WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board is considering a request from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to expand its current investigation of Norfolk Southern safety practices to cover all Class I railroads, the Capitol Hill news site Roll Call reports. Schumer (D-N.Y.) made the request earlier this month in a letter to NTSB Chair […]
WASHINGTON — Matt Walsh will become board chairman of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, the organization announced Thursday, filling the position vacated by the departure of Stefan Loeb. Loeb, who had been executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Watco, has accepted a position with Norfolk Southern [see “Norfolk Southern names […]
CHICAGO — CEOS of four of the six Class I railroads are currently scheduled to appear at the annual meeting of the North America Rail Shippers, set for May 24-26 in Chicago. Katie Farmer of BNSF Railway, Joe Hinricks of CSX Transportation, Alan Shaw of Norfolk Southern Railway, and Lance Fritz of Union Pacific Railroad […]
NEW YORK — Former New York City Transit President Andy Byford will join Amtrak in a newly created role, senior vice president of high speed rail development programs. The new job, first reported by Streetsblog NYC, was announced in an Amtrak email to employees today (Thursday, March 23). He will join the company April 10. […]
Norfolk Southern and the SMART-TD union have ended negotiations over redeploying conductors to ground-based positions. The railroad and union instead will focus on implementing other immediate quality of life improvements, NS said today. “Over the next year, SMART-TD and Norfolk Southern have the opportunity to work together to implement important predictability improvements for our conductor […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has added two new marketing vice president positions for its intermodal and carload business segments. Yannik Thomas was named vice president of intermodal and automotive operations, while Stefan Loeb was named vice president of first and final mile markets. Both appointments are effective on April 2. “At Norfolk Southern, our goal […]
WASHINGTON – A federal agency has issued a safety advisory recommending that shippers and tank car owners stop using DOT-111 tank cars in the wake of the February derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio. “The safety advisory re-emphasizes concerns with the survivability of DOT-111 tank cars and encourages tank car owners […]
WASHINGTON — With intermodal traffic continuing to plummet, U.S. rail volume once again fell by the largest amount so far this year compared to the same week in 2022. Statistics from the Association of American Railroads for the week ending March 18 show overall traffic was 453,500 carloads and intermodal units, a 9.4% decrease from […]
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation has reached an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to provide paid sick level, the seventh such agreement it has reached with unions representing CSX workers. The railroad did not include terms of the agreement in its press release, but all prior agreements have included four days of […]
WASHINGTON — Senators put Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw in the hot seat today during a hearing on improving railroad safety in the wake of the toxic derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Shaw once again apologized for the East Palestine derailment, said the railroad is taking steps to improve safety, and will continue to support […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific announced today that it had reached agreement with eight unions on paid sick leave, bringing to nine the number of UP unions with such agreements. The agreements, effective April 1, cover the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers; Brotherhood of Railway Carmen; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; International […]
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A track subgrade consisting of soft, saturated peat with poor drainage likely led to a sudden failure of that subgrade, triggering a derailment of 53 cars of a Canadian Pacific grain train near Ignace, Ontario, in May 2020, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada indicated in an accident report released Tuesday. Operating […]
