Railpace Hot News
Keep up to date on the latest railroad news from the northeastern United States and Canada, edited by Carl Perelman.
May 17, 2021
Subway, LIRR, Metro-North Ridership Reach New Pandemic Records
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced that the New York City Subway, Long Island Rail Road, and Metro-North Railroad all achieved pandemic ridership records on May 14, with 2,265,489 trips on the New York City subway, 104,885 on the Long Island Rail Road, and 85,684 on Metro-North Railroad that day. These figures mark the highest single-day ridership totals for those agencies since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for both commuter railroads and the subway system.
May 14, 2021
KCS Enters Into Merger Agreement with CN; Terminates CP’s Offer
Kansas City Southern announced receipt of a revised acquisition proposal from Canadian National Railway Company. Under the terms of CN’s revised proposal, each share of KCS common stock would be exchanged for $200 in cash and 1.129 shares of CN common stock. The proposal is binding on CN and may be accepted by KCS at any time prior to 5:00 pm EDT on Friday, May 21, 2021. The transaction would be subject to approval by the stockholders of KCS, approval by the Surface Transportation Board of a voting trust, receipt of other regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
May 13, 2021
Rail Traffic for the Week Ending May 8, 2021
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending May 8, 2021. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 523,309 carloads and intermodal units, up 26.9 percent compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending May 8 were 236,019 carloads, up 27.6 percent compared with the same week in 2020, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 287,290 containers and trailers, up 26.3 percent compared to 2020.
May 13, 2021
Governor Cuomo Announces Resumption of Metro-North Penn Station Access Project
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the resumption of the Metro-North Penn Station Access Project, which had been paused by the COVID-19 pandemic and MTA funding uncertainty. The reopened process will select a firm to design and build four new Metro-North Railroad stations and make track upgrades in the Bronx.
May 12, 2021
Norfolk Southern Issues $500 million of Green Bonds to Fund Sustainable Business Initiatives
Norfolk Southern Corporation today closed a $500 million green bond offering to fund investments to reduce the company’s carbon emissions and help customers reduce their supply-chain emissions. Norfolk Southern is the first Class I railroad in North America to issue green bonds.
May 12, 2021
CSX to Acquire Quality Carriers, Inc.
CSX Corp. today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Quality Carriers, Inc. (“Quality Carriers”), the largest provider of bulk liquid chemicals truck transportation in North America, from Quality Distribution, Inc. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
May 11, 2021
SEPTA Launches Estimated Seat Availability Dashboard
SEPTA today launched a new online tool to provide customers with information about seat availability on-board vehicles as they plan their trips.
May 10, 2021
Canadian Pacific Receives Voting Trust Approval from Surface Transportation Board, Advancing Agreement for CP-KCS Combination
Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (“CP”) thanks the Surface Transportation Board (“STB”) for its approval, on May 6, of a voting trust for its planned, friendly merger with Kansas City Southern (“KCS”).
May 10, 2021
Subway, Bus, LIRR, Metro-North Ridership Reaches New Pandemic Record
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced that the New York City Subway, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad have reached pandemic ridership records, with 2,239,500 trips on the New York City Subway (including 3,823 on the Staten Island Railway), 101,600 LIRR, and 83,100 Metro-North trips recorded on Friday, May 7. New York City Buses reached a pandemic high one day earlier, on Thursday, May 6, of 1,245,629.
May 8, 2021
Allegheny Foundation Grant Aids EBT’s Return to Picnic Grove
The prestigious Allegheny Foundation, of Pittsburgh, has made a grant of $100,000 to support the East Broad Top Railroad’s rehabilitation of the Colgate Picnic Grove, the turnaround point for the EBT’s steam-powered trains since 1961.
