North-American rail

Another week of unusually tough springtime weather, on top of a still-bad economy, left bulk railcar volume down 20.5 percent in the latest week for major U.S. railroads.

Although the Red River is subsiding in North Dakota so that railroads can start to dig out or mop up from heavy flooding, damage reports are still coming in.

It is a measure of how bad things are in the rail supply market that equipment builder Greenbrier spent much of its latest earnings announcement talking about ways it is guarding its cash position.

As he settles in as the new head of the Surface Transportation Board, the changes that Francis P. Mulvey brings may be more of emphasis than direction.

The new head of the Surface Transportation Board wants to fix some of the agency's creaky infrastructure.

Debt rating agency Standard & Poor’s took railroad operator Kansas City Southern off its CreditWatch list, after the company’s Mexican subsidiary privately sold $200 million in seven-y

BNSF is taking advantage of the slack in freight volume this year to cut time off its intermodal services but saying those improvements will outlast the downturn.

Canadian Pacific Railway temporarily shut down its line that connects the cities of Emerson and Winnipeg, after Red River flooding pushed out of North Dakota and across the Manitoba border into Canada

The Surface Transportation Board may be on a path toward big changes in the way it oversees railroad rates and service.

In many ways, cargo business on the West Coast can be as much about railroad operations as port operations.

Norfolk Southern Railway said its train system and industrial development work helped spur more than $2.2 billion in new shipper facilities or expansions last year.

Rep. James L.

Union Pacific Railroad plans to “hold firm” on pricing despite declining demand for rail freight transport, an investment analyst said in a report April 3 after meetings with UP management

Discussions among congressional staff, rail customers and railroads to craft new competition rules for that industry “are moving along nicely,” said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

Weather problems flattened traffic overall for the largest U.S. railroads in the week ending March 28, but even so some cargoes linked to economic demand picked up.

The union representing train engineers is flatly opposing a proposed law to strip the big freight rail lines of their limited antitrust immunity, and urging key lawmakers to meet with shippers and car

Partly to boost its cash levels, Canadian Pacific Railway said it plans to slash its joint ownership of the Detroit River Tunnel Partnership to just 16.5 percent from 50 percent now, while its pension

Canadian National Railway shifted four senior operations officials to new roles in running different parts of the railroad.

Canadian Pacific Railway is getting ready for the Red River flood to move north and possibly disrupt freight traffic there as it has in North Dakota.

It may be the oldest of the big U.S. freight lines, but Union Pacific Railroad this week pushed out an innovative Web site makeover that it says is part of a “brand refresh.”

Beginning May 1, MOL's Gator Guarantee will provide a service guarantee on the company's own vessel strings, the Pacific Southwest Express and Japan-American Shuttle.

The U.S.

When President Obama reached into the labor ranks to choose the next chief of the Federal Railroad Administration, he handed the job of top rail safety regulator to someone who has spent years pursuin

A key rail customers’ lobby group is urging Congress to sharply expand the size of the Surface Transportation Board, to give the agency the muscle to regulate freight railroads more forcefully a

President Obama formally tendered the nominations of Joseph C. Szabo as administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, and Linda A. Puchala to serve on the National Mediation Board.

Major freight railroads got another week of less-bad news, as the year-over-year carload decline was the mildest in the past four weeks.

The international president of the largest rail labor organization, the United Transportation Union, is calling for railroads and customers to settle their fight over rail industry regulation, and rea

Norfolk Southern Railway said Mark D. Manion will be chief operating officer of its parent corporation as of April 1, with the March 31 retirement of Stephen C.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, a major ratings agency for corporate debt, lowered its long-term corporate credit rating for Kansas City Southern to “B&r

Kansas City Southern is issuing more debt for its Mexican operations and may issue stock for its U.S.-based company, to boost liquidity as traffic and revenue fall.

The Port of Seattle is postponing the acquisition of the BNSF Eastside Rail Corridor because of the continuing difficulty of raising capital in the nation's bond markets.

Talks between railcar manufacturer Greenbrier and General Electric’s car leasing unit to curb or delay a huge order “are currently stalled,” said Greenbrier President and CEO William

A new short line railroad that will speed intermodal service in the New England-New York corridor will start rolling as early as May after winning approval from federal regulators.

A fight between railroads and chlorine shippers is turning caustic.

Cross-country intermodal partners BNSF Railway in the West and CSX Intermodal in the East recently expanded their container service to more Southeast cities.

The Greenbrier Hotel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections, and said it has a deal under which Marriott will buy the resort owned by railroad operator CSX Corp.

The U.S.

President Obama said he wants Joseph C. Szabo, the state legislative director in Illinois for the United Transportation Union, to head the Federal Railroad Administration.