WASHINGTON — Train dispatchers today became the fourth union to ratify their contract agreement with the Class I railroads. The American Train Dispatchers Association, which represents 1,500 dispatchers, voted in favor of the deal by a 64%-36% margin, the union said in a statement. The agreement follows the recommendations of the Presidential Emergency Board, which […]
WASHINGTON – Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern will make their closing arguments for their merger on Thursday, the sixth and final day of Surface Transportation Board hearings on the first Class I railroad combination in two decades. CP and KCS also will rebut criticism and comments from other railroads, state and local officials, and […]
CHICAGO — GATX Corp. will purchase 15,000 new railcars, including at least 6,000 tank cars, from Trinity Industries subsidiary Trinity Rail in 2023 through 2028, with an option for an additional 500 in each of those years. Trinity’s announcement said the deal is valued at $1.8 billion. The agreement announced Monday calls for 1,200 tank […]
WASHINGTON – Surface Transportation Board members appear skeptical about CSX Transportation’s bid to force its way on to the Kansas City Southern-Norfolk Southern Meridian Speedway. The Meridian Speedway — which runs from Meridian, Miss., to Shreveport, La., — is the shortest, fastest route between the Southeast and Southwest. NS and KCS formed the Meridian Speedway […]
CHICAGO — U.S. Class I railroads continue hauling more chemicals than before, an area of growth even though higher interest rates are raising fears that the U.S. economy could begin contracting. Railroads’ diverse chemicals portfolio supports manufacturing, automotive, energy, and a hodgepodge of other industries, indicative that growth within this carload segment is generally a […]
BARSTOW, Calif. — BNSF Railway has announced plans for what it is calling the first master-planned rail facility built by a Class I railroad — costing more than $1.5 billion and including a rail yard, intermodal facility, and warehouses for transloading from international to domestic containers. The Barstow International Gateway, to be on the west […]
WASHINGTON – Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern executives say there’s plenty of capacity in Houston to handle the eight additional trains per day they’ll run through the busy terminal within three years after their merger. But Union Pacific and BNSF Railway told federal regulators, in testimony Thursday and Friday, that they have grave concerns […]
WASHINGTON – The three-day Surface Transportation Board hearing on the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger has ballooned to a six-day hearing. Testimony and questioning are taking longer than anticipated, STB Chairman Martin J. Oberman said at the start of the session this morning (Friday, Sept. 30) , which had been scheduled to be the […]
Railroads have what you could call a one-train problem. That is to say they offer but one daily departure from Point A to Point B. A case in point is Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian, which links New York City and Pittsburgh. Earlier this month I wanted to ride Amtrak to a rail shippers conference in the Steel […]
WASHINGTON — Canadian National, which lost the battle for Kansas City Southern to rival Canadian Pacific last year, tried to plant seeds of doubt about the CP-KCS merger in lengthy testimony before federal regulators on Thursday. CN was critical of the operating plan CP and KCS prepared, telling the Surface Transportation Board that it was […]
ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern is revising its managerial structure, creating a combined Transportation and Network Operations organization to be led by Paul B. Duncan. Duncan, who is being promoted to senior vice president, transportation and network operations, will lead a team responsible for designing network operations, executing network plans, and coordinating train movements, the railroad […]
WASHINGTON — A Federal Railroad Administration-sponsored study on the use of locomotive cab automation systems found human errors occurred in three of 10 sessions in a locomotive simulator, and recommends further training on the systems for engineers, conductors and dispatchers. The study, “Human Error Analyses Associated with Locomotive Cab Automation,” also calls for further study […]
