MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada saw a 6.6% gain in ridership and an 11% increase in total revenues during 2024, according to the company’s annual fiscal-year report. Revenues for the calendar year were Ca$480.2 million (U.S. $353.8 million), while ridership reached 4.4 million. The company recorded an operating loss of Ca $385.2 million (U.S. $283.7 […]
GATINEAU, Quebec — Canada’s reportable rail accidents and other occurrences were down slightly in 2024, according to the Transportation Safety Board’s final 2024 statistics. The final count of 1,198 occurrences — including 896 accidents and 302 incidents — was down 3% from 2023. Accidents which includes events with fatalties, those in which rolling stock is […]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Canadian National Railway is taking legal action to force Parks Canada to allow it to build a berm to protect its main line against potential flood damage in Alberta’s Jasper National Park. The CBC reports that CN, in a federal court filing, says the agency has for more than eight years […]
THE PAS, Manitoba — Keewatin Railway Co. employees are part of a continuing effort to save the bridges on the remote Manitoba railroad from the wildfires ravaging the province, the CBC reports. Manitoba is under a state of emergency as 29 wildfires, 10 of them out of control, continue to burn, forcing evacuations of 27 […]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Ballard Power Systems will supply 12 hydrogen fuel cell engines to Sierra Northern Railway for Sierra Northern’s hydrogen locomotive project, Ballard announced on Thursday (June 5). The engines, capable of generating 1.5 megawatts, will be used to convert three diesel switchers to hydrogen power. Sierra Northern held the initial test for […]
CALGARY, Alberta — CPKC will be premiering its short film of Canadian Pacific No. 2816’s 2024 tour this fall. The Calgary International Film Festival, scheduled Sept. 18-28, will set the stage for a public screening of Pulse of the Continent: Final Spike Steam Tour. The 48-minute documentary was produced by the Class I railroad, covering […]
MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada’s on-time performance plummeted in the first quarter of 2025, falling to 30% from 72% in the same period last year, the company said in a quarterly financial report issued on Tuesday, June 3. The company also said ridership also dropped by 2.7% compared to the first quarter of 2024, the […]
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — A worker in a Metrolinx rail yard in Mississauga was killed Monday (June 2) after becoming trapped in a machine at the facility, CityNews Toronto reports. Police were called to the incident about noon. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Additional details have not yet been reported. Canada’s Ministry of […]
While growing up in Cleveland and Buffalo after World War II, a close encounter with a 4-6-4 Hudson-type locomotive was just a train ride away. My first memory was as a four-year-old. My family had taken the New York Central to Chicago, and as we walked forward at La Salle Street Station, I was […]
CALGARY, Alberta — A Canadian arbitrator has delivered his decision setting terms of new collective bargaining agreements between Canadian Pacific Kansas City and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference’s train and engine and rail traffic controller divisions. The contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024 and running through Dec. 31, 2027, includes annual wage increases of 3%. […]
MONTREAL — After announcing its overall 2025 capital spending plan earlier this month, Canadian National has now released province-by-province plans for the Canadian portion of that plan. British Columbia, where the railroad is working to improve fluidity to and from Vancouver and add capacity to the Port of Prince Rupert, will receive the largest investment, […]
MONTREAL — A VIA Rail Canada subsidiary paid more than Ca$330,000 to a marketing firm to rebrand itself as part of the effort to shift its high-frequency rail project to high speed rail after discovering little support for the original concept, the Canadian Press reports. Documents obtained by the news service show that the VIA […]
