Author: Douglas John Bowen

Key Brooklyn subway stop nears reopening

MTA New York City Transit will reopen its Smith-Ninth Street subway stop in Brooklyn Friday morning, April 26, following almost two years of repair work and nearly one year past its initial expected reopening.

Two GO Transit routes to go more often

Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area’s GO Transit said Friday it would offer headways of 30 minutes throughout weekdays, and add more weekend service, on its Lakeshore East and Lakeshore West routes. Current headways average every hour on both route, though rush-hour service is more fequent.

STB: CHSRA falls under our purview

The Surface Transportation Board late Thursday said it “has jurisdiction over the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s proposed construction of the California High-Speed Train System, including the approximately 65-mile section that it proposes to construct between Merced, California, and Fresno, California.”

KCS sets record 1Q revenue; earnings beat Street

Kansas City Southern early Friday reported first-quarter revenue of $553 million, up 1% from the comparable quarter in 2012 and a record. Net income was $94 million, or 94 cents per diluted share, up 25% compared with $75 million, or 68 cents per diluted share, in the comparable 2012 quarter, and beating Wall Street consensus estimates by three cents.

UP 1Q earnings beat Street

Union Pacific Thursday reported net income of $957 million, or $2.03 per share, in the first quarter of 2013, up from $863 million, or $1.79 a share, in the first quarter of 2012. The results also beat Wall Street consensus earnings estimates of $1.95 a share.

U.S. freight traffic resumes mixed pattern

U.S. freight carload traffic fell, and U.S. intermodal volume increased during the week ending April 13, 2013, the Association of American Railroads reported Thursday, as overall U.S. traffic resumed a predominant trend.

LIRR’s Cannonball moving to Penn Station

New York media late Wednesday marveled over the planned return this summer of the sole “name” train on the Long Island Rail Road: The Cannnonball. More relevant to potential passengers is the venerable train’s reassigned western origin point: New York-Penn Station.

CSX touts record 1Q earnings

CSX Corp. late Tuesday said it notched earnings of $459 million, or 45 cents per share, in the first quarter, up from $449 million, or 43 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2012, on revenue of about $2.96 billion, almost identical to that of a year ago.

Tank cars drive 1Q railcar market

Figures released Wednesday by the Railway Supply Institute’s American Railway Car Institute (ARCI) Committee show 23,901 cars were ordered in the first quarter of 2013, while 11,952 cars were delivered, with a backlog of 71,704 cars, all up from the fourth quarter of 2012.