Transportation News

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Railroad executive puzzled by police raid

Ed Burkhardt, chairman of the board of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, says he doesn’t know why police raided the company’s Quebec offices on Thursday, insisting that the company has been cooperating with police and federal authorites. “If they a [...]

Conductor alerts officials to fire at school

GALVA, Kansas — The crew of a passing freight train is getting the credit for spotting an overnight fire that damaged a middle school in central Kansas. Authorities believe lightning started the fire at Canton-Galva Middle School. Damage was confined to the gymnasium, where f [...]

Crashes traumatic for railroad employees

Crashes are traumatic for both victims and the railroad employees who witness the tragedies unfold. An average freight train has 100 cars and at least two engines, a total package weighing as much as 6,000 tons. Traveling at 55 mph, such a train takes at least a mile to come [...]

Around the UTU, June 2013

Local 202, Denver, Colo. The members of this local are asking for donations to assist the family of 40-year member John D. Velasquez, whose wife, Louise, is in need of liver and kidney transplants. She is suffering from non-alcoholic, fatty liver disease. “John was planning o [...]

Spain train derailment kills 78

At least 78 people have been killed in the passenger train derailment in northwestern Spain on July 24. More than 140 were hurt, 36 seriously, after all eight carriages of the Madrid to Ferrol train came off the tracks near Santiago de Compostela. Read the complete story at B [...]

UP plans to restore massive steam engine

CHEYENNE, Wyo.—Union Pacific Railroad says it will try to restore one of the largest steam locomotives ever built to operating condition. The railroad said July 23 it reached an agreement to acquire a “Big Boy” locomotive from the RailGiants Train Museum at the Lo [...]

Railroad tankers roll through Denver building

DENVER – A train of tanker cars rammed through the back of a building Tuesday morning in a Denver rail yard. The mishap unfolded about 7 a.m. July 24 near East 44th Avenue and Sherman Street. Read the complete story at The Denver Post.  

Class I railroads report 2nd quarter earnings

CSX Corporation announced July 16 second quarter net earnings of $535 million or $0.52 per share. For the second quarter of 2012, CSX earned $512 or $0.49 per share. According to these figures, CSX is up a profit of $23 million over last year’s earnings for the same qua [...]

Canada toughens train rules after disaster

Canadian transportation authorities banned one-man crews for trains with dangerous goods Tuesday, responding to calls for tougher regulations after an oil train derailment in Quebec killed 47 people. Transport Canada also said trains with dangerous goods will not be allowed t [...]

Canada bans one-man crews on hazmat trains

OTTAWA — Transport Canada July 23 announced an emergency directive pursuant to section 33 of the Railway Safety Act to increase rail safety, banning one-man crews on trains hauling one or more cars loaded with hazardous materials. Although the cause of the accident in Lac-Még [...]