Senator introduces bill to advance U.S. rail electrification

Red locomotive leading passenger train and green locomotive leading freight train at station

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has introduced a bill that would provide $200 billion in funding over five years for high speed rail and electrification of major rail corridors. The “All Aboard Act” also seeks to expand existing passenger rail service and electrify major rail yards. U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) has introduced […]

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CPKC completes second span over the Rio Grande at the Laredo gateway

CALGARY, Alberta — The $100 million Patrick J. Ottensmeyer International Railway Bridge is officially complete. The second span across the Rio Grande— linking Laredo, Texas, with Nuevo Laredo, Mexico — doubles Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s cross-border capacity because it allows the railway to eliminate the four-hour northbound and southbound directional running windows that created bottlenecks […]

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Broken rail led to CN derailment in New Brunswick, Canadian safety agency finds

Diagram of four-car derailment at bridge

DARTMOUTH, Nova Scotia — A broken rail caused by an undetected fatigue flaw led to the derailment of a Canadian National train new Dunsinane, New Brunswick in October 2023, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in an investigation report released today (Tuesday, Dec. 17). Four cars derailed in the Oct. 30, 2023, incident, with […]

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Sites in Missouri, Washington State added to BNSF industrial development program

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has added four more Certified Sites to its existing list of 38 trackside shovel-ready, rail-served industrial development properties. The new sites, which were announced yesterday, include in Everett, Spokane, and Plymouth, Wash.; and Springfield, Mo. “We’re excited to announce these four new locations to our growing list of certified […]

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Railroads head into 2025 with headcount momentum to support growth: Analysis

Train crew member throwing switch before reboarding caboose

WASHINGTON — Railroads appear to have the manpower resources they need to handle volume growth as we head into the New Year. Three of the country’s six Class I railroads have more train and engine (T&E) employees than they did a year ago, including three of the big four U.S. railroads. Amtrak also has 125 […]

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Rail advocacy group GoRail launches essay contest

Logo of GoRail's Rail Champions campaign

WASHINGTON — GoRail, an advocacy group linking the rail industry with local leaders and the public in support of freight rail transportation, has announced a national essay contest for entrants to share how freight rail impacts their communities as part of its Rail Champions initiative. The 300- to 600-word essays, responding to the prompt “I’m […]

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News & Products for the week of December 16th 2024

News & Products for the week of December 16th 2024   Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of December 16th […]

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Midwest Mod-U-Track display in HO scale

Midwest Mod-U-Track display in HO scale | Gerry Leone, Trains.com Contributor, continued making the rounds of layouts on display at Trainfest 2024 event in Milwaukee, Wis. At this stop, he visited with Bob Kosic to take a closer look at the HO scale (1:87.1) Midwest Mod-U-Trak display presented by Chicagoland modelers. Bob shared plenty of […]

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What S&P’s energy outlook for 2025 could mean for railroads: Analysis

Coal train passes line of coal hoppers

NEW YORK — Energy demand is growing faster than clean energy’s ability to fulfill it. Data centers and artificial intelligence are exacerbating the issue. New liquified natural gas (LNG) exports from the U.S. could boost prices for domestic natural gas, possibly making coal more competitive for electricity generation. All of this and more has been […]

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Comment period on Del Mar tunnel project shows continued opposition

Map of potential rail tunnels in Del Mar, Calif.

DEL MAR, Calif. — Officials and residents of the San Diego County communities of Del Mar and Solana Beach continue to object to plans to relocate the Surf Line rail route along the Pacific Coast in their communities, a $4 billion proposal that would involve tunneling under the communities to move the tracks off the […]

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Reminiscing on five prolific narrow gauge railroads in Colorado

Smoking steam locomotive in front of station

The silver and gold bonanza of the late 19th Century led to a boom in narrow gauge railroad startups across Colorado. But out of the plethora that’ve come and gone, which left an impact in the Centennial State and sparked our enthusiasm to visit what’s left today? Let’s find out by reminiscing about five prolific […]

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