TORONTO, Ontario – Canada urgently needs a long-term strategy to address looming capacity constraints in the nation’s surface transportation infrastructure, Rob Ritchie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Pacific Railway, said here Dec. 5.
“Let’s resolve here and now to make the improvement and sustainability of Canada’s transportation infrastructure a national priority,” Ritchie said in […]

WASHINGTON – Nationwide, railroads stepped up security following the announcement of an increase to the country’s terror threat level.
“We are taking precautionary measures to assure our customers that we are doing everything that we can to make sure they can pass through our system without incident. Our customers […]

PHILADELPHIA – The passage of the Fiscal 2004 Pennsylvania state budget restores a 6 percent cut in SEPTA subsidies ($15 million), but does not alleviate the need for greater state support for public transit in the Commonwealth.
“Passage of the 2004 budget essentially returns SEPTA to where we were last January,” said SEPTA Board Chair Pasquale […]

LOS ANGELES – A tentative agreement has been reached on a new three-year labor contract between the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the United Transportation Union, which represents 5,000 bus and rail operators, officials announced Dec. 18.
Terms of the settlement are being withheld pending a ratification meeting for the Union’s members. Subject to […]

CALGARY, Alberta – Canadian Pacific Railway in December became the first railway in Canada to operate intermodal freight trains with mid-train remote-control locomotives, the company said.
Mimicking the control inputs of engineers in leading locomotives, the remote-control units enable CPR to run intermodal trains approaching three kilometers in length through the winter […]

WASHINGTON – The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Dec. 17 announced a rule allowing local communities to quiet train horns at some 150,000 railroad crossings nationwide if safety requirements are met.
“For several years, the Federal Railroad Administration has been working to address the impact of train horn noise on communities […]

NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk Southern Corporation plans to spend $810 million in 2004 for capital improvements to its railroad operations and subsidiaries.
“Our capital spending budget reflects our commitment to providing the highest levels of service and safety for our customers and to utilizing our equipment and facilities efficiently,” said Norfolk Southern Chairman, President and CEO […]

WASHINGTON — Amtrak ended the busiest November in its 32-year history with a ridership total of 2,076,054, up 11.7 percent over last year’s total of 1,858,345.
All 16 long-distance trains posted double-digit gains and, collectively, posted a 32 percent surge in ridership. The most impressive gains were realized on the Capitol […]

WASHINGTON – For the eighth time in the past ten years intermodal traffic on U.S. railroads has set an annual record, according to the Association of American Railroads.
Intermodal volume for 2003 reached 9,399,690 trailers or containers during the week ended Dec. 6, 2003, breaking the annual record of 9,349,630, which was […]