Railpace Hot News
Keep up to date on the latest railroad news from the northeastern United States and Canada, edited by Carl Perelman.
May 18, 2021
Virginia Museum of Transportation Announces Delay to 611’s Arrival in Strasburg
VMT has made the decision to temporarily delay 611’s arrival to Strasburg Rail Road. As the crew worked to make the engine ready for the move, a malfunction was discovered with the locomotive’s stoker, preventing the stoker from advancing coal forward into the firebox.
May 18, 2021
Amtrak and State of Vermont Will Resume Passenger Train Service In July
Amtrak and The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) today announced that tickets are now available for purchase on their state-supported train services for travel beginning on Monday, July 19. This includes the Vermonter, which provides daily service between Washington, DC and St. Albans, Vermont, with reserved seating for Business Class customers, and the Ethan Allen Express, which offers daily service between New York City and Rutland, Vermont, with connecting service to Washington, D.C.
May 17, 2021
CN Issues Statement on STB Decision
CN today issued the following statement in response to the Surface Transportation Board’s (“STB”) decision to apply the current merger rules to its review of CN’s superior proposal to acquire Kansas City Southern.
May 17, 2021
Freight Railroad Revenues to Bounce Back in 2021, Expand 4.7% Annually to 2025
US rail freight revenues are forecast to advance 4.7% per year in nominal terms through 2025, according to Freight by Rail: United States, a report recently released by Freedonia Focus Reports. Continuing expansion in manufacturers’ shipments and growth in US trade activity will drive demand for rail freight transportation.
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.
