Pinsly Railroad Co. to acquire Texas short line Hondo Railway

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Shortline operator Pinsly Railroad Co. today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Hondo Railway, a short line railroad company in Hondo, Texas, just west of San Antonio. Pinsly and its partner, Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, have requested that the transaction be exempt from Surface Transportation Board review, as is common […]

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Norfolk Southern’s Triple Crown RoadRailers ride off into history

MELVINDALE, Mich. – Norfolk Southern hotshot 255 has a 2:20 a.m. date with destiny. It’s the last departure — ever — of a Triple Crown RoadRailer train. In the Detroit terminal at Oakwood Yard, crews have 95 of the bimodal trailers staged on three tracks, ready to be assembled into tonight’s train for the 715-mile […]

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Union announces tentative deal for conductors with Amtrak

Passenger train at grade crossing

WASHINGTON — The union representing Amtrak conductors and assistant conductors announced it had reached a new tentative agreement with the passenger operator for a seven-year contract covering more than 2,100 employees. The agreement with the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) will include a “substantial general wage increase,” the […]

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Caltrain offers first look at all-electric schedules

SAN FRANCISCO — A month before Stadler electric, bilevel multiple-unit trainsets are set to completely transform Caltrain’s 51-mile corridor from downtown San Francisco to San Jose, Calif., commuters are getting their first look at specifics of the schedules to be implemented beginning Sept. 21. Some electric trainsets began operating earlier this month [see “News photos: […]

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Why a giant coal merger matters to Class I railroads: Analysis

Black and white locomotives with coal hoppers cresting hill

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Business resiliency and opportunities for CSX and Norfolk Southern to recraft how they do business with two top coal customers makes the announced merger between Arch Resources and Consol Energy important to railroads. Arch and Consol have been major customers to the four big Class I railroads before announcing their intentions to […]

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Canada’s labor minister orders arbitration to end CN, CPKC work stoppages, but union keeps picket lines up (additional update)

Red locomotives of CN and CP in yard

OTTAWA — The Canadian government has moved to end Canada’s freight rail work stoppage — the first to shut down both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City simultaneously. However, while the two railroads say they are preparing to resume operations after Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon sent the dispute to binding arbitration, the Teamsters Canada […]

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Intramotev shows off autonomous, battery-electric stack car (with video)

ST. LOUIS — Intramotev, the startup company that converts conventional freight cars to battery-electric, self-propelled vehicles, has debuted an autonomous double-stack car. The company showed off the TugVolt well car in a video released this week. The 20-year-old former TTX car carries two 40-foot international containers as it moves independently along trackage in Intramotev’s facility. […]

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New Portland, Maine, Downeaster station site selected; public input sought

Passenger train crossing street

PORTLAND, Maine — Following a pair of community outreach sessions that began last April, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority has settled on a site for a relocated Portland station that would eliminate the time-consuming backup move for Downeaster service that dates to its launch in December 2001. The agency is soliciting further public […]

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NYC’s Riley on the IC

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New York Central’s Chicago–Cincinnati streamliner, the James Whitcomb Riley, speeds past Illinois Central’s suburban-train station at 75th Street on the South Side of Chicago in 1947. The Riley left from IC’s Central Station on the lakefront and switched to NYC rails at Kankakee. Willard A. Gardner photo […]

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