Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has determined that a draft key (“cross key”) failure caused the Jan. 26, 2021 derailment of a CN freight train near Edmundston, N.B. TSB said investigation report R21M0002 “draws attention to the importance of reassessing the design and inspection frequency of critical rail components, such as [draft] keys, based on changes in railway operating conditions.”
Canadian Pacific is once again partnering with the CHEO Foundation, a pediatric health care and research center in Ottawa, as primary charity partner for the 2022 CP Women’s Open, the goal of which is raising more than C$2.2 million in funding to fund vital diagnostic equipment.
Newly released data by the Railway Supply Institute (RSI) American Railway Car Institute Committee (ARCI) show a 50% increase in fourth-quarter 2021 freight railcar orders, compared to third-quarter 2021. The backlog increased 14%, while deliveries remained relatively flat.
Exo (officially known as Réseau de Transport Métropolitain, or RTM; English: Metropolitan Transportation Network), Montreal’s regional/commuter rail and bus system, has awarded Siemens Mobility a contract for 10 Charger diesel-electric locomotives.
The Surface Transportation Board on Jan. 28 issued a decision denying a request from the Association of American Railroads to extend the procedural schedule in Docket No. EP 711 (Sub-No. 1) et al., Reciprocal Switching; regarding the Board’s NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking) on reciprocal switching regulations. “All procedural dates remain unchanged, including those for the public hearing beginning on March 15, 2022,” STB said.
Siemens Mobility North America President and CEO Marc Buncher talks with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono about the 2022 North American rail market. What are the opportunities for the passenger rail
January 25, 2022, will be remembered as the day CN achieved, in hockey parlance, a hat trick (three successes of the same kind, especially consecutive ones within a limited period; i.e. a hockey player who scores three goals in the same game). The Class I appointed a new President and CEO—who spent nearly 30 years at rival Class I Canadian Pacific; entered into a “Resolution Agreement” with beneficial shareholder and 2021 antagonist hedge fund TCI; and posted fourth-quarter 2021 results it calls “outstanding.”
After 20 years of no changes to its attendance guidelines, BNSF, citing “today’s competitive freight environment,” plans on Feb. 1 to institute a new system called “Hi-Viz” it says is “designed to provide employees with real-time information and greater flexibility, so they can make informed decisions about their work schedules.” The two largest unions representing some 17,000 BNSF TYE (train and engine service) and Yardmaster employees, the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation union (SMART-TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), are—not unexpectedly—reacting negatively, calling the policy “the worst and most egregious attendance policy ever adopted by any rail carrier” and threatening a strike action, which the railroad filed suit to block.
Atlantic Track has promoted Paul “PJ” Schuler, MBS, to Vice President-Operations to manage the growth and development of its manufacturing operations.
Intramotev, a St. Louis, Mo.-based technology startup, has developed an autonomous freight car that can be used in standard railroad interchange service. The vehicle, called the TugVolt, is “currently focused on short-haul routes of 600 miles or less, and designed with standard couplers and air braking that allow it to be hauled in or haul a traditional consist in addition to independent operation,” according to company Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Timothy Luchini.