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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A full-length heritage dome once operated seasonally on the New York-Montreal Adirondack north of Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y. That began during Amtrak’s 1990s product line era when managers focused on growing ridership and revenue on individual routes. The car was sold off during CEO Richard Anderson’s regime, although views are still terrific through Amfleet II coach windows. […]
LONDON, Ontario — The Canadian government on Friday announced it would fund more than Ca$45 million in grade crossing safety projects and programs across the country, including infrastructure improvements and educational programs. The funding will Ca$44 million for 231 projects under the Rail Safety Improvement Program. The government has now announced more than 400 such […]
MONTREAL — Some Amtrak trains are sorely in need of an advocate. A recent Trains News Wire round trip to Montreal underlines that today’s Adirondack has none. It remains a hapless victim of indifference on the part of multiple overseers who show little inclination to make the train the unique and attractive transportation choice it […]
CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City has released the schedule and list of performers for the annual CPKC Holiday Train, which begins its tours through the U.S. and Canada on Nov. 20. The railroad’s holiday train will also continue to include the Holiday Express, originated by Kansas City Southern, which will make a 13-stop […]
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Cando Rail & Terminals has named Eric Buettner as the company’s first chief legal officer. Buettner has more than 10 years of experience in corporate and commercial law with a focus on mergers and acquisitions at western Canada law firm MLT Aikins. He has served as Cando’s external counsel since 2018, primarily […]
OTTAWA, Ontario — Canada’s Federal Court of Appeals has overturned a lower-court ruling blocking Canadian National Railway’s development of a Toronto-area intermodal facility, allowing construction of the terminal to move forward. The Canadian Press reports that a three-judge panel ruled on Friday that the federal government’s decision to allow construction of the facility in Milton, […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway this week published its Winter Plan or 2024-25, an annual document required by the Canadian government to address operating plans in the demanding conditions that can develop in the northern climate. Highlights of the preparations, as outlined by the railroad, include: — Air car program: CN has spent more than […]
BC Rail In May 1996, during the long Canadian weekend celebrating Victoria Day, a national holiday, there was a crew shortage in Lillooet, British Columbia, on BC Rail. Normally, Lillooet had a fairly quiet joint conductors spare board — one could sit second-out for the better part of a week! That weekend, most of the […]
