Norfolk Southern has positive outlook for 2021 as intermodal, merchandise momentum builds

Container train passing overhead signals

NORFOLK, Va. — With intermodal and some merchandise volume turning positive in the fourth quarter, Norfolk Southern expects continued traffic growth this year as the economy recovers from the pandemic. NS expects revenue growth of about 9% this year, led by high single-digit growth in intermodal and merchandise volume excluding energy-related traffic. Coal volume will […]

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Digest: Failure to secure cars, ice led to CN yard death, TSB of Canada says

Transportation Safety Board of Canada logo

Wednesday morning rail news: Transportation Safety Board of Canada issues report on 2018 CN yard death Failure to fully secure two unattended cars and ice contamination of those cars’ brakes led to a fatal accident in 2018 at Canadian National’s yard in Edmundston, New Brunswick, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada says in a report issued […]

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Short line Winchester & Western grows through pandemic under OmniTRAX ownership

Black diesel locomotives on freight train in farm fields

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Winchester & Western, the 100-mile short line with trackage in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey, was able to grow last year despite the pandemic. Traffic on the railroad, which short line holding company OmniTRAX acquired in September 2019, was up a shade over 9% last year. That was below railroad […]

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CN sees return to growth in 2021, with grain and intermodal leading the way

Freight train on bridge over highway

MONTREAL — After increasing momentum in the fourth quarter, Canadian National today expressed optimism for volume recovery in 2021 as intermodal, grain, and some carload segments are seeing strong growth. CN expects volume to grow by around 5% in 2021 amid record Canadian grain tonnage, demand for lumber and propane, and international and domestic intermodal gains […]

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Remembering New York Central freight trains

Road-switcher diesel locomotives with freight train

All through January 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the New York Central Railroad. This week, feast your eyes on freight trains, in black-and-white, and color, from deep in Appalachia, to Manhattan’s High Line. See what we’ve unearthed from the David P. Morgan Library on this great railroad. Only from Classic Trains!   […]

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Oberman named as STB chairman (corrected)

Man with jacket and bowtie

President Joe Biden has designated Martin Oberman as chairman of the Surface Transportation Board. Oberman, who joined the board in January 2019, is current serving his first five-year term on the board, which is slated to expire Dec. 31, 2023. A former Chicago city council alderman, he was chairman of Metra’s board from 2014 to […]

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Digest: New agreement allows BNSF Bismarck bridge project to move forward

Train coming off bridge on broad curve

Still more Monday morning rail news:   New agreement allows BNSF Bismarck bridge project to move forward without final decision on current bridge BNSF Railway’s long-running effort to replace its 138-year-old Bismarck-Mandan Rail Bridge over the Missouri River can continue to move forward after a new agreement between the railroad, the U.S. Coast Guard, and […]

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Digest: BNSF train derails in Arizona, prompting lengthy ‘Southwest Chief’ delay

BNSF logo

More Monday morning rail news: BNSF intermodal train derails in Arizona, stopping Southwest Chief No injuries were reported when a BNSF intermodal train derailed Sunday afternoon near Joseph City, Ariz., KPHO-TV reports. Photos show several double-stack well cars off the tracks, with containers overturned. The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office says the accident was reported about 1 […]

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Digest: Conservation groups ask STB for full environmental review of Tennessee Pass revival

American Whitewater logo

Monday midday rail news: Conservation groups ask for full environmental review before Tennessee Pass operations can resume Conservation group American Whitewater, joined by seven other organizations and almost 700 individuals, have asked the Surface Transportation Board to require a full Environmental Impact Statement for the resumption of rail service on Tennessee Pass. The Friday filing asks the […]

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Canadian National’s proposed Toronto-area intermodal terminal wins government approval

Rendering of proposed rail yard

OTTAWA – Canadian environmental officials have given Canadian National a green light for the $250 million intermodal terminal it aims to build outside of Toronto. The minister of environment and climate change last week announced the government’s decision to approve the Milton Logistics Hub, subject to 325 environmental conditions that would make it the most […]

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NTSB: Brake and end-of-train device problems led to deadly Sherman Hill runaway (updated)

Overhead view of derailed train

WASHINGTON — A brake system failure — which included an air flow restriction and the failure of an end-of-train device to respond to an emergency brake command — was the probable cause of the October 2018 runaway and subsequent collision that killed two Union Pacific crewmen on Sherman Hill in Wyoming, the National Transportation Safety Board […]

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Digest: Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority elects first president

Trains logo

Friday afternoon rail news: Montana’s Bky Sky Passenger Rail Authority elects Strohmaier as president Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier, the driving force behind the effort to create Montana’s Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, will serve as first president of the organization, the Missoula Current reports. In its second official meeting on Wednesday, the organization learned that […]

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