Merger-related traffic growth boosts CPKC’s revenue and profits

Freshly painted red and black diesels with gold trim and white letters

CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific Kansas City had a gangbuster second quarter as merger-related traffic synergies kicked in faster than expected and boosted revenue and profits, executives said on Tuesday. Although freight demand remains soft, CPKC has been able to create its own opportunities thanks to last year’s combination of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City […]

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A Canadian rail strike is likely in late August, CPKC CEO Keith Creel says

CP

CALGARY, Alberta – With labor negotiations at a standstill, a Canadian rail strike is likely to occur in late August, Canadian Pacific Kansas City CEO Keith Creel said today (Tuesday, July 30). CPKC and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference are still talking but remain far apart on a new contract, Creel said on the railway’s […]

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Justice Department sues Norfolk Southern over Amtrak delays

Passenger train approaches curve with freight train on adjacent track

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department is taking Norfolk Southern to court, alleging the railroad’s delays of Amtrak’s Crescent violate federal law. The civil complaint, filed today (July 30) in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges NS regularly fails to give the Crescent preference over freight trains as required by statute, leading […]

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CN operations bounce back after service resumes through Jasper, Alberta

Canadian National’s operations are returning to normal through Jasper, Alberta, where wildfires devastated part of the town and shut down rail traffic last week. CN resumed service on Friday, and by Sunday volume through Jasper had rebounded to nearly pre-fire levels, according to data from RailState, which monitors rail traffic using a network of sensors […]

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Why U.S. railroads are seeing intermodal growth through first half of 2024: Analysis

Container train in desert

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Most large U.S. railroads are handling more intermodal this year as geopolitical issues and domestic port labor talks weigh on how importers move containers. Each Class I railroad’s intermodal business, with the exception of Canadian Pacific Kansas City, is outperforming last year. BNSF Railway is leading the pack, up 394,000 units, or […]

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Overview: JD Vance and rail safety

Man in meeting with small group of people

Before Donald Trump chose Ohio’s JD Vance as his candidate for vice president, the U.S. Marine Corps veteran, lawyer, and author of “Hillbilly Elegy” gained the national spotlight as one of the authors of The Railway Safety Act of 2023. The bipartisan legislation — sponsored by six U.S. Senators, three Republicans and three Democrats —  […]

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Former Kansas City Southern CEO Ottensmeyer dies

Kansas City Southern CEO Patrick J. Ottensmeyer

Former Kansas City Southern CEO Patrick Ottensmeyer — who led the cross-border railroad through turmoil over free trade, the transition to a Precision Scheduled Railroad operating model, and its historic merger with Canadian Pacific — died July 26. He was 67. “Pat’s vision and leadership played a monumental role in the great history of Kansas […]

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Federal grant helps fund rebuilding of Texas branch line

Map detail of rail lines in eastern Texas.

HENDERSON, Texas — A $15 million project to rebuild a former Union Pacific branch line has been announced by the line’s owner, the Rusk County Rural Rail District, and the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority. The Henderson-Overton Branch, an approximately 15-mile line connecting its two namesake communities, has been owned by the district since […]

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Hang clipboards with hook and loop fasteners

A hand raises a clipboard hanging from a model railroad fascia

If you’re like me, you put a lot of work into your model railroad scenery, and the last thing you want to see is an operator putting his paperwork on the layout during an operating session. This situation was a concern for me, so I turned to hook and loop fasteners and piano hinges to […]

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Lawsuits challenge New York governor’s move to halt congestion pricing

NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is facing two lawsuits over her decision to block Manhattan’s congestion pricing, a move which created a $15 billion hole in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority budget and has forced the transit agency to delay a number of capital projects. The news site amNY.com reports one lawsuit has […]

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CN main line reopens through fire-ravaged Jasper, Alberta

MONTREAL — Canadian National reopened its main line through Jasper, Alberta, this morning and began moving a backlog of traffic that had built up this week while wildfires threatened and ultimately engulfed part of the resort town. “After inspecting its infrastructure on Thursday afternoon, CN collaborated with the Unified Incident Command center to revise and […]

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James E. Strates Shows carnival train scheduled for Aug. 1 trip to western New York fair

HAMBURG, N.Y. — The James E. Strates Shows carnival train, the last of its kind, is scheduled to run to the Erie County Fairgrounds south of Buffalo, N.Y., on Thursday, Aug. 1. The train, which has been sidelined since the pandemic, is currently en route to Buffalo, N.Y., in regular merchandise service on CSX. Once […]

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