(Southern Rail Commission illustration)

Indication for Amtrak Gulf Coast Service Looks Grim

What a difference a few days can make! Only one week ago, on June 20, Railway Age covered the latest developments concerning the proposed Gulf Coast service, which would consist of two daily

Shenandoah Seeks Qualified Operator of Existing NS ‘B Line’

The Northern Shenandoah Valley Transportation Preservation Corporation (Shenandoah), in partnership with the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Historic District, has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a professional, qualified rail operator for the

In August 2021, the STB Office of Environmental Analysis issued a Final EIS for the project, identifying the 88-mile Whitmore Park Alternative as the environmentally preferred route for the Uinta Basin Railway, one of three analyzed. It would extend from two terminus points in northeastern Utah’s Uinta Basin near Myton and Leland Bench to a connection with the existing Union Pacific Provo Subdivision near Kyune (see map above).

Will SCOTUS Review Uinta Basin Railway Case? (UPDATED 6/24)

Utah’s Seven County Infrastructure Coalition in March petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appellate court’s decision that “derailed” the Uinta Basin Railway project, according to Colorado Newsline. SCOTUS on June 24

(STB Logo)

STB Sets 3Q24 Rail Cost Adjustment Factor

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has adopted for third-quarter 2024 the rail cost adjustment factor (RCAF), defined as “an index formulated to represent changes in railroad costs incurred by the nation’s largest railroads over a specified period of time.”

(Southern Rail Commission illustration)

Filed: Latest Progress Report on Amtrak Gulf Coast Service (UPDATED 6/20)

What’s the status of the proposed Amtrak service between New Orleans, La., and Mobile, Ala.? Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS), and Alabama State Port Authority and its common carrier operating division, Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks, on June

Townline is seeking authorization to construct and operate approximately 5,000 feet of new, common carrier rail line and associated switching and sidetrack in the hamlet of Kings Park, town of Smithtown, N.Y. The proposed line would connect and run parallel to the existing MTA Long Island Railroad main line, and add two daily New York & Atlantic Railway (NYA) trains (one roundtrip) to the LIRR system five days per week. (Map Courtesy of STB)

STB Releases Final EA for Proposed Suffolk County, N.Y. Rail Line

The Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed construction and operation of Townline Rail Terminal’s new rail line in Suffolk County, N.Y., was issued June 7 by the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Office of Environmental Analysis. The Board will now consider the transportation merits of the proposal and the entire environmental record as part of its final decision.

(IANR Photograph)

BLET Members Ratify New Implementing Agreement

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) members have voted in favor of an implementing agreement regarding CN’s proposed acquisition of Iowa Northern, the union reported in the May 31 edition of

Mike Schwark (Photograph Courtesy of Mike Schwark)
Commentary

CN-IANR Merger Proposal: ‘Value Add’ for Ag

To be competitive and profitable, agricultural producers across the country are focusing on their cost of production, managing margins, and being forward-thinking on their grain and livestock marketing. In Iowa, and most any state, a piece to the puzzle that literally links all of these is rail. 

STB Publishes Annual Deflator Factor for Railroads

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on May 23 published the annual deflator factor and inflation-adjusted railroad revenue thresholds for 2023.

STB’s Fuchs, NTSB’s Homendy Senate-Confirmed

Surface Transportation Board (STB) member Patrick J. Fuchs, a Republican, was Senate-confirmed by voice vote May 14 to a second five-year term, while Democrat Jennifer Esposito Homendy was similarly confirmed both to

LOAD MORE