Rail shippers largely welcome a reciprocal switching rule proposed last week by the Surface Transportation Board, but some wish it did more to incentivize rail competition.

Expanded service offerings, such as a reduction in transit time for the Falcon Premium intermodal service, should help support Union Pacific in the third and fourth quarters, UP leaders said at an investor conference this week.

Parallel Systems unveiled Tuesday another second-generation, battery-powered autonomous rail vehicle, which is slated for use in pilot projects both in the U.S. and abroad. Through this iteration of the autonomous […]

Union Pacific is asking the Federal Railroad Administration for more details on the safety defects that federal inspectors reportedly found during focused inspections this summer.

Canadian railway CN and Norfolk Southern are partnering to create a domestic intermodal service that will connect Canadian customers with markets in the U.S. Southeast.

Union Pacific plans to respond this week to concerns of Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose that the railroad is being cavalier in ensuring its locomotives are safe.

Mike Cory, CN’s former chief operating officer, will be CSX’s new COO.

The new service will provide a direct connection from the Port of Savannah to CSX’s intermodal terminal in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

After years of wrangling over the issue, the Surface Transportation Board has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on reciprocal switching that will seek to define the service parameters where a switching action could take place.

House Oversight Committee Republicans are accusing U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg of not acting on the DOT inspector general’s recommendations for improving aviation and rail safety.

Norfolk Southern and DrayNow will further develop technology for intermodal that provides real-time information on first- and last-mile movements.

Rail service for the 2023-2024 crop year in Canada is expected to be smooth — provided that weather conditions and unforeseen global events cooperate.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is temporarily suspending a 2020 rule that allows the transport of liquefied natural gas in specialized cryogenic tank cars.

A defect with the data storage system that Norfolk Southern uses may have caused NS’ primary and recovery data systems to become unresponsive, NS said Friday.

A decline in rail volumes has led Union Pacific to store locomotives — which in turn has led to furloughs of at least 94 employees, according to a union official.

Operations temporarily ceased in limited areas of CSX’s network as Hurricane Idalia swept through Florida and Georgia.

Jacksonville, Florida-based Gulf & Atlantic Railways is acquiring the Pioneer Valley Railroad in Massachusetts and operating the revamped Grenada Railroad.

The National Transportation Safety Board will focus on employee training methods and industry practices on clearance as it continues its investigation of an Aug. 6 conductor trainee fatality at a Maryland CSX rail yard.

The Florida Legislature is providing $30 million for two new ship-to-shore cranes that Jaxport says will let more cargo move efficiently through the Port of Jacksonville.

Australia-headquartered Martinus is making its first North American acquisition — Missouri-based Bottom Line Co., a railroad contractor specializing in rail infrastructure maintenance.

The Association of American Railroads says a federal program in which employees can anonymously report safety concerns has the potential for misuse.

An anticipated decrease in grain exports and increase in domestic biofuels production could change U.S. freight railroads’ capacity needs in the coming years.

STG Logistics will extend its reach in Canada by offering “port-to-door” services in six new markets in addition to the Toronto and Montreal markets that it already serves.

NOPB has completed the expansion of the France Road rail yard, which will expand the short-line railroad’s capacity to switch, interchange and store rail cars.

SMART-TD is telling freight train conductors and conductor trainees to take charge of their safety since the programs offered by railroads are lacking. This is following the recent deaths of two conductor trainees.

New York’s Port of Oswego on Lake Ontario has received a federal grant to upgrade port infrastructure and bolster export capacity.

Union Pacific is seeking to bring operations back to normal at two of its California subdivisions that were hit by Tropical Storm Hilary.

July volumes at the Port of Charleston and South Carolina Ports rose 12% from June and 3% year over year.

Environmental and financial concerns weighed in the U.S. appeals court decision to reject the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the construction of the Uinta Basin Railway.

Union Pacific’s Mojave and Yuma subdivisions are out of service due to high waters and mud over the tracks caused by Tropical Storm Hilary; electrical outages at some terminals are also impacting operations.

Rail volumes to and from the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert are returning to normal after the 13-day strike in July, although capacity to catch up on the backlog appears limited for now, according to RailState’s analysis of its data.

The Transportation Trades Department wants to know why the Class I railroads haven’t fully committed to a program that lets employees anonymously report safety concerns. The railroads say sticking points remain.

Leaders with Norfolk Southern and CSX described at an investor conference this week how their reach extends beyond the eastern U.S.

In a 3-2 vote, the Surface Transportation Board denied BNSF’s request to halt an order compelling the railway to ship 1 million more tons of Montana coal should it reach the capacity to do so.

Looming rail car retirements and high rates for rail car scrapping — not rail volumes — are driving the rail car market, according to the CEOs of rail car leasing companies and rail equipment manufacturers.

Two Genesee & Wyoming subsidiaries are seeking a permit from the Federal Railroad Administration to conduct a pilot project that would involve deploying Parallel Systems’ autonomous rail vehicle technology on limited portions of their networks in Georgia.

Container volumes in July rose sequentially by 17% but were down by 16% year over year at the Port of Savannah, the Georgia Ports Authority said Thursday.

After two recent deaths of conductor trainees, CSX is recalling about 350 people to their home terminals for additional training.

The Federal Railroad Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration separately released reports Wednesday on how Norfolk Southern can improve rail safety.

BNSF’s Sandpoint Junction project entailed the construction of a new bridge and the rehabilitation of an older bridge across Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho.

A policy think tank is urging lawmakers and regulators to carefully examine what economic and environmental outcomes could occur if the federal government decides to regulate the length of freight trains.

Second-quarter freight volumes fell 11% across BNSF’s segments for consumer, agricultural and industrial products and coal.

CSX’s chief operating officer, Jamie Boychuk, will be leaving the company, while the Rail Customer Coalition wants President Joe Biden to renominate Surface Transportation Board Chairman Marty Oberman and board member Patrick Fuchs to the board.

3i Infrastructure-backed Regional Rail is adding Clinton Terminal Railroad to its assets in North Carolina.

BNSF wants a court to throw out an order from the Surface Transportation Board that BNSF ship more export coal on behalf of Navajo Transitional Energy Co.

What will Union Pacific look like once incoming CEO Jim Vena assumes the role later this month? That’s the question industry stakeholders have been wondering.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way – Employes Division says BNSF is relying too much on contracted work and isn’t doing enough to grow its ranks of maintenance-of-way employees.

BNSF has reached a sick leave and work-rest agreement with BLET; CSX and SMART-TD have partnered to extend CSX’s conductor trainee program.

The National Transportation Safety Board says more frequent track inspections could have helped prevent a fatal September 2021 Amtrak derailment that was caused by “poor track conditions.”

CPKC eyes opportunities for intermodal and for beefed-up business in Mexico to help recoup higher costs and lost revenue in the second quarter.

CPKC released second-quarter earnings results as a merged company.

NS is seeking to improve network fluidity after the East Palestine train derailment, cut down on Ohio-related costs and match resources with market demand in the second half of 2023.

Revenue declines and a $416 million expense charge put pressure on Norfolk Southern’s second-quarter 2023 net profits.

New sick leave agreements and other deals will increase Union Pacific’s labor costs. Investors on UP’s second-quarter 2023 earnings call wanted to know by how much.

Consumer demand is putting pressure on intermodal and lumber volumes and that is weighing on how CN views the back half of this year.

Former Union Pacific and CN executive Jim Vena will be UP’s next CEO, while sustainability and strategy EVP Beth Whited has been promoted to president.

The Canadian wildfires and lower volumes for intermodal and crude oil put pressure on Canadian railway CN’s revenue for the second quarter of 2023.

A decline in loaded import volumes pulled the Georgia Ports Authority’s overall 2023 volumes lower.

The Federal Railroad Administration wants more data on train lengths so that the agency can better assess what impact, if any, longer trains might have on operations.

Figuring out how to encourage more shippers to switch from truck to rail is not something that can be done overnight, executives said during CSX’s second-quarter 2023 earnings call.

Volume and pricing gains for CSX’s merchandise segment weren’t enough to offset a decline in intermodal volumes and falling export coal benchmark prices, CSX said.

Sites in Arizona, Alabama and elsewhere are being prepared to host rail-served industrial facilities.

Data visibility tech providers IntelliTrans and Nexxiot have created a product designed to give bulk and break-bulk shippers information about a rail car’s whereabouts.

Torc Chief Strategy Officer Andrew Culhane chats with FreightWaves’ Thomas Wasson in this Enterprise Fleet Summit fireside chat about the strategies used to integrate new technologies.

Fiscal year 2023 volumes tracked more with 2021 volumes than with 2022, which had experienced an unprecedented cargo boom, according to South Carolina Ports.

Union Pacific will expand the utility role in Nebraska and Colorado and make it more responsive to train movements.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Rio Grande Foundation and others are urging senators to leave some items out of the rail safety bill before Congress.

Although international intermodal traffic has come to a halt at the Canadian West Coast ports since the start of the work stoppage on July 1, carload volumes for commodities such as coal and grain have grown, according to supply chain data visibility firm RailState.

The Surface Transportation Board will look into whether freight rail operations are affecting the on-time performance of Amtrak’s passenger rail service between New Orleans and Los Angeles.

Office furnishings manufacturer HNI Corp. strives to be attentive to drivers’ needs, which is why the Iowa-based company garnered a spot on FreightWaves’ annual list honoring shippers.

Union Pacific and the union representing train conductors have reached a sick leave agreement.

The Association of American Railroads is suing the state of Ohio over its new law on freight train crew sizes.

As the labor strike continues at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, Class I railroads are taking steps to ensure that their networks face minimal disruptions.

The rail industry has taken steps to prevent another Lac-Mégantic derailment, but more needs to be done, said the chair of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wants President Joe Biden to declare East Palestine a disaster area, while Norfolk Southern calls for rail car owners associated with the Feb. 3 derailment to help pay cleanup costs.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are looking at the idea of using the battery systems of battery-electric locomotives as a way to back up the U.S. power grid.

The Greenbrier Companies sees “steady production” as the rail equipment manufacturer prepares to close out its 2023 fiscal year.

The Reliable Rail Service Act would charge the Surface Transportation Board to provide more clarity on the freight railroads’ common carrier obligation.

Research and development initiatives in the freight rail industry should turn their focus on integrating systems that are typically siloed in railroad operations, sources tell FreightWaves.

Some families of victims of deadly railway accidents say railway police are torn between seeking the truth and protecting the company name. Railroads say safeguards are in place.

The Surface Transportation Board has ordered BNSF to meet the Navajo Transitional Energy Company’s request for more coal trains.

“There are qualified mechanical inspectors at all these points, and they were not allowed to inspect this car at any of those locations,” Jason Cox, of the Transportation Communications Union, testified at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing Friday.

Class I railroads CPKC and CSX are working together on developing CPKC’s conversion kits that can retrofit diesel locomotives into hydrogen locomotives.

A research note from investment firm Cowen predicts reciprocal switching will hurt U.S. Class I railroads financially.

The National Transportation Safety Board is holding a field hearing in East Palestine, Ohio, to garner more information on why the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train happened.

CPKC and Americold are collaborating on building a refrigerated service network for markets in the Midwest and Mexico.

BNSF is seeking a waiver from the Federal Railroad Administration to expand a brake health technology program, and the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen supports the effort.

The collaboration among Convoy, J.B. Hunt, Uber Freight and others to use technology to streamline scheduling at the dock level is proceeding as planned, according to company leaders at FreightWaves’ Future of Supply Chain conference in Cleveland.

The heads of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers want swift action on the rail safety bill that passed the Senate Commerce Committee last month.

The new regulations calling for zero-emissions configurations by as early as 2030 are too lofty in part because technologies are not yet commercially viable.

Colonial Terminals plans to expand its breakbulk operations along the Savannah River in Georgia. The company recently acquired land that’s adjacent to its current facility and to Norfolk Southern’s network.

Three groups representing state and local governments have asked Senate leaders to move forward with debate on the rail safety bill.

Calls to remove Surface Transportation Board Chairman Marty Oberman are misguided in light of regulatory efforts that Oberman and the current board have undertaken, labor groups tell President Joe Biden.

The Association of American Railroads has outlined eight ways that the freight rail industry and the federal government can work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Passenger rail advocates call for swift action to resolve Amtrak’s substandard on-time performance for its Sunset Limited service. But freight rail supporters say better data is needed to assess what the problems are.

CPKC seeks to extend or make permanent a waiver that allows the railway to dispatch trains for three locations at its Calgary office.

The Federal Railroad Administration is planning to expand its assessment of safety culture to include all of the Class I railroads, the agency’s head said recently.

A federal court in Canada sided with union members and determined that Canadian Pacific had failed to adequately limit the number of hours that train crews worked in a number of instances in 2018 and 2019.

Canadian railway CN is monitoring wildfires across several provinces and is adjusting operations as needed.

Iron Senergy will use three autonomous rail cars manufactured by Intramotev on a 17-mile line between its Cumberland mine and a western Pennsylvania facility.