Rail News

Shipments of rail-truck intermodal cargoes across the United States and Canada are showing more signs of life, but are swamped by continued sharp declines for international shipments that are mainly o

In offering to sell $300 million in stock and become a public company again for the first time in over two years, short line holding company RailAmerica said it is making money despite a sharp drop in

Daniel R. Elliott is expected to take his oath this week to join the three-person Surface Transportation Board and become its chairman, industry and Washington sources said.

The Mississippi Export Railroad will use its $740,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture loan to add a 40,000-square-foot bulk storage warehouse to its Moss Point facility.

Canadian National Railway is still grappling with mechanical breakdowns and operational snags on its short line tracks outside Chicago, as it tries to sort out the problems causing its trains to block

2009 hasn’t worked OUT quite like Walter Schulze-Freyberg envisioned.

Sen.

Union Pacific Railroad will pay civil penalties of $800,000 and is restoring some Nevada stream areas at an estimated cost of $31 million, the Department of Justice said, to settle alleged Clean Water

Eastern-U.S.

The Senate approved Daniel R. Elliott to lead the Surface Transportation Board, Susan L.

North American short lines surveyed for the RMI RailConnect index had their strongest traffic week in more than four months, in the week ending Aug. 1.

Operation Lifesaver’s public awareness campaigns will get $1.015 million from the federal government, to help reduce the hundreds of deaths yearly from automobile drivers and pedestrians getting

A traffic recovery for large U.S. railroads picked up steam in the week ending Aug. 1, adding to signs that freight demand may be on a sustained climb from recession lows.

Canadian Pacific Railway will shed ownership but not its offices in the historic Windsor Station building in Montreal, selling it and some other real estate for $80 million to Cadillac Fairview.

The head of the United Transportation Union sent a quick apology to key senators after members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee erupted in anger over a union claim of influ

American Railcar Industries profit fell 82 percent to $1.1 million in the second quarter amid worries that one of its biggest customers, CIT, may seek bankruptcy protection.

Intermodal shipping firm Pacer International lost $7.3 million in the April-June quarter, down from a $22.9 million profit a year earlier, as revenue fell 27 percent to $377 million.

An angry flare-up over a union influence claim led the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to both approve Daniel R.

A key Senate committee approved the president’s nominees for senior jobs at the Department of Transportation, to lead the Surface Transportation Board and fill a slot at the National Transportat

Many rail freight shippers are captive to a single carrier and it is “very rare” to have two lines serving them, said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.

Talks to craft legislation that would revamp federal oversight of railroad-shipper disputes “continue to move forward but we’re not there yet,” said Sen. John Thune, S.D.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller said proposed rail reform legislation may not emerge in the few days remaining before the Senate starts a planned month-long recess on Aug.

Kansas City Southern bolstered its withered cash resources by completing a planned issue of $75 million worth of new common stock.

Defects in railroad tracks were the leading cause of train accidents in the first five months of 2009, says a Federal Railroad Administration report.

Short line railroads tracked by the RMI RailConnect index hauled more than 90,000 cargo units in the week ending July 25, for the first time in more than a month as carriers saw moderate but steady ga

As complaints mount about the slow pace of the federal stimulus program, planners of a truck staging ramp for shippers in St. Joseph, Mo., have just the opposite problem.

In 2007, when the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were experiencing robust growth, executives at the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority suggested collection of the rail corridor’s user fees

At this point in the recession, with rail employment at the lowest levels of the decade and traffic stuck in a stubbornly low range, even hefty profits don’t inspire rail executives to see good times

Kansas City Southern named David R. Ebbrecht senior vice president operations for Kansas City Southern de Mexico.

Rail traffic strengthened again for large U.S.

Kansas City Southern, the smallest of North America’s major rail lines, earned $6.7 million in the April-June period, down 87 percent from the same point in 2008 but up from a $7.5 million loss

Canadian Pacific Railway had a 1.7 percent gain in second quarter net income to $145 million by selling part of its share in the Detroit River Tunnel Partnership, but saw hefty declines in freight rev

Port Metro Vancouver is putting off any possible legal action against Canadian National Railway until it receives a promised report of how many containers CN will need to resume rail instead of truck

Sen.

Eastern-U.S. carrier Norfolk Southern Railway saw its profit plunge 45 percent from a year earlier in the April-June quarter to $245 million, as revenue fell 33 percent to $1.9 billion.

Rail equipment maker FreightCar America said it expects to report sales of $104 million for the second quarter, down sharply from $141 million in the same quarter in 2008 but a strong improvement from

Rail equipment supplier FreightCar America said it has been overstating its accounts payable, and will end up restating past financing reports and raising its profit levels since fourth-quarter 2007.<

Intermodal and logistics firm Pacer International, in a sharp change in some of its transport operations as it struggles with steep losses, will sell its heavy-haul Pacer Transport trucking business t

Union Pacific Railroad will have to grant rate relief and pay reparations to a captive Oklahoma utility, in amounts the Surface Transportation Board said could reach $100 million over 10 years, as the