SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — While the CEOs of BNSF, CPKC, and Union Pacific squared off on the pros and cons of the UP-Norfolk Southern merger at the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers winter meeting, the fourth Class I representative on the agenda — Janet Drysdale, Canadian National chief commercial officer, took another path. Mostly. “I will not […]
INDIANAPOLIS — Derrick Wright has been named president and CEO of the Indiana Rail Road, the railroad’s board of directors announced last week. The appointment was effective Jan. 16. Wright joined the railroad as vice president of operations and mechanical, coming from the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, where he was chief operating officer. He […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has moved to reestablish the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee, after disbanding it last summer. The organization, which advises the FRA on safety matters, has had its charter reestablished via a notice published in the Federal Register on Jan. 13. The committee’s website says it is intended to “seek agreement […]
LAS VEGAS — The completion date for the Brightline West high-speed rail project has been pushed back again, this time to late 2029. The company informed KVVU-TV of that date last week, but not did elaborate on reasons for the new estimate. It did say the project is in the “civil construction” phase, preparing the […]
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — If there’s a white whale that railroads have long hunted, it’s the goal of converting truck traffic to rail. It’s a centerpiece of Union Pacific’s effort to show public benefits to its merger with Norfolk Southern, but the goal is hardly a new one. Janet Drysdale, Canadian National’s chief commercial officer, said […]
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Don Toles, avid Southern California railfan and caretaker of Hill 582 on Cajon Pass, died Jan. 17, 2026, in San Bernardino, Calif. He was 97. Toles was well known in the local train-watching community thanks to his constant tending of the Hill 582 site, getting rid of leaves, cleaning out garbage, […]
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — CRRC MA, the Massachusetts affiliate of Chinese rail manufacturer CRRC, will lay off 161 employees beginning March 16 because shells for subway cars being imported from China remain held up by U.S. customs officials. The Springfield Republican reports the company, which employs more than 400 people at its Springfield, Mass., plant, announced […]
TOPEKA, Kan. — Ten rail infrastructure projects will receive a total of $11.2 million in funding from the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Rail Service Improvement Program, the state announced last week. The projects awarded were selected from 20 applications seeking a total of more than $33.5 million in funding. The projects also will receive more […]
WASHINGTON — Other railroads were not the only parties welcoming the Surface Transportation Board’s decision to reject the initial application for the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. Shipper groups also voiced their approval. The board, citing three areas in which it said the almost 7,000-page application was incomplete, rejected the UP-NS application on Friday, Jan. 16 […]
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger has, indirectly, ended a proposal to extend Metrolink commuter rail service from Ventura to Santa Barbara County. In its place, those two counties are now looking at a proposal from the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency that would serve the same desire to create a commuter rail […]
WASHINGTON — Through Tuesday, Jan. 20, Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass, normally $499, is being sold for $250. The pass, on sale here, permits passengers to ride up to 10 trains in coach over a 30-day period, regardless of trip length, so this is an especially good deal for anyone looking to make multiple stopovers traveling […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board today issued a setback to Union Pacific’s effort to acquire Norfolk Southern, rejecting the railroads’ merger application as incomplete — although that move offers little clue to the eventual prospects for the first transcontinental merger. The decision will slow the merger process, requiring the two railroads to rework three […]
