WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration issued two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Dec. 19 which would allow railroads to change how they inspect track and train brake systems. Officials say the changes will “promote safety innovation and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens.” “It’s time to modernize existing regulations to permit methods of inspecting, testing, […]
TORONTO — The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference is suing Canadian Pacific, alleging that the railroad is forcing employees to work beyond their hours of service in violation of a 2018 arbitration order. Reuters News reported on Dec. 20 that earlier this year the Teamsters filed a lawsuit against CP in federal court and that the […]
WASHINGTON — Programs at the University of Illinois and Michigan Tech are the 2019 recipients of the National Rairload Construction and Maintenance Association’s Educational Grant Program. The Rail Transportation and Engineering Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign plans to use its grant funds for outreach and recruiting of grade K-12 students that demonstrate […]
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway reports it has returned to normal operation, catching up on the backlog created from an eight-day strike in Canada in November. The railroad cited performance indicators showing the railroad is within normal operational ranges. The Nov. 19-27 strike by members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference reduced the railroad to […]
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 14, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 520,589 carloads and intermodal units, down 8.5% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Dec. 14 were […]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state may sell a failed West Virginia intermodal hub, built for $32 million, for as little as $1 million — a prospect that drew objections Tuesday from legislators. The Heartland Intermodal Gateway in Prichard, W.Va., opened in December 2015 with the goal of handling 15,000 containers a year, the Charleston Gazette-Mail […]
WASHINGTON — The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association has announced its 2019 award winners, to be honored at the 2020 NRC convention in Coronado, Calif., Jan. 5-8. R.J. Corman received the Large Project of the Year award for its BNSF Napier Project dealing with midwestern flooding. Massman Construction Co. received the Small Project of […]
Canadian grain hoppers move through the Columbia Gorge in Oregon on Union Pacific in June 2018. In the wake of the recent Canadian National Railway strike, grain farmers in Canada want rail deliveries declared an essential service, which would bar employee strikes. TRAINS: David Lassen CALGARY — Nearly three weeks after a strike against Canadian […]
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 7, 2019. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 517,130 carloads and intermodal units, down 9.4% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending Dec. 7 were […]
WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads is calling on Congress to quickly pass a new North American trade agreement. On Tuesday, it was announced that House Democrats had reached an agreement with President Donald Trump to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the president’s replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement. AAR President and […]
WASHINGTON — While the federal government gathers input on a proposal to allow liquefied natural gas to be moved in tank cars, one company has gotten a special permit to do just that. On Dec. 5, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration granted a special permit to Energy Transport Solutions LLC to move LNG […]
NEW YORK CITY — The success of railroads in coming years will hinge on whether the industry can improve carload service enough to capture growth opportunities, transportation consultant Rodney Case told the RailTrends 2019 conference in November. “Carload is probably the step-child of the industry,” Case says, pointing to the way railroads have grown their […]
