News - Page 378 of 694

Longevity of Railroad Retirement beneficiaries

December 11, 2015 Every three years, the Railroad Retirement Board’s Chief Actuary conducts a study of the longevity of its annuitants, as part of a valuation of future revenues and benefit payments. The following questions and answers summarize the results of the most recent longevity study. [...]

Tags longevity, Railroad Retirement Board, RRB

Pew Research Confirms American Middle Class Is Shrinking

December 10, 2015 According to a new report from Pew Research, a nonpartisan nonprofit think tank based in Washington, DC, the American middle class has not only shrunk, but it has also lost 30 percent of the wealth it held a generation ago. The report finds that in early 2015, 120.8 million a [...]

NMB certifies SMART to represent CMQR train and engine service employees

December 9, 2015 In a letter dated Dec. 5, the National Mediation Board (NMB) certified the SMART Transportation Division as the official union of the train and engine service employees of the Central Maine & Quebec Railway (CMQR). SMART TD invoked the services of the NMB Aug. 12, 2015, t [...]

Tags CMQR, NMB

Reform rail/bus equipment purchases, boost jobs

December 9, 2015 $5.4 billion — that’s how much public transit agencies collectively spend on buses and trains each year. U.S. public transportation authorities are using taxpayers’ dollars to employ Americans. Well, sort of — there’s a lot of room for improvement. Thanks to weak laws and pro [...]

Tags AFL-CIO, Buy America, FAST Act, infrastructure, TTD

Latest CP takeover offer rejected by NS

December 9, 2015 OMAHA, Neb. (AP)—U.S. News & World Report reported today that Norfolk Southern (NS) denied Canadian Pacific’s (CP) takeover offer, but it appears that CP persists, as they are reportedly set to bring their proposal to NS stakeholders. Read the entire article at U.S. News [...]

Tags Canadian Pacific, CP, merger, Norfolk Southern, NS, takeover

Congress approves new cross-Hudson rail tunnel

December 8, 2015 Politico New York reported that a Congressional transportation bill that includes provisions to build a new cross-Hudson rail tunnel gained velocity with approval from both the U.S Senate and the House. Read the entire article from Politico New York Dec. 4.

Tags Amtrak, Cross-Hudson rail tunnel, Surface transportation bill

U.S. DOT moves to create worn rail standards

December 8, 2015 The Claims Journal reported that In 2012 and again in 2015, train derailments that resulted in fiery explosions and fatalities in Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia exposed the dangerous truth about worn rails, prompting the U.S. Department of Transportation officials to establ [...]

Tags derailments, hazmat, safety

Groundbreaking for CSX yard in Pittsburgh

December 8, 2015 The Pittsburgh Business Times reported that local and state officials recently gathered for the CSX official groundbreaking ceremony in McKees Rocks, Penn. The $60 million, 70-acre intermodal facility will be built on the site of the former Pittsburgh Intermodal Rail Terminal [...]

Tags CSX, intermodal facility

Iowans surveyed support expansion of passenger rail

December 7, 2015 A new survey reaffirms support for expanding passenger rail service in Iowa. More than half the participants — 56 percent — in a survey conducted by the SMART Transportation Division said passenger rail service in Iowa should increase. Another 77 percent said Amtrak should ad [...]

Tags Amtrak, H.R. 1763, passenger rail service, Safe Freight Act, two person crew

State inspectors take on rail safety program

December 7, 2015 Both inspectors for a state rail safety program — aimed to prevent such fiery derailments involving crude oil as happened this year near Weimdal, N.D. — have been hired and are training with federal inspectors. In July, an agreement was approved by the Public Service Commissi [...]

Tags FRA, FRA inspectors, North Dakota, rail safety