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(BNSF Photograph)

AAR: U.S. Rail Traffic Up for Week 16

Total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending April 19, 2025 (Week 16) was up 4.5% from the prior-year period, with gains in both carloads and intermodal volume, according to the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) latest report.

Darryl Perry, a CPKC locomotive engineer in Sparwood, B.C., Canada, is one of the 200-plus “CPKC Hypermilers” who the railroad said “use their ‘feel’ for a locomotive and in-depth local knowledge, coupled with fuel-efficient strategies, to operate trains safely while reducing excess fuel burn.” (Screen Grab from CPKC Video)

Class I Briefs: CSX, CSX/NS/UP, NS, CPKC

CSX inspires students at its second-annual Innovation Day. Also, CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS), Union Pacific (UP) and The Greenbrier Companies rank on USA Today’s America’s Climate Leaders 2025 list; NS crews connect its main line to the future Scout Motors EV manufacturing plant in South Carolina; and Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s (CPKC) Hypermiler program helps locomotive engineers to use less fuel.

VTA photo

Transit Briefs: Santa Clara VTA, Amtrak, WMATA, Caltrain/SMART/BART

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) ratifies agreements with three unions. Also, Amtrak advances upgrades at two western Pennsylvania stations; the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) selects a developer for the future mixed-use buildings at Deanwood Metro Station; and first-quarter 2025 brings big gains for Bay Area transit agencies.

Pictured, Left to Right: Gary Lada, Harsco Rail, a division of Enviri Corporation; Jim Umpleby, Caterpillar; Joe Creed, Caterpillar; and Jon Mudronja, AITX. (Photographs courtesy of the respective organizations)
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People News: Harsco Rail, Caterpillar, AITX

Leadership changes have been announced at track maintenance-of way and services supplier Harsco Rail; Progress Rail parent company Caterpillar Inc.; and railcar lessor American Industrial Transport, Inc. (AITX).

The 25th annual Special Olympics Regional Cycling competition will be held April 26 on the campus of BNSF headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photograph Courtesy of BNSF)

Class I Briefs: BNSF, NS

BNSF and Special Olympics Texas celebrate 25 years of partnership. Also, Norfolk Southern’s (NS) customer SA Recycling is growing capacity in Georgia and grant award honoree Friends of the Lower Appomattox River works to remove invasive plants and improve forest health in Virginia.

Ex-ICC General Counsel Fritz R. Kahn, 1926-2024

Railway Age has learned that Fritz Reiner Kahn, a former general counsel to Surface Transportation Board (STB) predecessor Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), died in October at age 98. He established a substantial

Report: SCOTUS Declines CSX Lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) declined on April 21 to hear CSX’s bid to revive its antitrust lawsuit accusing Norfolk Southern of illegally restricting access to Norfolk International Terminals (NIT), served by the Norfolk &