’s rebuttal included impermissible new evidence. The Metra filing on Monday, June 23, included a proposal for an interim […]

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Kansas City utility seeks $22 million in damages from BNSF

Coal train approaches with another visible in the distance

WASHINGTON – Evergy is seeking more than $22.2 million in damages from BNSF Railway for what the utility claims is the railroad’s refusal to deliver enough Powder River Basin coal to power plants in Missouri and Kansas in 2022. The Kansas City-based utility argues, in opening evidence filed with the Surface Transportation Board today, that […]

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CPKC’s IT stumble casts doubt on further Class I mergers: Analysis

The odds of a transcontinental railroad merger gaining regulatory approval — which were already slim to begin with— got a whole lot smaller on May 3. That’s when Canadian Pacific Kansas City pulled the plug on Kansas City Southern’s information technology system. The cutover to the Canadian Pacific computer system in KCS territory in the […]

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Telegraph-RailState partnership offers shippers a view of freight cars, rail network

A pair of technology companies have teamed up to provide rail shippers with a broader look at the status of freight cars as they make their way from origin to destination, all while generating alerts about actual and potential delays. Telegraph provides a full suite of tools that allow shippers to price, book, trace, and […]

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Raymond Burton, former TTX CEO, dies at 86

Man smoking pipe in outdoor setting

CHICAGO — Former TTX president and CEO Raymond C. Burton Jr. has died, the company has announced. Burton, 89, died June 19 in New York City. He was the company’s president and CEO from 1982 until his retirement in 2000, and is credited with modernizing the company, helping strengthen its financial condition and meet growing […]

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HDR to provide engineering services for High Desert Corridor project

Map of High Desert Corridor route

LOS ANGELES — Engineering firm HDR will provide, engineering, design, and advisory services for the High Desert Corridor high speed rail project, the company has announced. The High Desert Corridor Joint Powers Authority, which seeks to build a 54-mile line between Palmdale and Victorville, Calif., that would eventually connect the Brightline West and California High-Speed […]

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Amtrak schedules hit by equipment, heat issues (updated)

Blue passenger locomotive next to station platfrom

Amtrak has experienced a series of train cancellations because of “equipment unavailability,” as well as due to heat issues, in the Midwest and East on Tuesday and today (June 25, 2025), according to the company’s social media feeds. In the Midwest, Wolverine Train No. 355, a 5:28 pm. departure from Pontiac, Mich., to Chicago, has […]

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Rail unions warn DOT rule change could jeopardize train safety

Maintenance-of-way employees working on track in front of station

WASHINGTON — Rail unions are raising concerns about the Trump administration’s plan to roll back protections for federal inspectors and investigators put in place in 2021 that they say could increase safety risks in the rail industry. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in May, the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed several changes to […]

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Metra seeks to temporarily maintain status quo in UP contract dispute

Commuter train in push mode departs station as freight train moves away on adjacent track

WASHINGTON — Metra has proposed that terms for its continued operation on Union Pacific lines in the Chicago area maintain the status quo until the sides reach an agreement or regulators rule in their ongoing contract dispute, according to the commuter operator’s latest filing with the Surface Transportation Board. The June 23 filing is part […]

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Head of MBTA’s contract commuter operator to depart

Head shot of man in suit with office in background

BOSTON — The CEO of Keolis Commuter Services, contract operator of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter trains, is departing to return to a position with the operator’s parent company in France. Parent company Keolis Group announced on Monday (June 23) that Abdellah Chajai will depart to become executive director of marketing, innovation, sustainable development, and […]

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House panel debates rail safety technology initiatives

WASHINGTON — The partisan split over the implementation of technology in the railroad industry was on display during a House subcommittee hearing today. Republicans favored unleashing innovation and modernizing outdated Federal Railroad Administration regulations that they say stand in the way of progress. Democrats on the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous […]

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