Tag: railroads

May 15, 2023

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Metro-North Railroad set post-pandemic ridership records on May 9. The LIRR carried approximately 221,290 riders while Metro-North carried approximately 205,069 riders. In February, LIRR ridership increased 41 percent, following the opening of Grand […]

April 28, 2023

Federal regulators are warning railroads that the long trains they favor can cause all kinds of problems and contribute to derailments, so they want the railroads to ensure their training and operating procedures account for that. The Federal Railroad Administration […]

February 10, 2023

Railroad unions and their allies ramped up calls this week urging the Class I railroads to adopt sick leave policies for rank-and-file employees, culminating with Sen. Bernie Sanders warning that railroad heads could come to Washington and face a Senate […]

February 9, 2023

President Joe Biden touted infrastructure projects underway that will rebuild roads and bridges vital to the country’s supply chain during his State of the Union address Feb. 7, with efforts to improve connectivity along freight and passenger corridors a key […]

December 15, 2022

Railroads and unions gave conflicting views during a hearing by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on a proposed rulemaking that would require freight trains generally to have at least two crew members in the locomotive cab. The agency is gathering […]

December 14, 2022

Railroad workers are continuing their demand for paid sick days. The Sheet Metal, Air, Rail Transportation Union, or SMART, held an informational picket near the rail yard on Rice’s Point on the afternoon of Dec. 13. It was one of […]

October 31, 2022

A coalition of 322 organizations that relies on the nation’s Class I freight railroads wrote a letter to President Joe Biden Oct. 27, urging the White House and administration officials to continue to seek a settlement in the increasingly bitter […]

September 6, 2022

California wildfires that closed down portions of the Union Pacific and BNSF train networks for days. Severe flooding in the Midwest that damaged tracks. The extreme cold temperatures of Texas in February 2021 that caused considerable service disruptions on the […]

August 17, 2022

The major freight railroads signaled they’re ready to negotiate a new deal with their workers based on a presidential report that calls for 24% raises, but the 12 unions involved in the stalled talks covering 115,000 workers still haven’t commented […]

July 27, 2021

June employment levels at the U.S. operations of the Class I railroads were roughly flat with May, growing 0.8% amid a 21% growth in U.S. rail volumes. Headcount at Class I U.S. rail operations totaled 115,931 employees in June, according […]

July 12, 2021

Defining what it means to provide rail shippers with robust competitive options could be the lens that the Surface Transportation Board uses as it responds to an order from President Joe Biden aimed at promoting competition within the freight railroad […]

January 29, 2021

Class I rail executives are hoping anticipated higher North American intermodal volumes will be a moneymaker for their companies in 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to spur high e-commerce levels, with consumer spending expected to remain elevated, executives said […]

November 30, 2017

The Class I railroads have rebounded in 2017, but volumes remain far below what they were decades ago, and if the industry hopes to return to its heyday, executives must re-examine how to offer 21st century solutions, according to a […]

March 1, 2017

Public-private partnerships for freight railroad infrastructure that are expected to significantly benefit the public should be implemented, the head of the Association of American Railroads said in a Feb. 28 letter to President Trump. “We pay so taxpayers do not, […]

October 13, 2016

Railroads lost cargo to trucks in the third quarter, adding to a yearlong slide in profits as demand tumbled for coal, oil and metals. Intermodal cargo, goods hauled in containers, fell a second consecutive quarter for the first time since […]