WASHINGTON — Carloads were up and intermodal traffic was down in August, compared to the same month in 2020, according to statistics from the Association of American Railroads. The month saw U.S. railroads originiate 934,762 carloads in August, an increase of 36,815, or 4.1%, over 2020. The 1,085,345 containers and trailers moved in the month, […]
CALGARY, Alberta – Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel says Tuesday’s Surface Transportation Board decision that rules out a Canadian National-Kansas City Southern merger proves what he’s been saying all along. “The ruling … confirms what we’ve always believed to be true. And I’ll use their words: A CP-KCS combination is substantially different, substantially different. Those are […]
The Surface Transportation Board took 33 pages to explain why it rejected Canadian National’s request to put Kansas City Southern into a voting trust while their proposed merger would be placed under the regulatory microscope. Buried on Page 31 of the board’s decision is a 105-word passage that – aside from a potential Canadian Pacific-KCS […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army needs to act to ensure it is able to move equipment by rail in case of a large-scale mobilization, the Government Accountability Office says in a report issued earlier this month, and also needs to address widespread track issues with Army-controlled rail lines. A summary of the report is here, […]
NEW ORLEANS — Rail service to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast remains disrupted following Sunday’s arrival of Hurricane Ida, with Kansas City Southern, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and Kansas City Southern all reporting continuing shutdowns following the storm that has left much of Louisiana and parts of Mississippi without power. Kansas City Southern said […]
WASHINGTON – One of the complicating factors in CSX Transportation’s proposed acquisition of Pan Am Railways — the Pan Am Southern joint venture with Norfolk Southern — is proving to be a lightning rod. Last week, the Justice Department said the Surface Transportation Board should force CSX to sell its stake in Pan Am Southern […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak has urged federal regulators to impose conditions on CSX Transportation’s proposed acquisition of Pan Am Railways that would protect current and potential expansions of passenger service in New England. The CSX-Pan Am merger is the first before the Surface Transportation Board in which passenger trains account for the majority of traffic on […]
WASHINGTON – CSX Transportation’s proposed acquisition of Pan Am Railways threatens the viability of the former Boston & Maine Hoosac Tunnel route that provides competition for CSX’s own New England main line, Canadian Pacific has told federal regulators. The vast majority of CP’s traffic to and from New England runs via Mechanicville, N.Y., and the […]
NEW HAMPTON, Iowa — Canadian Pacific emergency crews remained on site Sunday, addressing a Saturday derailment of six locomotives and 11 cars of a CP train near New Hampton. Canadian Pacific reports that one car carrying anhydrous ammonia derailed into floodwaters and leaked product. “Supporting and working closely with local emergency response officials, our priority […]
DUNSMUIR, Calif. — Twenty cars of a Union Pacific train derailed Friday in Northern California’s Siskiyou County near the site of a 1991 derailment that spilled chemicals into the Sacramento River, leading to a massive kill-off of fish and health problems for those who responded to the accident. The Sacramento Bee reports no spills were […]
Freight guidance Early covered hopper loaders were modified from boxcar loaders, often requiring workers to climb car ladders for access. This elevator is at Glenwood, Minn., in 1984. Bob Wise photo […]
In Europe, a widespread consensus has developed among politicians and national governments that climate change is a real and present danger, and that it is primarily caused by human activity, both historic and now. Addressing this concern could spell major changes for railway activity across the continent. While much of the historic climate damage from […]
