Author: William C. Vantuono

With Railway Age since 1992, William C. Vantuono has broadened and deepened the magazine's coverage of the technological revolution that is so swiftly changing the industry. He has also strengthened Railway Age’s leadership position in industry affairs with the conferences he conducts, among them Next-Generation Train Control, Light Rail, and Rail Insights. He is the author or co-author or editor of several books, among them All About Railroading; John Armstrong’s The Railroad: What It Is, What It Does; Railway Age’s Comprehensive Railroad Dictionary; and Planning, Engineering, and Operating Light Rail, With Applications in New Jersey.
  • News

KCS, CP, GATX, Rotary, NASCO Team for a ‘Butterfly Effect’ (Updated)

Here’s something probably not too many rail industry people know: The migration path of the Monarch Butterfly, recently declared an endangered species, closely follows the alignment of the combined north-south Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern networks, which (pending merger approval by the Surface Transportation Board) will in early 2023 merge to form CPKC (Canadian Pacific Kansas City), North America’s first transnational freight railroad.

CN ’22-’23 Grain Plan: ‘We Are Ready’

Since 2018, the Canadian government, through changes in the Canadian Transportation Modernization Act, has required Canada’s railroads to publish Grain Plans for the forthcoming crop year. Grain is crucial to Canada’s economy; as such, its transportation is heavily regulated—much more so than in the U.S. CN has just published its 2022-2023 Grain Plan, which “describes CN’s preparations for moving a western Canadian grain crop that is expected to rebound from last year’s drought-impacted levels,” the railroad said.

EBT Debuting ‘New’ Passenger Cars

Amtrak’s new Alstom-built Acela II high-speed trainsets, built to operate at speeds up to 160 mph on the Boston-New York-Washington D.C. Northeast Corridor, “will not beat out the first of four new

Commentary

‘DDKN’ the ‘Textbook Definition of NIMBY’

A perhaps little-known bit of railroad trivia is that, according to a reliable industry source, Illinois Senator and Majority Whip Dick Durbin held the late E. Hunter Harrison in extreme contempt (that’s a polite way of saying “hated”), and the feeling was mutual.

Trinity 2Q22: ‘Improvement and Momentum’

Trinity Industries on July 27 reported second-quarter 2022 GAAP and adjusted earnings that “reflect improvement and momentum and reinforce our optimism for the back half of the year,” according to President and CEO Jean Savage.

  • News

FRA Issues Crew Size NPRM; AAR Calls it ‘Politics Over Sound Safety Policy’

The Federal Railroad Administration on July 27 issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on train crew size that basically mandates a minimum of two people in the locomotive cab, with limited exceptions. The Association of American Railroads, echoing many industry observers, is calling the potential rule a politically motivated move with “a complete absence of safety justification.” The NPRM (downloadable below) also applies to most passenger trains that come under FRA jurisdiction.

  • News

‘DDNQ’ Illinois Dems Push Bose for URR&DCE

Four Illinois Democratic members of Congress—Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, and Reps. Marie Newman and Mike Quigley—collectively tagged as “DDNQ,” are lobbying Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose to locate the planned University Rail Research and Development Center of Excellence (URR&DCE) in their state.

ARRC Seward Improvements Under Way

The Alaska Railroad’s (ARRC) plans to upgrade its cruise passenger dock and terminal facility in Seward reached an important milestone when Governor Mike Dunleavy signed House Bill 127 into law on July 3, granting bond authority.