railroad News Updates

OMAHA, Neb. — Even as railroads are operating longer freight trains that sometimes stretch for miles, the companies have drastically reduced staffing levels, prompting unions to warn that moves meant to increase profits could endanger safety and even result in disasters.

In a move that could help speed up the path to a trial, a District of Columbia federal judge ruled in a multidistrict federal lawsuit that more than 200 shippers are entitled to pursue certain evidence to support their allegation that the four largest Class I railroads may have conspired to fix fuel surcharge prices.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the availability of $87 million for port and rail improvements in an effort to enhance the state’s trade corridors,

The country’s freight and passenger railways are operating with automatic braking system technology, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.

U.S. railroads have completed installation of an automated crash-prevention system that covers 57,536 miles of freight and passenger tracks ahead of an end-of-year deadline that was previously extended, the Federal Railroad Administration announced Dec. 29.

U.S. railroads are back, with freight volume posting the first quarterly gain in two years.

CSX Corp. has agreed to buy Pan Am Railways Inc., North America’s largest regional railroad based in New England, extending CSX’s reach in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York and adding Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to its 23-state network.

CSX Corp. reported a slip in third-quarter financial results due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on shipments.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has made available $50 million in grant funding to commuter rail agencies that are conducting projects to improve safety at railway-highway crossings.

Class I railroad Union Pacific saw second-quarter income and revenue fall amid the coronavirus pandemic.