Lac Megantic, Quebec, city officials have decided they will not pursue legal action against Canadian Pacific for the July 2013 crude-oil train disaster that killed 47 people.
The Lac Megantic city council voted Tuesday to drop all possible charges against the Class I, according to a press release posted on the city's website.
Meridian Speedway LLC, a joint venture between Kansas City Southern and Norfolk Southern Railway, will invest $28 million in construction and improvements on the Vicksburg and Meridian subdivisions, KCS announced yesterday.
The joint venture is a 320-mile rail line between Meridian, Miss., and Shreveport, La., offering end-to-end steel wheel interchange for intermodal customers.
Norfolk Southern Corp. subsidiary Thoroughbred Direct Intermodal Services Inc. and transportation management software provider MercuryGate International Inc. have formed an integration partnership that will allow clients to gain access to the Modal-X web-based portal, MercuryGate announced Monday.
Modal-X provides instantaneous door-to-door intermodal rates for transactional freight opportunities.
Wainwright Industries/TVS Supply Chain Solutions South Carolina plans to build a second facility in Charleston, S.C., to serve increasing demand for third-party logistics and supply-chain services.
Wainwright will build a 212,000-square-foot, CSX-served facility to provide warehousing and logistics for some of the South Carolina Ports Authority's (SCPA) key market segments, including forestry products, which represent 15 percent of the port's cargo volume. Wainwright's existing Ladson facility serves the automotive segment.
Canadian Pacific expects second-quarter revenue to decline about 12 percent compared with the same 2015 period, the railroad announced this morning.
The reasons: lower-than-anticipated volumes in bulk commodities such as grain and potash, the "unexpected and devastating wildfires" in northern Alberta and a strengthening Canadian dollar, CP officials said in a press release.
Union Pacific Railroad recently announced multimillion-dollar infrastructure improvement plans for the states of New Mexico, Utah and Washington.
In New Mexico, UP plans to spend $11.5 million this year — $11 million to maintain track and $196,000 to maintain bridges. A key project: UP has set aside $4 million to replace 22,091 ties and install 7,791 tons of ballast on a line between Lordsburg, N.M., and the Grant-Luna county line.
The BMW Group yesterday held a groundbreaking ceremony in San Luis Potosi for its first auto manufacturing plant in Mexico.
To launch production in 2019, the $1 billion plant will be served by Kansas City Southern de Mexico S.A. de C.V. (KCSM). The facility will be used to build the automaker's best-selling model, the BMW 3 Series Sedan. The plant's annual production capacity is projected at up to 150,000 vehicles.
The Transportation Marketing & Sales Association (TMSA) recently named CN Director of Marketing Innovation Marie-Chantal Savoy its 2016 Marketing Executive of the Year.
The award recognizes a senior-level leader in the transportation and logistics industries who has demonstrated strategic thinking and intelligent execution of marketing initiatives to meet their organization's business goals. The award is part of TMSA's mission to honor the efforts of marketing, sales and communications professionals in the two industries.
Union Pacific Railroad has released its 2016 infrastructure improvement plans for two more states: Nevada and Wyoming.
The Class I plans to spend $28.5 million this year in Wyoming, including $25.9 million to improve track and $2.4 million to maintain bridges. Key allocations include $7.6 million to replace more than 13 miles of rail on a line between Cheyenne and Granite Canon, and $2.6 million to replace nearly four miles of rail on a line between Rawlins and Rock Springs.
CSX Corp. released its sixth annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report yesterday.
Titled “Moving Forward,” the report outlines the Class I’s past performance and future goals in five key areas: business performance and governance; safety and security; employees; environment; and community. The report was prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, CSX officials said in a press release.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the Canadian Transportation Agency are soliciting public input on a draft agreement to establish a review panel for CN's proposed logistics hub in Milton, Ontario.
When finalized, the agreement will help establish the panel's mandate and authority, as well as procedures and timelines for the review under the Canadian Environmental Assessment and Canada Transportation Acts, Canadian government officials said in a press release.
— by Pat Foran, editor
I met Claude Mongeau during a May 2004 visit with CN executives in Toronto. At the time, he was CN’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, and leader of the strategic planning process. I talked with him about a range of subjects, from service-plan discipline to strategic planning to continuous improvement. We also talked about culture, or what it was that made CN “CN.”
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Iron Horse Permian Basin LLC recently took delivery of the largest frac sand unit train in North American history by length and weight at 151 rail cars and 17,469 tons. The train arrived June 2 at the company's Delaware Basin rail terminal in Artesia, N.M.
Union Pacific Railroad returned to using the tracks where a crude-oil train derailed late last week in Mosier, Ore., near the Columbia River Gorge.
A preliminary investigation indicates a fastener that connects the rail tie with the rail caused the derailment, according to a report in The Oregonian.
CN President and Chief Executive Officer Claude Mongeau will step down at the end of June, the Class I announced this morning. Chief Financial Officer Luc Jobin has been named Mongeau's successor effective July 1.
Mongeau said he would leave the post due to health reasons. In January, he returned to work following a six-month medical leave after he was diagnosed with a rare type of tumor in his throat. During the leave, he underwent surgery to remove his larynx.
CN is encouraging communities to submit input for corridor risk assessments along key rail routes that carry significant amounts of dangerous goods, the Class I announced late last week.
CN performs specific risk assessments on rail lines on key routes, looking at factors such as population and emergency response capabilities. Under new Transport Canada regulations, the railroad will incorporate input from Canadian municipalities along those key routes as part of those risk assessments, according to a CN press release.
The freight cars of the Union Pacific Railroad crude-oil train that derailed late last week in Oregon were jacketed CPC-1232s with full-height head shields, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced yesterday.
The westbound train was transporting tank cars loaded with Bakken crude oil when 16 cars derailed at 12:20 p.m. June 3 in Mosier, Ore. Crude oil was released from at least one car, and several cars then caught on fire.
Union Pacific Railroad announced plans to spend a total $108 million on rail infrastructure projects in Idaho, Oregon and Iowa in 2016, the Class I announced last month.
In Idaho, UP will spend $34.9 million to maintain track and $883,000 to maintain bridges. Key investments will include $3.3 million to replace 27,704 ties on the rail line in Pocatello; $8.2 million to replace 60,510 ties on the line between Mountain Home and Boise; and $4.2 million to replace 3 miles of rail and 24,000 ties on the rail line along the Pocatello Subdivision and within the Pocatello Yard.
Union Pacific Railroad yesterday issued its "2015 Building America Report," which highlights the Class I's progress toward its safety, social, environmental and economic sustainability goals.
The report uses the Global Reporting Initiative's G4 Guidelines to outline UP's "most relevant" sustainability issues and opportunities, said Scott Moore, senior vice president-corporate relations said in a press release.
