You know it’s been a big news year when the first merger of Class I railroads in more than two decades — and likely the last — is judged the No. 3 story of 2023. In a typical year, Canadian Pacific’s $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern would have topped the headlines. The Surface […]
CHICAGO — Martin J. Oberman isn’t ready to retire just yet. That much was clear from his impassioned talk at a recent Northwestern University Transportation Center gathering. Sharing the bill with the group’s annual holiday luncheon keynote speaker, veteran transportation analyst Anthony B. Hatch, the Surface Transportation Board chairman announced his decision in November to […]
WASHINGTON — Amtrak touted across-the-board gains compared with 2022 in each of its three business units in its recap of results for fiscal 2023. But less equipment available for long-distance trains triggered near constant sellouts on portions of those routes throughout the year. As a result, ridership and revenue growth for the inter-regional segment was […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. rail traffic continued its year-end surge, with traffic for the week ending Dec. 23 up 24.2% over the same week in 2022. According to statistics from the Association of American Railroads, traffic for the week was 486,787 carloads and intermodal units. That included 230,946 carloads, up 23.7%, and 255,841 containers and trailers, […]
Canadian National, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, and Union Pacific have been named to the World and North America Dow Jones Sustainability indices released earlier this month, while CSX is on the North America list. For CN, it was the 12th consecutive year on the world list and 15th on the North America list. CPKC’s inclusion […]
Infrastructure is the shared theme of our stories in the tie at No. 6 — be it a single huge project in the form of New York’s Grand Central Madison, or general infrastructure spending across the country. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed in November 2021, promised almost $400 billion for projects around the country, and […]
NEW YORK — The process of creating a new Long Island Rail Road terminal beneath Grand Central Terminal was long, arduous, and far more expensive than intended. For all of that, the opening of Grand Central Madison remains transformational — both for the day-to-day commuters that were the intended beneficiaries of the project from the […]
WILMERDING, Pa. — Wabtec Corp. will close its plant in Wilmerding in 2024, with layoffs beginning in February or March, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The plant is expected to close by July 1. The website Tube City Almanac reports the 13.1-acre facility was sold earlier this month to Wilmerding Warehouse LLC of Zelienople, Pa., for […]
WASHINGTON — Second-guessing Amtrak management’s compensation and lack of investment outside the Northeast Corridor became a spectator sport for Congress in 2023. But lawmakers’ inaction in advancing new Amtrak board of directors nominees has contributed to the status quo over which they and their constituents express concern. Lack of capacity to accommodate surging post-COVID-19 ridership […]
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — At least three locations — including competing proposals in Fort Pierce — have applied to become home of Brightline’s planned intermediate “Treasure Coast” station on its route between West Palm Beach and Orlando, the TC Palm newspaper reports. Brightline announced in October that it was accepting proposals for a new station […]
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Completion of work to relocate rail routes through Springfield, as well as building of a new transit center to be used by Amtrak, will be pushed back after the project did not receive any federal funding in 2023, the State Journal-Register reports. The U.S. Department of Transportation turned down a $138 million […]
CALGARY — The CPKC Holiday train raised a record C$1.8 milion and collected more than 160,000 pounds of food for local food banks during four weeks of travel across the United States and Canada, the railroad has announced. The Holiday Train program, which has completed its 25th year, raised more than $24.3 million and collected […]
