CPKC says union for Canadian crews misrepresents negotiations

CPKC logo

CALGARY — The union representing engineers, conductors and yard workers has “chosen to grossly misrepresent the facts” and “distorted the truth,” Canadian Pacific Kansas City said late Monday in a response to statements by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference regarding contract negotiations, saying the railroad has “offered two options for renewed contracts that provide benefits […]

Read More…

Activist investor seeks to install former UPS president to run Norfolk Southern (updated)

Head shot of man in sit

CLEVELAND — Activist investor Ancora Holdings Group, which seeks to oust current Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, would replace him with former United Parcel Service President Jim Barber Jr., the investment group said today in announcing its slate of eight candidates for the company’s board of directors. Jamie Boychuk, former CSX executive vice president of […]

Read More…

Ukraine’s railways enter third year of war (updated)

Fire-damaged passenger cars in yard

Ukraine and its rail network will enter the third year of full-scale war this Saturday, Feb, 24, following the Russian invasion of the country in 2022. While the front line in the country’s east has barely moved in a year, the role of the railways has evolved. The immediate urgency of evacuating civilians has passed, […]

Read More…

Teamsters Canada Rail Conference claims CN, CPKC seek work stoppage

Teamsters_Canada_logo

MONTREAL — The president of Teamsters Canada claims Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City are seeking a work stoppage in an effort to eliminate rest provisions for workers, the union said in a press release today (Monday, Feb. 19). The release is the union’s response to separate moves by CN and CPKC on Friday to […]

Read More…

FRA releases long-distance study interim report, invites comments

Map showing 15 proposed new Amtrak long-distance routes

WASHINGTON — Fifteen new or revived long-distance routes are presented in a new Federal Railroad Administration presentation to accompany the next round of meetings for its ongoing Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study. The 163-page PowerPoint presentation was issued prior to the third round of six regional workshops for stakeholders including Amtrak and state transportation officials, […]

Read More…

New York MTA halts new contracts for capital projects

Workers in subway tunnel

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has halted the awarding of new contracts for capital programs of uncertainty over the planned congestion pricing program, a daytime toll program intended to discourage driving by charging $15 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street. The program is intended to start this year, and will help fund MTA […]

Read More…

Mobile disputes suggestion it is responsible for Gulf Coast delays

aerial view of land along railroad tracks near water

MOBILE, Ala. — The city of Mobile has taken umbrage at the idea that it is preventing the launch of Amtrak Gulf Coast service, as was suggested in last week’s Surface Transportation Board hearing on delays in launching that service. The lack of a lease between Amtrak and the city for land needed for a […]

Read More…

Steam operation ends in China

Plume of smoke from steam locomotive illuminated by sparks at night

Steam locomotives dropped their fires for last time in everyday use in China in mid-January with the end of operations at a coal mine in Xinjiang Province, ending three decades during which the country became famous with railfans worldwide as the last refuge of steam operation. New steam locomotives were still being built in the […]

Read More…

SEPTA receives $317 million grant for new railcars

Stainless steel trainset arrives at station

PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennyslvania Transportation Authority has received a $317 million federal grant to replace the railcar fleet on its Market-Frankford Line, which will help fund an $800 million order for 200 new cars, the news site Philly Voice reports. On Friday, members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, led by U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and […]

Read More…

CN, CPKC seek involvement of Canadian government in negotiations with Teamsters Canada Rail Conference

Teamsters_Canada_logo

Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City have both filed Notices of Dispute with Canada’s Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the railroads announced today (Friday, Feb. 16) in separate press releases. The filings request appointment of a Federal Conciliation Officer to assist in reaching agreements with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. CN, in its […]

Read More…

Six EMD locomotives no one wanted

Yellow-and-black centercab GMDH1 diesel-hydraulic locomotives outside factory

EMD may be the most famous locomotive manufacturer in the history of railroading. Despite that success, there are models in the the EMD history books which arrived to little fanfare and few orders. The following are six notable examples of EMD locomotives that, for one reason or another, no one wanted. EMD Model 40 The […]

Read More…

Amtrak should bail out on proposed Gulf Coast service: Analysis

Nearly three years after Amtrak said it would launch Gulf Coast service with or without host railroad cooperation, its passenger trains still are not running between Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans. And as the saga drags on you have to wonder if they ever will. After years of frustration with CSX, Amtrak in 2021 took […]

Read More…