WASHINGTON – Union Pacific is a company that is proud of its strong ties with the military. Hundreds of thousands of Civil War veterans helped build the first transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, which was considered vital to national defense. During World War I and II, the railroad canteen in North Platte, Neb., was a […]

WASHINGTON — Demonstrating an international commitment to railroad safety, senior safety professionals and government officials from around the world plan to convene in Denver, CO, October 5 thru 10, at the 18th Annual International Railway Safety Conference to discuss rail safety issues.
The rail safety conference, which was first held in 1990, provides a forum for […]

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives has approved legislation that proponents say will improve the Nation’s intercity passenger rail system and the safety of the nation’s railroads.
The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 will increase funding for Amtrak over the next five years, require new […]

WASHINGTON –  Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was off sharply during the week ended September 20 in comparison with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported. Much of the decline can be attributed to disruptions caused by Hurricane Ike which struck the Gulf Coast Sept. 13.
Total volume was estimated at […]

LOS ANGELES — The brakeman on the Union Pacific train involved in a deadly collision with a California commuter train is suing Metrolink, saying they failed to properly screen, train and supervise the engineer who is being blamed for the wreck.
On Sept. 12, a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train collided near […]

WASHINGTON — Improper dispatching practices and poor operating discipline by freight railroads are among the key reasons why Amtrak trains suffer poor on-time performance on tracks operated by those host freight railroads.
That’s the upshot of “Root Causes of Amtrak Train Delays,” a new report from the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General. The […]

LOS ANGELES – The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that the engineer of a Metrolink commuter train that crashed head-on into a Union Pacific freight train sent and received text messages prior to the crash.
“NTSB investigators asked for records of the Metrolink engineer’s cell phone calls and text messages from the service provider,” the agency […]

LOS ANGELES — Railroad tracks remain closed following a fatal Metrolink crash, Amtrak officials said.
A Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train collided on on Sept. 12 near Chatsworth, Calif., killing 25 peopel and injuring more than 130 more. As a result, Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner trains with connecting Thruway Motorcoach buses will not […]

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Railroad has signed an agreement with Progress Rail Services, a Caterpillar company, to test five SD40-2 locomotives originally built in the 1970’s that have been remanufactured with 3,005-horsepower low-emission diesel engines. These locomotives will meet Tier 2 emissions standards, incorporate new emission control technologies, and will be the first ever […]

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific said it has surpassed its own monthly record for delivering coal out of Wyoming’s Southern Powder River Basin (SPRB) not only once, but twice.
In August, the railroad moved 1,190 loaded coal trains out of the SPRB, making it the best month on record and surpassing the previous record of 1,174 […]