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FRA

DOT Announces $7 Million for Bridge Repair

WASHINGTON — The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway Company (CRANDIC) will receive $6.965 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for repair of the CRANDIC railroad bridge in Cedar Rapids, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced. The bridge sustained substantial damage during flooding of the Cedar River in 2008, resulting in the disruption of freight shipments in the area. “The people of Cedar Rapids depend on railroads to deliver the goods and supplies that are so critical to the local economy,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. “We are pleased that this grant will help get the city’s rail

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Commuter Rail

U.S. Transportation Secretary Announces $280 Million for Streetcars

WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the availability of $280 million for urban circulator projects such as streetcars, buses, and bus facilities to support communities, expand business opportunities and improve people’s quality of life while also creating jobs. The money represents the first batch of taxpayers’ money by the Obama Administration for its Livability Initiative, a joint venture of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “This represents a significant effort to promote livable communities, improve the quality of life for more Americans and create

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Canadian National

CN Locomotive Engineers’ Strike to End Immediately

MONTREAL — The strike by locomotive engineers at CN will end immediately as a result of an agreement to resolve the parties’ contractual disagreements through further negotiations and, if necessary, binding arbitration. The union began its strike Nov. 28. E. Hunter Harrison, president and chief executive officer, said: “CN is pleased that an agreement has been reached to end the strike by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) immediately and to move forward with a process that gives the parties flexibility to negotiate issues further, but also ensures finality through binding arbitration of issues that remain in dispute. We have

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Canadian National

CN Makes New Offer to Union in Canada

MONTREAL — CN has made a new offer to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), hoping the effort will break the impasse and end a strike. CN said it has not seen substantive movement by the union to end the locomotive engineers’ strike that started Nov. 28, 2009. “Unfortunately, the union persists in raising the same issues the parties have negotiated for 14 months,” the railroad said in a statement. In a good faith effort to reach a settlement, CN is offering to: — Agree to binding arbitration on wage and benefit issues — Roll-back the 4,300-mile monthly cap for

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Featured

Railfanning: ‘You’re going to do what?’

ATLANTA — I was going to start my treatise on railfanning with a whimsical anecdote, but they all pretty much sound the same. Case in point: I was driving down [insert road name here] when I caught a glimpse of [insert train description here]. I pulled out my camera and high-tailed — make that drove judiciously and within all traffic laws — it to a suitable vantage point and let the shutter rip. I am what you would call a railfan. I go railfanning. Most people offer up a confused look when I mention this. “You’re a what?” I am