The Wyoming Legislature has long wrestled with the question of whether to mandate two-person crews on the freight trains that traverse Wyoming’s more than 1,800 miles of track. Now, the federal government may take action that resolves the issue — if the infrastructure package currently stalled in Congress passes. The two-person crew mandate was adopted […]
Canadian National’s prickly relationship with Amtrak could lead regulators to block its plan to acquire Kansas City Southern. By Brooke Sutherland for bloomberg.com Kansas City Southern investors are right to worry that the Biden administration’s tougher stance on antitrust enforcement may signal trouble for the company’s $34 billion plan to sell itself to Canadian National Railway Co. […]
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief for railwayage.com Effective Aug. 26, 2021, the Federal Railroad Administration is revising regulations governing changes to Positive Train Control (PTC) systems and reporting on PTC system performance. “Recognizing that the railroad industry intends to enhance FRA-certified PTC systems to continue improving rail safety and PTC technology’s reliability and operability […]
IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. recently sent a letter to U.S. House and Senate appropriators, urging them to reject a Biden administration budget proposal that would cut funding for U.S. Army ammunitions and threaten the jobs of IAM Local 778 members at the Olin-Winchester Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) in Independence, MO. Martinez urged Congress to […]
Written by Matt Parker for railwayage.com Editor’s Note: This opinion piece is in response to my invitation for “reasonable, fact-based, non-political opinions on Precision Scheduled Railroading by experienced railroaders from both the agreement and non-agreement sectors, to encourage discussion,” in response to “PSR Point/Counterpoint: Fortune,” published July 22 – William C. Vantuono An Oct. 3, 2018 article […]
By Edwin Lopez for supplychaindrive.com Dive Brief: The Surface Transportation Board on Friday sent a letter to the CEOs of seven Class I railroads asking them to explain their demurrage policies amid reports of congestion and “sizeable storage fees.” “I am particularly troubled about reports that Class I railroads are continuing to impose these charges […]
Struggle to bring crews back draws scrutiny from regulators, who were already concerned about lean operations By Paul Ziobro for wsj.com America’s freight railroads are struggling to bring back workers, contributing to a slowdown in the movement of chemicals, fertilizer and other products that threatens to disrupt factory operations and hinder a rebound from the […]
Freight rail doesn’t function without a strong workforce. BY PETER DEFAZIO for fortune.com In a commentary published in Fortuneearlier this month, Ike Brannon and Michael F. Gorman took great liberties in trying to debunk my concerns with precision scheduled railroading (PSR). Please allow me to set the record straight. I have served on the U.S. […]
Story published by reuters.com July 22 (Reuters) – Top U.S. railroad operator Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N) reported a 59% jump in its quarterly profit on Thursday, as it shipped more industrial chemicals, metals, petroleum, and liquefied petroleum gas. The company’s net income for the second quarter, that ended on June 30, rose to $1.798 billion from $1.13 […]
The number of shipments CSX delivered jumped in every category of freight compared to a year ago From the Associated Press CSX railroad’s second-quarter profit more than doubled as the economy continued to rebound from the depths of the coronavirus pandemic and it hauled 27% more freight than a year ago. The Jacksonville, Florida-based railroad said Wednesday that it earned $1.17 […]