WASHINGTON — Carload, intermodal and overall U.S. rail traffic remained narrowly ahead of 2025 levels in the week ending March 14, 2026, according to the Association of American Railroads. AAR figures show total traffic for the week was 508,737 carloads and intermodal units, a 1.1% increase over the same week a year ago. The 228,299 […]
WASHINGTON — Devices that ensure a passenger train always activates signal and highway warning devices — regardless of track conditions or a train’s car type, speed, or length — will be installed on some Amtrak trains “this calendar year,” according to the Federal Railroad Administration. Responding to a Trains information request, the FRA said the […]
WASHINGTON — A Canadian National train making a shove move backed into Amtrak’s City of New Orleans, then backed up and hit the passenger train a second time, the National Transportation Safety Board said in its preliminary report on the Feb. 22, 2026, collision near Memphis. The incident at about 11 a.m. led to minor […]
RICHMOND, Texas — Twenty-three cars of a Union Pacific train derailed today (March 18) in the Houston suburb of Richmond. No evacuation has been ordered, although officials say leaks have been detected from two cars carrying ethanol. “Both leaks are contained,” Fort Bend County Fire Marshal Justin York said in a press conference carried by […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration has issued a Special Directive requiring the Illinois Department of Transportation to take 11 actions to improve its oversight of the Chicago Transit Authority. The FTA also has launched a Safety Management Inspection of IDOT. The directive issued Tuesday says that the FTA has determined IDOT’s State Safety Oversight […]
WASHINGTON — The spike in energy prices since the start of the Iran conflict could be a blessing or a curse, Norfolk Southern executives say. It’s clear that the dramatic increase in fuel prices will increase the railroad’s first-quarter costs by $20 million to $30 million — and that the NS fuel surcharge program will […]
The arm on a New York Central Railway Post Office car has just snatched the bag from the trackside crane. Incoming bags for such locations would simply be kicked out the door as the train passed. A. C. Kalmbach photo […]
SEATTLE — Amtrak has topped out the steel structure for its new Maintenance and Inspection facility at Seattle’s King Street Yard, one of several facilities under construction nationwide to accommodate maintenance for its new Airo equipment fleet. The project to date has taken more than 200,000 worker hours, and involved installation of approximately 1.8 million […]
DENVER — The Front Range Passenger Rail District has extended the voting for its Name the Train contest by a week to March 30, citing strong interest in the balloting. More than 18,000 Colorado residents voted in the first 72 hours, the agency said. “With thousands of Coloradans already participating, it’s been exciting to watch […]
MISSOURI CITY, Texas — Two passengers suffered minor injuries on Tuesday, March 17, when Amtrak’s Sunset Limited hit a truck hauling a container at a grade crossing, NBC News reports. Missouri City Fire Chief Mario Partida said crews responded to the accident around 11 a.m. local time. Two minor injuries were treated at the scene, […]
WASHINGTON — Canadian National’s volume is running slightly ahead of expectations so far this year as operations held up well during winter, Chief Operating Officer Patrick Whitehead says. Car velocity is up 10% compared with last year, while train speed is up 6% and terminal dwell is down 6%, he told an investor conference on […]
WASHINGTON — A second Presidential Emergency Board has sided with a coalition of unions in their ongoing contract dispute with the Long Island Rail Road — but the LIRR rejected the board’s recommendation, setting the stage for a strike or lockout in May. The board was, under the rules of the Railway Labor Act, required […]
