British project will convert diesel locomotive to steam power

Eversholt logo

LONDON — A British company has announced plan to convert a 1980s diesel locomotive to a prototype of a zero-emission steam powered unit. Rail equipment leasing firm Eversholt Rail Group said earlier this month it would convert a British Rail Class 60 locomotive, a C-C unit built by Brush Traction, in a partnership with Steamology, […]

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BNSF Railway’s automotive facilities recognized with awards

BNSF Railway logo

FORT WORTH, Texas – BNSF Railway announced two of its automotive facilities, operated by service partner Inter-Rail Group, were recognized as some of the best in North America by the Association of American Railroads. The awards were accepted recently at the Damage Freight Prevention Convention in Minneapolis. In a news release dated June 11, 2024, […]

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Coming attraction: James E. Strates Shows carnival train set to roll again

ORLANDO, Fla. — The James E. Strates Shows carnival train will return to the rails this summer for the first time since 2019. The train — the last of its kind — was sidelined by the pandemic. Strates shifted its traveling midway show entirely to trucks as fairs gradually reopened. This year Strates officials had […]

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Amtrak defends management bonuses, omits customer-facing deficiencies in website presentation: Analysis

Passenger train at station with pedestrian walkway above tracks

WASHINGTON — Responding to criticisms from members of Congress in a House hearing last week, Amtrak has posted a 14-page PowerPoint presentation aiming to justify a controversial incentive system that pays millions of dollars in bonuses to company executives. Board Chairman Anthony Coscia said the compensation of senior executives would be posted on the Amtrak […]

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Weekly U.S. rail traffic remains ahead of 2023 levels

Weekly table showing U.S. carload traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal volume

WASHINGTON —Weekly U.S. rail traffic continued to show overall gains compared to 2023 in the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads, thanks to the strength of intermodal volume. For the week ending June 15, overall traffic was 493,138 carloads and intermodal units, a 3.4% increase over the corresponding week a year ago. That […]

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BNSF officially announces plans for intermodal and carload hub near Phoenix

orange BNSF train surrounded by desert

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has officially announced its plans to develop a massive logistics hub on the outskirts of Phoenix. The project, quietly in the works for several years, will be built on a 4,321-acre property in northwest Maricopa County, the railroad said yesterday. The hub, adjacent to the Phoenix Subdivision in Wittmann, […]

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Alabama port authority votes to help fund Amtrak service

Aerial view of railyard under cloudy skies with city skyline in distance

MOBILE, Ala. — A once-unlikely source — the Alabama State Port Authority — has agreed to provide a share of the funding needed to launch Amtrak service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. On Tuesday, the Port Authority board, once a vehement opponent of Gulf Coast service on the grounds it might interfere with freight […]

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Teamsters Canada holding second vote on CN, CPKC strike authorization

CN intermodal train stopped in mountain setting

The union representing more than 9,000 CN and CPKC workers is holding a second strike vote amid stalled contract negotiations with the railroads. “It is clear we cannot rely on a timely conclusion to these unfortunate circumstances and must protect our rights regardless of outcome,” the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) said in a press […]

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Study backs long-sought rail link between Boston’s North and South stations

BOSTON –— The economic benefits of linking Boston’s North and South stations would far outweigh the costs of the project and would be a better use of taxpayer dollars than simply expanding South Station as a stopgap to relieve congestion, according to a study released on Monday. U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., requested the study […]

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Lake State Railway leadership changes see Stickel named CEO

Blue and gray locomotive leads freight train in snow

SAGINAW, Mich. — Mike Stickel will become president and CEO of Lake State Railway, and current president and CEO John Rickoff will become chairman of the board of directors, as part of leadership changes announced today (June 18) by the Michigan-based regional railroad. The changes are effective July 15. Stickel is currently executive vice president […]

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With NTSB report looming, NS touts safety improvements made since East Palestine wreck

A pair of black and white locomotives exist a tunnel cut into a tree-covered hillside

ATLANTA — With the National Transportation Safety Board’s final report on the East Palestine, Ohio, hazardous materials wreck due out next week, Norfolk Southern is touting the safety improvements it has made so far this year. The railroad released a midyear safety report on Monday, which outlines strides the railroad has made this year as […]

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BNSF must pay tribe $394 million for oil-train operation in violation of agreement

Unit oil train

SEATTLE — BNSF Railway owes Washington state’s Swinomish Indian Tribal Community $394.5 million for violating an agreement governing railroad operation across tribal land, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik reached that figure after a four-day bench trial, the Seattle Times reports. He had previously ruled the railroad had violated a 1991 […]

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