MT. VERNON, Ill. — Merritt Becker is the new CEO of National Railway Equipment Co., the rail, marine, and power company has announced. Becker joins NRE from engine and power generation company Cummins Inc., where he has spent the last 12 years, effective June 1. He was most recently president and managing director of Cummins […]
WASHINGTON — After more than two years, the Surface Transportation Board is again accepting filings and other submissions in paper form. The board had limited filings to electronic form beginning in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying only the electronic filings would be accepted until further notice. While paper filings are now accepted, […]
WASHINGTON — The four largest U.S. Class I railroads have told federal regulators that their conductor training programs and hiring pipelines are full as they try to restore service to normal levels amid widespread crew shortages. The railroads’ service recovery plans, submitted to the Surface Transportation Board on Friday as required, outlined the steps BNSF […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National has hired a Montreal-based search firm to help find a French-speaking member for its board of directors, the railroad has announced. The announcement came as part of a Friday statement announcing the election of a new board chairwoman and 10 other board members. New board chairwoman Shauneen Bruder said the railroad […]
MONTREAL — VIA Rail Canada CEO Cynthia Garneau has resigned, Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra has announced. The resignation was announced and effective on Friday, May 20. “I would like to thank Ms. Garneau for her service,” Alghabra said in a statement, “and her work over the past three years in contributing to the modernization […]
WASHINGTON – The Class I railroads submitted their first batch of expanded performance metrics to federal regulators this week, including a snapshot of on-time performance data. The board on May 6 ordered the railroads to report the data beginning this week in response to shipper complaints and testimony delivered during two days of hearings last […]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — American coal prices in the aftermath of the coronavirus have reached unprecedented highs and world events are notching prices even higher [see “Russia-Ukraine war likely to bolster U.S. coal imports,” Trains News Wire, March 28, 2022]. While coal supply remains tight, continued favorable pricing may increase mining-company confidence to tap into reserves […]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Railroads measure key operating metrics through railcar velocities. Class I railroads gauge operating performance by how many miles a railcar travels in a day on its network, the average speed of regularly scheduled trains, and average terminal dwell times, among other metrics. It shares this data publicly with investors, shippers, and regulators. […]
MOBILE, Ala. — With the sound of shattering glass and a big splash of champagne, Genesee & Wyoming short line CG Railway on Wednesday christened one of its new rail ferries that can haul up to 135 freight cars across the Gulf of Mexico. Virginia Reeves, a 34-year G&W employee who works in corporate communications, […]
BOSTON — Canadian National is taking a back-to-basics approach under new CEO Tracy Robinson. The first order of business is to improve the railway’s velocity, which since last fall has generally been running below 2020 and 2021 levels when measured by the average number of miles cars travel per day. “As we bring the schedule […]
Rail labor leaders have given mixed reviews to a call from CSX Transportation CEO Jim Foote for railroads to mend fences with their unionized employees and negotiate new contracts, with the union officials saying the relationship with management is the worst it has been in decades. Foote has called for a change several times in […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has modified its controversial Hi-Viz train crew attendance policy in response to employee feedback, but officials at two unions say the changes fall far short of what is needed. The changes, which take effect June 1, were announced in a video released on Friday. BNSF launched the policy in […]
