U.S. Class I railroads originated 113,089 carloads of crude oil in the first quarter of 2015, down 17,982 carloads or 13.7% from the fourth quarter of 2014, the Association of American Railroads noted as it reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 16, 2015.
The Surface Transportation Board announced on May 15, 2015 that it will begin a proceeding to define intercity passenger railroad on-time performance for purposes of Section 213 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA), 49 U.S.C. § 24308(f). It also approved Norfolk Southern’s acquisition of approximately 283 miles of rail line from the Delaware & Hudson Railway Company, Inc. (D&H).
For the week ending May 9, 2015, North American freight rail traffic dipped by about 2.5% compared to the same period in 2104, the Association of American Railroads reported.
The Association of American Railroads has presented CSX Director of Advanced engineering Suneil Kuthiala with the John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence Award “for his outstanding environmental leadership, especially in the area of fuel efficiency.”
In reporting weekly U.S. rail traffic, as well as volumes for April 2015 and the first four months of 2015, the Association of American Railroads took note of how growth in intermodal traffic offsetting declines in several types of carload traffic. The net result is traffic that is relatively flat.
The final spec for the now-official DOT-117 (TC-117 in Canada) non-pressurized tank car adopts the most demanding of the technical requirements first offered for comment in the notice of rulemaking: jacketed and thermally insulated shells of 9/16-inch steel, full-height half-inch-thick head shields, sturdier, re-closeable pressure relief valves and rollover protection for top fittings.
Compared to the prior-year week, carloads for the week ending April 25, 2015 on U.S. Class I railroads dropped 7.9%, but intermodal saw yet another gain, rising 5.6%, netting a slight dip of 1.6% in overall rail traffic, the Association of American Railroads reported.
According to figures reported by the Association of American Railroads for the week ending April 11, 2015, freight rail traffic remained relatively flat.