As the recession takes its toll, an increased rail safety threat is emerging – the theft of rail spikes and tie plates from active railroad lines. In Woodbine, N.J., last week, police arrested four men suspected of stealing spikes and tie plates from five miles of New Jersey [...]
Train and engine employment continues to climb back toward pre-recession levels, with Class I railroads continuing to call back furloughed train crews. The Surface Transportation Board posted data for September, showing train and engine employment on Class I railroads grew al [...]
UTU Michigan State Legislative Director Jerry Gibson knows the value of the UTU PAC in electing labor friendly lawmakers. He knows how to share those facts, also. UTU Local 1075 Secretary-Treasurer John Purcell says he and other members of his Trenton, Mich., local had “no cl [...]
Union Pacific is at it again — and the UTU and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen intend to stop it, again. The “it” is a UP request to the Federal Railroad Administration that UP be allowed to bring trains from Mexico into the United State [...]
The Railroad Retirement Board has confirmed for rail workers what the Social Security Administration already has told Social Security recipients: There will be no increase in benefits in 2011. The reason is there was no increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the thir [...]
Norfolk Southern has launched a new advertising program that will debut on CNN and Fox television. It follows the announcement by Union Pacific last week of a new UP advertising effort to reach potential rail customers and rail investors. The NS ad, according to the railroad, [...]
WASHINGTON – U.S. Surface Transportation Board member Charles “Chip” Nottingham said he will not seek reappointment when his term expires Dec. 31. Under federal law, STB members may continue serving for up to 12 months after expiration of their term, or until a su [...]
Citing a series of on-duty career ending injuries and fatalities over the past 24 months that occurred on or near mainline track, the Federal Railroad Administration has issued a safety advisory on the importance of situational awareness, especially when the job being perform [...]
BNSF, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific have spent or are spending more than $600 million in Kansas, Pennsylvania and Illinois to increase their intermodal business. BNSF is constructing a $200 million intermodal terminal southwest of Kansas City in Edgerton, Kan., reports j [...]
WASHINGTON—State departments of transportation, which have long relied on gasoline and diesel fuel taxes to fund highways and transit programs, are asking Congress to replace the decades old pennies-per-gallon tax with a flat percentage tax, reports Dow Jones newswire. The ch [...]
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