For economists, optimism is unnatural. Thus, as I digested the STB hearings on rail growth, I became increasingly uncomfortable with my buoyancy. As creepy as it sounds, the hearings left me fairly
STB’s two-day hearing on Sept. 16 and 17 provided a good moment to reflect on the freight railroad industry’s prospects. The hearing entitled “Growth in the Freight Rail Industry” (Ex Parte 775)
I’m writing to reflect on recent stories and reports about train length—and to share some facts about railroading, stats about length and safety, and the specific actions Union Pacific has taken to
Sept. 16, 1974, was a banner day in the history of the Bay Area. On this day, 50 years ago, BART’s Transbay Tube opened for passenger service.
In 1982, the Buy America Act was passed as a provision of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, requiring mass-transit projects—be it rail, highway, or rapid transit—to purchase certain materials for infrastructure in the U.S. But domestic preference assumes a healthy domestic supplier base. So what does the health of rail supply in the U.S. look like today?
It’s not every day you get to tour the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad Steam Shop, much less ride in the cab of Big Boy No. 4014, but four Operating Department employees are doing just that on the Heartland of America Tour.
We’ve apparently been in a freight recession for two years now, but rail intermodal is having a strong growth year, aided by an easy comp against 2023, which was the weakest year
I’ll start with a brief discussion about the comparative fuel efficiency of heavy-duty (HD) trucks and freight railroads in the United States. We’ll then have a six-question quiz (for you, my readers)
Over the summer now ending, I have examined the situation now faced by eight of the largest transit systems in the United States, all of which include significant rail networks that, between
FROM THE EDITOR, RAILWAY AGE SEPTEMBER 2024 ISSUE: Don’t box me in here, because I usually try to think outside the box for this column. How many boxes can you spot on