New York MTA votes to pause congestion pricing, places $16.5 billion in projects on hold

Electric multiple-unit trainset approaches station. NYC commuters safe — for now: LIRR strike postponed.

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Wednesday acceded to the request of Gov. Kathy Hochul and voted to indefinitely halt the planned congestion pricing toll program for lower Manhattan, and to put $16.5 billion in transit projects on hold as a result. The move came a day after New York State Comptroller […]

Read More…

Weekly U.S. rail traffic remains ahead of 2023 levels

Weekly table showing U.S. carload rail traffic by commodity type, plus overall intermodal traffic

WASHINGTON — Weekly U.S. rail traffic remained up compared to 2023 according to the latest statistics from the Association of American Railroads, with intermodal traffic continuing to account for the overall growth. For the week ending June 22, total traffic was 485,557 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.6% compared to the corresponding week […]

Read More…

Little money for rail in 2024 RAISE grants (updated)

Blue, teal, and white diesel multiple-unit passenger train arrives at station platform

WASHINGTON — Rail projects received a miniscule amount of the $1.8 billion in 2024 Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grants announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Although 148 projects were awarded funding for construction or planning, most of the money was directed to street realignment to enhance safety for motorists, […]

Read More…

CSX unveils Georgia Railroad heritage locomotive

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX’s 16th heritage locomotive honors the Georgia Railroad. The unit, No. 1834, was released yesterday at the railroad’s paint shop in Waycross, Ga. “Here is our 16th CSX Heritage Locomotive – the Georgia Railroad #1834. Founded in 1833, the company was originally the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company and the banking side […]

Read More…

Railroads pledge to make additional safety improvements based on NTSB East Palestine findings

Workers and equipment around burned out tank cars

The 31 new safety recommendations that the National Transportation Safety Board made yesterday in response to Norfolk Southern’s hazardous materials wreck in East Palestine, Ohio, have prompted a flurry of responses from the rail industry, lawmakers, and union leaders. The Feb. 3, 2023, derailment was caused by the failure of a wheel bearing on a […]

Read More…

Concrete tie maker to open plant in North Las Vegas

Logo of PCM Railone AG

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A German manufacturer of concrete railroad ties will open a factory in North Las Vegas to help supply the Brightline West project, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. PCM Railone AG, which production facilities in 12 countries, specializes in track systems and concrete ties for projects that go 186 mph or […]

Read More…

Hydrogen trainset arrives in San Bernardino, Calif.

Passenger train next to ornate Spanish-style station at night

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — More than 20 months after it was unveiled in Berlin and nine months after its U.S. debut, the first Stadler hydrogen-fuel-cell powered FLIRT H2 trainset has arrived in San Bernardino, where it will operate on Southern California’s Arrow commuter rail line. The first-of-its-kind trainset arrived on June 21, after leaving Pueblo, […]

Read More…

NTSB chair rips Norfolk Southern’s ‘unprecedented and reprehensible’ response to derailment probe

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy sharply criticized Norfolk Southern today for the way it responded to the board’s investigation of the Feb. 3, 2023, hazardous materials derailment in East Palestine. NS stonewalled board requests for information, ran its own probe on the side in violation of NTSB rules, and […]

Read More…

NTSB issues 31 new recommendations in wake of East Palestine wreck

Black cloud of smoke above town

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – Norfolk Southern and its contractors should not have decided to vent and burn derailed tank cars carrying vinyl chloride three days after the Feb. 3, 2023, derailment in East Palestine, the National Transportation Safety Board said today (Tuesday, June 25). The five tank cars were among the 38 cars of train […]

Read More…

Supreme Court to review decision blocking Uinta Basin project

Map showing proposed rail route in Utah

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to review the appeals court ruling blocking construction of the Uinta Basin Railway, the Associated Press reports. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last year struck down Surface Transportation Board approval of the 88-mile rail project in a remote portion of eastern Utah. […]

Read More…

RailState shines spotlight on Union Pacific and BNSF train length in Southwest

yellow locomotive in front of mountains

QUINCY, Mass. – RailState, which tabulates rail traffic using a network of sensors placed on public property along main lines, last week provided a snapshot of long trains rolling along BNSF Railway and Union Pacific in the Southwest. The longest train RailState spotted over a 10-day period this month: A five-locomotive UP stack train carrying […]

Read More…

BNSF bridge on South Dakota-Iowa state line collapses

Woman standing in front of collapsed railroad bridge and flooding-swollen river

NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. —  A portion of a BNSF Railway bridge connecting North Sioux City, S.D., and Sioux City, Iowa, collapsed Sunday night, as heavy rains and flooding continue to take a toll on the area. “We have been monitoring the region through our increased track inspections and had not been operating over the […]

Read More…