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Tag: Rail Industry

FRA issues final rules requiring training certification of dispatchers and signal workers

By | May 20, 2024

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration today announced final rules that will require railroads to develop certification and training programs for train dispatchers and signal employees. Unlike with conductors and locomotive engineers, there previously have been no federal regulations mandating specific training requirements, safety and knowledge checks, and verification of safety records for dispatchers and […]

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A rebuttal: Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena on one-person crews

By | May 20, 2024

Well, I put a bee in Jim Vena’s bonnet when I wrote that railroads should thank the Federal Railroad Administration for its new two-person train crew rule. The thrust of that column last month: Service would suffer if the Class I railroads were to go to engineer-only operation because of delays related to having ground-based […]

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Australian mining railroad reopens after autonomous train collision

By | May 20, 2024
Badly damaged derailed locomotives and ore cars

KARRATHA, Western Australia — Rio Tinto has fully reopened its mining railroad in Western Australia’s Pilbara region after the collision last week involving two autonomous trains, with the Australian Financial Review reporting the mining company has suspended a procedure known as “on-site override” while investigation into the incident continues. One line of the two-track main […]

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Viewliner diner serving ‘flexible’ meals to be added to Crescent June 1: Analysis

By | May 20, 2024
Passengers eating in dining car

WASHINGTON — Beginning June 1, Amtrak plans to restore a dining car to the New York-New Orleans Crescent. However, initially only sleeping car passengers will be allowed to use it, and the food served will continue to be reheated “flexible” meals. As reported in the Rail Passengers Association’s weekly Hotline email, Amtrak senior leadership confirmed […]

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News photos: Restored N&W business car debuts

By | May 19, 2024
View of platform end of maroon passenger car

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. — The Norfolk & Western Business Car 300 Preservation Society unveiled the restored car on Saturday with an open house at repair and maintenance firm Professional Locomotive Services. Along with tours of the car — built in 1917 and modernized in 1955 — and displays of PLS equipment, visitors were treated to […]

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Metra launches rider survey to aid in long-term planning

By | May 19, 2024

CHICAGO — Metra has launched a rider survey to help shape its future scheduling and infrastructure plans to meet its goal of becoming a “regional rail” operation — one providing more service at all times rather than focusing on weekday commuter-rush trains. The commuter operator has already taken some steps to increase off-peak service, such […]

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Norfolk Southern donates depot to East Palestine

By | May 18, 2024
Image of single-story wood-sided train station

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Norfolk Southern on Thursday donated its station in East Palestine to the city, following up on a pledge made last year in the wake of the February derailment and chemical release in the community. The Times Leader newspaper reports that NS CEO Alan Shaw turned over the keys to the building […]

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Firefighter injured at Progress Rail plant in Florida

By | May 17, 2024
Fire truck outside building that shows burn damage

NAPLES, Fla. — One firefighter was injured in a fire at a Progress Rail facility in Naples early this morning (Friday, May 17). WFTX-TV reports 16 people were in the building at the time the fire broke out, but all evacuated safely. Twenty fire units and 41 firefighters responded to the incident  at a single-story […]

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Amtrak, CN reach agreement on track work for Adirondack route in Canada

By | May 17, 2024
Passenger train with red and blue locomotive with body of water in foreground and high-rise apartments behind

ALBANY, N.Y. — Amtrak and Canadian National Railway have reached agreement on track maintenance in Canada to avoid a repeat of the issues that sidelined Adirondack service last summer, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) announced today (Friday, May 17). Trackwork on the CN portion of the Adirondack route in Canada will be performed during the […]

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TSB report details runaway-car incident in CP Toronto Yard

By | May 17, 2024
Map of runaway-car incident at Canadian Pacific's Toronto Yard in 2022

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario — A Canadian Pacific crew applied an insufficient amount of force during a hand-brake test, and therefore did not set enough hand brakes to prevent a runaway-car incident at CP’s Toronto Yard, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada determined in its investigation into a March 13, 2022, incident. The board released its […]

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NTSB releases preliminary report on April BNSF derailment that closed I-40

By | May 17, 2024
Aerial view of derailment with burning tank cars

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the April 26 derailment of a BNSF Railway train near the Arizona-New Mexico state line — an incident that led to a breach of tank cars carrying propane and fire that closed Interstate 40. No one was injured in the incident. Interstate […]

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Communication error led to Union Pacific yard fatality, NTSB determines

By | May 16, 2024
Aerial view of two derailed freight cars

WASHINGTON — A communication breakdown over granting permission for a train movement into the yard, as well as regarding placement of a portable derail device, was the probable cause of the August 2022 fatality of a Union Pacific conductor at a yard in El Paso, Texas, the National Transportation Safety Board determined in its final […]

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