VIA Venture slowdown limited to CN-maintained track: Analysis

Gray, yellow and black passenger train at station

MONTREAL — When safety is on the table, there can be no debate about measures taken to ensure it. So when Canadian National informed VIA Rail Canada last Friday that all Venture trainsets of less than 32 axles could not operate at track speed across highway crossings equipped with warning devices triggered by Grade Crossing […]

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Regulators approve CPKC, CSX acquisition of Meridian & Bigbee

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has approved acquisition by Canadian Pacific Kansas City and CSX Transportation of the Meridian & Bigbee Railroad from Genesee & Wyoming, allowing the two Class I lines to create a new direct connection at Myrtlewood, Ala. The approval is effective Nov. 16, 2024. In separate decisions, the board approved […]

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CN train derails in Saskatchewan after striking tractor

Canadian National logo

GERARD, Saskatchewan — A Canadian National intermodal train has derailed near the Manitoba border after striking a farm tractor, the Canadian Press reports. The incident occurred this afternoon (Oct. 16) at a grade crossing near Gerald, Sask. The driver of the tractor was killed, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, while a CN spokeswoman […]

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TSB of Canada renews call for PTC-type system after near-collision between VIA train, CN freight

Track diagram of area near Cornwall, Ontario, on Canadian National

GATINEAU, Quebec — A VIA Rail Canada train came within about 1,100 feet of a head-on collision with a Canadian National freight train in an April 2023 incident, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in an investigation report released today (Wednesday, Oct. 16). In the report, the agency renewed its call for Canada to […]

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CSX sees slight revenue gain, feels impacts of hurricanes

Town and rail line showing flood damage

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX faces more than $200 million in reconstruction costs as a result of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and the income impacts of the storms will be felt in both the third and fourth quarters, executives said during the company’s quarterly earnings call today (Wednesday, Oct. 16). Chief Financial Officer Sean Pelkey said […]

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Seventeen Amtrak employees resign over health care fraud investigation

Amtrak logo.

WASHINGTON — Seventeen Amtrak employees in the Northeast have resigned in connection with an investigation by Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General into alleged health care fraud. The employees who have resigned are based at New York Penn Station or an Amtrak base in New Jersey. They include two gang foremen, four linemen, three truck drivers, […]

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Rail projects in Alaska, South Dakota, Wyoming receive federal funds

Logo for Federal Railroad Administration

WASHINGTON — Nine projects in Alaska, South Dakota, and Wyoming have received more than $108 million in federal funding under a program for states that do not have Amtrak passenger service or are not connected to the national rail network. Six of the projects are in South Dakota, two are in Alaska and one is […]

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Switzerland’s MOB orders new locomotives for GoldenPass Express

Rendering of new dual-cab electric locomotives

MONTREUX, Switzerland — The Montreux Overland Bernois Railway (MOB) has ordered six new locomotives from Stadler for the meter-gauge rail line, four of which will be used on the gauge-changing GoldenPass Express passenger train. The other two locomotives are intended for rail services and infrastructure maintenance. The dual-cab, B-B locomotives will be hybrid electrics, able […]

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CN imposes axle-count restriction on VIA’s Venture trainsets (corrected)

Passenger train on multi-track main line adjacent to highway

MONTREAL — Apparently triggered by one or more incidents in which a VIA Rail Canada Venture trainset failed to activate highway crossing warning devices, Canadian National is now requiring that all of VIA’s Venture-equipped trainsets operate with 32 axles. The edict came late Friday, at the beginning of Canada’s Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend. It also […]

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