Rail News

With a sweeping new surface transportation plan in his 2012 budget proposal, President Obama is setting out the ambitious multiyear vision much of the transportation world had been awaiting from the W

North American railcar owners scrapped a net 3 to 4 percent of cars they operated or held in storage during the recession, sending about 57,000 aging units to recyclers since they began drawing down t

FreightCar America narrowed its fourth-quarter net loss to $3.5 million from a $5.5 million loss in the 2009 period and said orders to build new cars are starting to grow.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe named Raymond B. Greer the first president of its subsidiary BNSF Logistics, effective Feb. 15.

The Surface Transportation Board wants to make it cheaper for frustrated rail shippers to file formal complaints over rates and service, which could increase the number of cases customers initiate aga

What do a crushed stone supplier in Texas, automobile producers across the U.S. and the Washington state potato industry have in common?

Even before regulators consider bringing various “exempt” rail shippers under federal processes that allow them to file rate and service complaints against railroads, the Department of Tra

Rail carload traffic increased 27 percent in January at short line and regional railroad operator Genesee & Wyoming, rising to 82,735 carloads.

The Federal Rail Administration approved an $83.7 million loan for the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority that should delay until late 2012 the need for assistance from the ports of Los Angeles

Intermodal provider Pacer International eked out a $900,000 net profit in 2010, compared with a $174.8 million loss in 2009. Revenue dropped 4.5 percent to $1.5 billion in 2010.

What is being billed as a “common sense” bill to reduce regulatory burdens would remove a congressionally-imposed December 2015 deadline for railroads to deploy positive train control technology on ro

The widening of the Panama Canal in 2014 could establish South Florida as a gateway for Asia cargo moving to the Southeast, said James Hertwig, president and CEO of Florida East Coast Railway.

U.S.

If anyone thought President Obama would tuck his embattled intercity passenger rail program into a bureaucratic corner and see it dry up, the president has a far different message.

For everyone from truckers to railroads to port operators who wondered when Washington might finally decide to craft new long-term surface transportation legislation, President Obama and the new Congr

Let the legislative games begin: Even before federal rail regulators start what is likely to be a long, hard slog to tighten oversight of railroads, all sides are maneuvering to control the debate in

The Surface Transportation Board is delaying until June 22 from May 3 a public hearing on "the current state of competition in the railroad industry," acting on

The railroad industry is asking the Surface Transportation Board to put off its scheduled May 3 hearing on whether regulators should order freight railroads to give their shippers greater access to co

Chicago, the continent's biggest rail hub area and host to numerous intermodal terminals, was just starting on Feb.

The Montreal Port Authority and the two companies that operate the port's three key container terminals on Thursday announced two level-of-service agreements that are intended to produce supply chain

The Department of Transportation has sent the Surface Transportation Board a strong endorsement of intermodal service at major railroads, appearing to weigh in against a possible expansion of STB regu

Major freight carriers are warning customers to expect service delays and shipment rerouting this week across a broad swath of the U.S.

Caterpillar-owned locomotive builder Electro-Motive Diesel locked in orders to sell 44 freight power units to Ferrocarril Mexicano, and five more to Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway.

It’s not quite 2008 again, but heads up: After two years of relative stability, transportation fuel prices are creeping back up, raising costs across the supply chain and concerns that the heavi

When Union Pacific executives consider how to build on big 2010 gains, they increasingly talk about the “value proposition” North America’s biggest freight railroad offers shippers.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica and several other key members of that panel from both political parties are warning the Surface Transportation Board against taking

A solid 19 percent revenue gain in its principal intermodal business and a 38 percent leap for its logistics unit helped push Hub Group's fourth quarter profit up 26 percent from a year earlier to $13

Key senators who tried to push rail regulatory legislation in the last Congress re-introduced those measures this week, with one trying to toughen broad oversight powers while the other would strip ra

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica took Amtrak to task in a field hearing Thursday in New York City, saying the passenger rail agency "will never be capable

A strong surge in intermodal traffic pushed Kansas City Southern’s net profit up 60 percent to $52 million in the fourth quarter, extending a strong string of profit reports from North American

Congressional leaders are moving a new six-year surface transportation bill higher on their priority lists after President Obama’s call for infrastructure investment in his State of the Union ad

Canadian Pacific Railway’s fourth quarter net income spiked 27 percent from a year earlier to $187 million (C$186 million), outpacing a 13 percent rise in revenue to $1.3 billion.

Transportation trade groups are praising President Obama's call to rebuild the nation’s efforts infrastructure but some members of Congress say the administration will have to put more details b

Norfolk Southern earned a net profit of $402 million in the fourth quarter, a 31 percent gain compared with a year earlier, as revenue grew 14 percent to $2.4 billion, the railroad said Tuesday.

The seven largest freight railroads trimmed 642 positions from their combined U.S.

Canadian National Railway saw its fourth quarter operating income rise 18.5 percent from a year earlier to $774 million while revenue rose 12.5 percent to $2.1 billion.

CSX Transportation’s net profit rose 42 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier to $430 million, with a revenue gain of 21 percent to $2.82 billion, the railroad announced Monday.

Canadian National Railway and the Canadian Auto Workers union reached a tentative contract agreement early Jan. 24 that heads off a potential strike that was less than a day away.

When supply chain logisticians explain why the Pacific Northwest is a key option in their four-corners strategy in North America, they sum up their argument in two words: intermodal rail.

For railroads and shippers monitoring the Surface Transportation Board’s heavy slate this year, add this to your watch list: The board is likely to have a new look.