June employment up over year ago, prior month

Figures released Monday, July 22, 2013, by the Surface Transportation Board show Class I railroads employed 164,499 people in mid-June, up 0.80% from June 2012, and up 220 people, or 0.13%, from the previous month of May.

Commentary

Amtrak’s Sisyphean struggle to run on time

Benito Mussolini infamously made Italian passenger trains run on time, but Fascism is hardly the answer for Amtrak.

STB urged to halt Princeton Dinky truncation

Two advocacy groups on Monday, June 24, 2013 filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board to block New Jersey Transit Corp. and Princeton University from hacking away at NJT’s Princeton Branch, a branch line linking its namesake town with Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.

May employment up over year, previous month

Figures released Monday, June 24, 2013, by the Surface Transportation Board show Class I railroads employed 164,249 people in mid-May, up 1.05% from May 2012, and up 474 people, or 0.29%, from the previous month of April. The gains were roughly comparable to the employment gains reported a month ago for both year-over-year and monthly employment.

STB OKs service shuffle on Louisiana rail line

The Surface Transportation Board has granted permission to Union Pacific Railroad to cease service on 12.5 miles of the Lockport Branch, located in Lofourche Parish, La., which UP owns, while affirming rival Class I railroad BNSF to continue operating over 14.1 miles of the branch, rejecting UP objections.

STB grants exemption for California HSR

The Surface Transportation Board granted an exemption for construction of 65 miles of California high speed railroad right-of-way between Merced and Fresno, Calif., on Thursday, June 13, 2013.

STB authorizes California HSR construction

The Surface Transportation Board on Thursday, June 13, issued a decision authorizing the California High Speed Rail Authority to construct a 65-mile high speed passenger rail line between Merced and Fresno, Cal., which will be the first section of the planned statewide California High-Speed Train System. The authorization “is subject to environmental conditions and the condition that CHSRA build the route designated by the Federal Railroad Administration as environmentally preferable,” STB said.
Commentary

Amtrak’s vision must navigate the money trap

A mark, a yen, a buck, a pound, money makes the world go round. (Yes, lyrics from the musical, Cabaret.) But money is a scarce commodity, especially for Amtrak, which competes with other publicly funded projects—not the least being mass transit, aging water and sewer systems, highways, commercial aviation, and ports.

AAR fires at NITL over forced switching proposal

Like a U.S. Navy destroyer unleashing all of its weapons simultaneously, the Association of American Railroads has launched a strongly worded attack on the National Industrial Transportation League’s proposal to the Surface Transportation Board for “forced switching,” also known as “mandated access,” “mandatory switching,” and “forced competition.”

April employment gains over year, previous month

Figures released Tuesday, May 21, by the Surface Transportation Board show Class I railroads employed 163,775 people in mid-April, up 1.11% from April 2012, and up 716 people, or 0.44%, from the previous month of March.

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