Union Pacific

Union Pacific (UP) recently sought mediation through the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to resolve two “fundamental issues”—track access and maintenance fees—that have become a sticking point in forging a new contract with Chicago regional/commuter rail operator Metra. The agency filed a Response in Opposition. In an Aug. 14 decision, the STB ordered the parties to engage in Board-sponsored mediation. In…

Canada’s passenger operator Via Rail launched a strategic plan earlier this summer. Mark Simmons, Deputy Editor of IRJ, a Railway Age sister publication, talks exclusively to president and CEO Mario Péloquin about his ambitions to transform the company’s operations.

The CSX Huntington Heavy Repair Shop in West Virginia achieves its fourth consecutive AAR (Association of American Railroads) M-1003 certification. Also, Union Pacific (UP) teams with Canpotex to haul record potash shipments; and CN opens a new loop track in Two Harbors, Minn.

RAILWAY AGE, AUGUST 2024 ISSUE: How Union Pacific leverages state-of-the-art inspection technology. With more than 32,000 miles of track covering 23 states in the western two-thirds of the U.S., those charged with inspecting and maintaining track at Union Pacific (UP) have their work cut out for them. From maintaining track geometry to discovering existing or potential rail defects, the team…

Hudson Asphalt Terminal accepts the first railcars at its facility located at BNSF’s Hudson, Colo.-based logistics center. Also, CN earns the LyondellBasell 2023 GoalZERO Award for excellence in transportation safety; and Union Pacific (UP) unveils a new mural illustrating the railroad's storied past, present and future.

PS Technology (PST), a wholly owned subsidiary of Union Pacific, and L&T Technology Services Ltd. (LTTS), a research and development firm based in India, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding “to focus on the design, development and supply of advanced AI-based simulation technologies” to help improve railroad “operational efficiency and safety” in India and adjacent markets, the partners reported July…

Railway Age and Railway Track & Structures are returning to Chicago for our second-annual in-person Women in Rail Conference featuring trailblazing women and their allies who are significantly influencing today’s freight, passenger and transit rail industry. After selling out in 2023, we have expanded this important event to two days—filled with instructive panels covering everything from mentorship to advancing current…

The Port of Long Beach (POLB) on July 18 held a groundbreaking ceremony for its $1.567 billion Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility project, which is slated to double the footprint of the existing rail yard from 82 to 171 acres, and more than triple the Port’s capacity for on-dock rail from 1.5 million to 4.7 million TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent…

A new 800,405-square-foot speculative rail service building located within the Cedar Port Industrial Park in Baytown, Texas, which will provide dual rail service to both Union Pacific (UP) and BNSF is now ready for immediate occupancy. Also, CSX and BNSF are named as one of America’s “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion” by the Disability Equality Index; and UP's…

CSX on July 11 announced that it has joined the RailPulse™ Coalition, becoming the fourth Class I railroad and the eleventh member of the coalition, which was established in late 2020 “to develop, broaden and accelerate the use of GPS and other telematics technologies on railcars that increase safety, efficiency, and visibility across North America's freight rail industry.”

CN teams with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the City of Burnaby (British Columbia) and the government of Canada on the Holdom Overpass project. Also, Union Pacific (UP) marks the one-year anniversary of its Port Houston on-dock rail service.

The Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Office of Environmental Analysis on March 29 issued a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in connection with Green Eagle Railroad, LLC’s (GER) proposed construction and operation of an approximately 1.335-mile rail line in Maverick County, Tex., extending from the southern border of the United States and connecting to Union Pacific…

Union Pacific (UP) expands opportunities for businesses to connect to rail with five new “Focus Sites.” Also, Norfolk Southern’s (NS) Lamberts Point team in Norfolk, Va., sets a coal processing record.

Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) last month hosted a “fact-finding” tour at the San Pedro Bay port complex in California for Robert E. Primus, the new Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chair, according to the railroad’s parent company Anacostia Rail Holdings, which owns and manages six short lines operating in seven states. PHL provides switching services to customers at the ports of…

Union Pacific (UP) is leveraging technology to support safe operations from every viewpoint—on its tracks, inside its locomotives and hundreds of feet off the ground with its drones.

The Port of Long Beach, Calif., (POLB) has awarded Alameda, Calif.-based Stacy & Witbeck Inc. a $21.7 million contract for the Pier B Rail Yard East Expansion Project.

Norfolk Southern (NS) switches from a wheeled to a stacked operation at its Austell, Ga., intermodal terminal. Also, Union Pacific (UP) earns a 2023 Premier Supplier Award from Trinity Industries.

Tough May weather in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana plunged Union Pacific’s (UP) network velocity to a five-year low of 22.7 mph in the week ending June 7 and, after a modest uptick in speed in the subsequent week, flooding and related track washouts in Iowa and Minnesota have forced average train speed back to 22.7 through June 21. There’s better…

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) on June 24 announced nearly $5 million to improve freight rail at facilities in Luxemburg, Reedsburg and Wrightstown.

OmniTRAX on June 27 reported being selected as the exclusive rail operator for Ports of Indiana-Mount Vernon; the projected start date is Aug. 1. This will be the fourth domestic port in the OmniTRAX network, which also includes 27 railroads. The 1,200-acre port, with eight miles of track, handles as many as 40,000 railcars annually, including direct unit train service…