The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on June 30 released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the new Railroad Crossing Elimination Program. More than $573 million in grant funds will be available in Fiscal Year 2022.
Transportation Trades Department (TTD), AFL-CIO President Greg Regan is urging a bipartisan group of lawmakers to support legislation reauthorizing the Surface Transportation Board (STB). His agenda: to clarify the railroads’ common carrier obligation and to provide “more effective mechanisms” for the STB to enforce it. Railway Age Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner weighs in.
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has appointed a new MTA Chief of Police. Also, OneRail Coalition announced winners of Canby Awards, STV welcomed new key leaders throughout Texas, and HDR
The quest for sustainability is reshaping the rail industry. We look at the directions of travel—the tracks that rail is on.
The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is requesting comments on its draft State Rail Plan, which provides an overview of freight rail networks in Kansas, commodity flows, economic data and information about
According to New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials, labor shortages and mismanagement at a Nebraska plant where Kawasaki railcars set to replace aging ones on New York City Transit’s subway and
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) honored on June 29 364 member railroads with the Jake Safety Award for above-industry-average safety performance during 2021. Of the recipients, 20 are
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) “has failed to respond to CN’s latest offer to resolve the ongoing strike, now in its 10th day,” the Class I railroad reported June 29, noting in a Twitter update that it is “maintaining normal rail operations across Canada.”
RT&S, a Railway Age sister publication, takes a closer look at the Mid-Coast Corridor Projects in San Diego, Calif. The endeavor was on this year’s RT&S Top Projects list.
Employees on Canadian Pacific’s Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern (DM&E) South; Central Maine & Quebec (CMQ) U.S. and Central Maine & Quebec Canada subsidiaries have ratified collective bargaining agreements.
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) announced on June 28 that it will be launching its statewide initiative, Zero Fare for Better Air. Also, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has announced
For the week ending June 25, 2022 (Week 25), U.S. rail traffic was 493,374 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.4% from the prior-year period, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported June 29. Class I railroads hauled 229,857 carloads, down 3.1%, and 263,517 containers and trailers, down 5.5%. Year-to-date, carloads were virtually flat (down 0.1%) and intermodal volume fell 3.5% compared with the same point last year.
The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), which operates the Tri-Rail commuter rail service that links Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, has hired David Dech as its new Executive Director,
Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is backing Virginia’s $4 billion initiative to improve passenger and freight rail capacity and relieve automotive traffic congestion with a nearly $195 million contribution.
Amtrak’s Southwest Chief train 4 traveling eastbound from Los Angeles to Chicago on June 27 derailed after striking a dump truck that was obstructing a public grade crossing in Missouri. Three train passengers and the truck driver died as a result of the accident; 150 people were taken to 10 area hospitals for treatment of injuries ranging “from minor to serious in nature,” the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy in a June 28 media briefing said the agency was focused on the grade crossing, the approach to the grade crossing and survivability after an accident.
Ronald Lee McDaniel, an iconic figure in the railroad and railway supply community, died June 23, 2022. He was 83.
I thought it was all over but the waiting: The beleaguered Texas Central high-speed rail (HSR) project, which would have sent fast trains between Dallas and the outskirts of Houston, was dead.
At Cowen and Company, we are adjusting our railroad estimates ahead of second-quarter 2022 earnings. Continued rail congestion is hindering volume (still below 2019 levels), while pricing is expected to be on par with first-quarter levels.
It is more than two years since the rail industry’s 12 labor unions and management (representing most Class I railroads and some smaller ones) commenced bargaining to amend contracts defining wages, benefits and work rules.
Recently, three filings with the Surface Transportation Board in opposition to the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger application came across the transom that strike me as odd. One is from a California Congresswoman. The second (multiple letters, actually) is from a Chicago region group called The Coalition to Stop CPKC. The third—and strangest—is from three Federal Maritime Commissioners.
It may be the “snooker” of this century, and there’s not much railroads can do about it so long as Democrats control both chambers of Congress.
