Tiger Cool Express to buy former UP Cold Connect warehouse

Tiger Cool Express logo

WALLULA, Wash. — Tiger Cool Express, a temperature-sensitive intermodal service, has signed a letter of intent to acquire the former Union Pacific Cold Connect warehouse in Wallula and develop an adjacent intermodal rap. The facility will provide service for international containers between Wallula and the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, as well as domestic service […]

Read More…

CN, Watco ask STB to unfreeze Wisconsin, Michigan branch line sales before winter (updated)

Map of Watco linces purchased from CN

WASHINGTON – Canadian National and Watco have urged the Surface Transportation Board to lift the hold it placed on the transfer of nearly 500 miles of former Wisconsin Central branch lines. Watco, in a filing on Tuesday, told the board that it has been preparing to launch service on the routes in Wisconsin and the neighboring […]

Read More…

AAR challenges points made in STB chairman’s speech to shippers

Smiling man in coat and tie

WASHINGTON — Association of American Railroads CEO Ian Jefferies has taken issue with many of the points Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman raised his speech to a shipper conference last month. Oberman told the North American Rail Shippers that the railroad industry’s drive for ever-increasing profits resulted in a loss of market share […]

Read More…

KCS turns to Commtrex to improve transload network

Kansas City Southern logo

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern will use rail logistics platform Commtrex to improve the visibility and connectivity of its network of more than 100 transload facilities in 19 U.S. and Mexican states. The agreement announced Monday joins the railroad’s transload network with a platform that allows shippers to find transload centers by location, […]

Read More…

Quarterly volume split on big six Class I systems (updated)

Intermodal train with four locomotives rounds curve

Traffic on the big six Class I railroads was a mixed bag in the third quarter, as three systems saw gains versus a year ago and three experienced volume declines. For the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, total volume on the big six systems was up an average of 0.5%, according to a Trains […]

Read More…

BNSF Railway hopes to reopen fire-damaged Northern California main this month

Worker on lift inside tunnel

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway hopes to have its fire-damaged Inside Gateway main line linking the Pacific Northwest and Northern California back in service later this month. The Gateway Subdivision between Stockton, Calif., and Klamath Falls, Ore., has been out of service since July 21, when the Dixie Fire approached the railroad and later […]

Read More…

Rail operators to face new cybersecurity requirements

Trains Washington Watch logo

WASHINGTON — Major railroads and rail transit operators, along with airports and airlines, will be required to improve cybersecurity under a new directive from the Transportation Security Administration. Reuters reports that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Wednesday that the companies and agencies will be required to name a chief cyber official, disclose hacks to […]

Read More…

September rail traffic down from 2020 figures as intermodal issues continue

Weekly table showing U.S. rail traffic by commodity along with intermodal statistics

WASHINGTON — Intermodal volume continued to be an issue for U.S. railroads in September, as container and trailer movement was down 6.7% over September 2020, leading to an overall traffic decline of 1.9% for the month despite a 4.3% increase in carload traffic. “Rail intermodal volume is clearly not what it has been and could […]

Read More…

Canadian vaccination requirement for rail passengers to take effect Oct. 30

Government of Canada logo

OTTAWA, Ontario — Following up on a policy announced in August, the Government of Canada has announced COVID-19 vaccinations will be required for passengers on VIA Rail Canada and Rocky Mountaineer trains, as well as those departing from Canadian airports, effective Oct. 30. There will also be a transition period when travelers in the process […]

Read More…

Activist investor TCI Fund says it’s acting in the best interest of all CN shareholders

Canadian National logo

LONDON – The war of words continues between Canadian National and TCI Fund Management, its second-largest investor. TCI, which seeks to oust CN CEO JJ Ruest and has nominated four directors to serve on CN’s board, today disputed claims that CN made on Monday. CN yesterday set March 22 as the date it will hold […]

Read More…