FORT WORTH, Texas — There are plenty of barriers to be faced in equipping the U.S. freight car fleet with telematics, the use of GPS equipment and other sensors to provide real-time information about car location and all sorts of additional information. One is just getting all parties to agree on the benefits, and what […]
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The fatal collision and derailment of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief appears to have spurred action by officials in Missouri to address grade-crossing safety. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the Missouri Department of Transportation is seeking $50 million from the state’s general budget to address grade-crossing improvements. Currently, the state budgets about $1.5 […]
CHARLESTON, S.C. — South Carolina Ports has broken ground on a new near-dock rail facility, the Navy Base Intermodal Facility in North Charleston, to bolster the competitive position of the Port of Charleston. The facility is about a mile from the port’s Leatherman Terminal; containers will move to and from the terminal on a dedicated […]
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Hitachi Rail has released final designs for a $70 million factory to be built on a 41-acre site in Washington County, Md., which will begin operations by building a 256-car order for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The factory, projected to open in the first quarter of 2024, will employ up […]
WASHINGTON — Canadian National is challenging some conclusions federal regulators reached in their draft environmental review of the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. Chief among them: The assumption that the merged Canadian Pacific Kansas City would not increase fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. CN, in an Oct. 14 filing with the Surface Transportation […]
CUMBERLAND, Md. — Echoing off the walls of the Cumberland Narrows, a Pennsylvania Railroad three-chime passenger whistle symbolized a new preservation partnership between the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona, Pa., and the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. An evening dinner train to benefit restoration of the museum’s PRR Class K4s 4-6-2 engine No. 1361 (Juniata Shops, […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — On a sunny Thursday afternoon, officials from Canadian National Railway and Wabtec gathered outside Wabtec’s Fort Worth locomotive factory to celebrate the delivery of a brand new locomotive for Canadian National Railway. Or so it appeared. In fact, the officials were posing for photos with AC44C6M No. 3300, the first of […]
The National Park Service has closed portions of the tracks used by Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in Ohio due to significant erosion from the Cuyahoga River, the tourist railroad announced on Thursday. The closure will affect some of the CVSR’s excursion operations. For the weekend of Oct. 14, the Cleveland Dinner and Event Train will […]
David “Dave” A. Fink, who shaped New England railroading as president of Guilford Transportation Industries, died on Oct. 11 after a period of declining health. Fink, 86, began his railroad career as a clerk for the Pennsylvania Railroad and later worked for Penn Central. The fourth-generation railroader teamed up with Timothy Mellon to buy the […]
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Canadian government on Thursday announced a series of steps to streamline shipping regulations and improve use of digital information in Canada’s supply chain, moves Transport Minister Omar Alghabra described as “a first step toward addressing recommendations by the National Supply Chain task force.” The moves announced Thursday, backed by a government […]
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec Corp. has signed a five-year agreement with European equipment leasing firm Akiem to provide maintenance of critical components for Akiem locomotive fleets, the companies have announced. The agreement covers brake components, pantographs, and HVAC systems for Alstom-built Prima and Traxx locomotives in France and Germany, and aims to maximize equipment availability for […]
WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board has created a passenger rail office that will be responsible for investigating and analyzing Amtrak on-time performance on host railroads. The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 authorizes the STB to investigate the causes of substandard passenger rail on-time performance, to identify mitigating measures, and, under specified […]
