Public Rail Now

10/13/2026

The math ain't mathin' UP.

Unions opposing the merger represent 66% of the combined railroad’s unionized workforce. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are claiming a “majority of unions” representing their employees support...

10/13/2026

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10/13/2026

On Sept. 30, two Airo trainsets are expected to enter regular service operating four daily trips between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, B.C., and in the coming year, six additional trainsets will be added to the route. Starting in 2027, the Airo trainsets will also begin operating in the East, eventually running on regional routes from Maine to Georgia.



A new era in American passenger rail travel is getting under way this week as the first of 83 Siemens Mobility-built “Airo” trainsets enters service on Amtrak’s Cascades route in […]

10/13/2026

"Something is changing, though: Labour is steadily bringing nearly all passenger rail services into public hands. Nationalisation is a popular idea - a YouGov tracker poll suggests almost two thirds of the public support public ownership."

Meeting travellers' expectations could be challenging, experts warn.

10/13/2026

A sad and preventable tragedy.

WASHINGTON — A lack of a requirement to establish on-track safety while releasing brakes on a parked train, coupled with an inadequate safety briefing about the hazards of the work location, played a part in the October 2025 death of a BNSF conductor, the National Transportation Safety Board said ...

10/06/2026

Grants will go to 11 west and central Baltimore organizations to support workforce training, neighborhood improvements, youth programs, historic preservation and other initiatives.

Railroad industry news about: Amtrak, B&P Tunnel Replacement Program, Community Investment Program, CIP, Kweisi Mfume Brooke Lierman. From the editors of Progressive Railroading Magazine

10/06/2026

A spokesman for the Port of Los Angeles said today that an agreement has been reached but must still be approved by the commissioners at both ports.

WASHINGTON — Alameda Belt Line has filed notice with the Surface Transportation Board that it intends to take over rail operations at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, a move that could come as soon as Oct. 16. ABL, a partnership of Union Pacific and BNSF Railway, would replace Pacific Harb...

10/06/2026

Simplest answer: we don't have a nationalized rail system, rather our runs on a private for profit business model.

American railroads were once the envy of the world and the engine of its industrial age. But that hasn’t been the case for more than half a century.

10/06/2026

The Reward for Staying (on the railroad)-
The better question is what those scenarios assume about railroad employment, and whether the industry being built right now, through Precision Scheduled Railroading, through the largest merger in rail history, and through the push toward one-person crews and automated terminals, looks anything like the industry the actuaries modeled.

10/06/2026

The report issued Oct. 1, 2026, addresses the latest of a series of serious injuries and fatalities that have occurred during shoving moves. The NTSB last month called for an end to crew members riding cars during switching shove moves, citing 14 deaths in such situations since October 2020.

WASHINGTON — A Norfolk Southern conductor suffered serious injuries when he fell from the tank car he was riding during a shoving move, the National Transportation Safety Board says in its preliminary report on a Sept. 8, 2026, incident at Conway Yard in Conway, Pa. The report issued today (Oct. 1...