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CN to re-equip, refurbish Sault Ste. Marie tour train |
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 CN and the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. (SSMEDC) recently reached an agreement to acquire locomotives and passenger cars for the Agawa Canyon Tour Train that runs north of Sault Ste. Marie into Canadian Shield country.
CN, which operates the tour train, is acquiring three Electro-Motive Diesel F-40 locomotives, eight coaches, two café/lounge cars, three club cars and a presentation coach from Ansco Investment Co. The Class I plans to refurbish the Ansco cars, as well as two existing passenger dome cars. The upgrades will enable the train to accommodate more than 900 people.
The fleet renewal project is being funded by CN and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp., an Ontario government agency. The re-equipped tour train will be ready to enter service when the tour season begins in mid-June, and refurbishments will be completed during the coming season.
Under the agreement, CN will own the revitalized fleet, as well as take ownership of 26 obsolete passenger cars it currently leases for the tour train service. The Class I plans to sell the cars and use proceeds for marketing and/or enhancements to the tour facilities and services. The SSMEDC will manage concessions on the tour train and use revenue to enhance onboard customer service.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 25 May 2025 22:53 )
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Amtrak boss: Reduced travel time is key |
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CHICAGO — Introducing ultra-fast passenger trains to the Midwest is less important than the need for more frequent service between cities, reliable schedules that beat the time spent driving and rail connections that permit travel across the United States, Amtrak's chief official said today in Chicago.
True high-speed rail clipping along at 200 m.p.h. or faster would be prohibitively expensive to build on the scale needed to serve the U.S., and such systems work best only when the number of stops are limited, Joseph Boardman, president and chief executive officer of Amtrak, told Illinois lawmakers at a hearing in the Thompson Center on the passenger railroad's agenda.
"It's really not about the speed. It's about reduced travel times and more frequency," he told the Illinois House Railroad Industry Committee. "The competitive advantage is with the train."
Boardman said plans in the Midwest for trains traveling up to 110 m.p.h. on corridors stretching over nine states make more sense. He said the immediate focus must be on modernizing infrastructure to increase train speeds in the Chicago area that currently are as slow as 5 m.p.h. because of freight-train congestion and antiquated track and signaling equipment.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 25 May 2025 22:53 )
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Union Pacific gathering comes amid uncertainty |
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 OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Chairman and CEO Jim Young faces shareholders Thursday in the midst of a recession that has driven down profits while prompting spending cuts and thousands of layoffs.
Some of the toughest business conditions ever faced by the Omaha-based railroad might not significantly improve until next year, Young said in April when U.P. reported an 18 percent drop in first-quarter net income. Revenue declined 20 percent to $3.4 billion, compared with $4.3 billion the year before.
The uncertain economy has made it difficult to forecast how U.P. will fare through this year, Young has said.
He declined an interview request in advance of the company's annual meeting in Salt Lake City.
Revenues held up through 2008 despite the deepening slowdown. The company operated more efficiently, increased prices as it renewed contracts and took advantage of lower-cost diesel fuel. The company turned business away that did not meet its price points.
Volume was down 5 percent in 2008, but revenue was up 10 percent to $18 billion from $16.3 billion in 2007.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 25 May 2025 22:52 )
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Railway keeps its furloughed at hand |
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NEW YORK — The rail-shipping business is off by double-digit percentages, but railroad giant Union Pacific Corp. doesn't want to worry about meeting demand if and when it rebounds.
For that reason, almost a third of Union Pacific's 5,000 furloughed workers are operating on a retainer, with full benefits and partial wages, even though it is costing the company $50 million a year.
James R. Young, Union Pacific's chief executive, said the company is determined to avoid a repeat of a 2004 fiasco, when it was caught unprepared for a sharp upturn in business. The U.S. had gradually emerged from the recession that followed the dot-com bust and the 2001 terror attacks. Then suddenly in 2004, the company's shipping volumes jumped roughly 10% to 12% in a six-month period. Union Pacific wasn't ready and the result was a network meltdown, with rolling bottlenecks and delays that had disastrous repercussions for its thousands of customers.
"We just flat-out cut too far" in the years preceding the 2003 and 2004 recovery, said Mr. Young, who was named CEO of the Omaha, Neb., company in 2005.
To make sure it has adequate staffing should the economy recover quickly this time around, Union Pacific is paying full health benefits for 1,600 of its roughly 5,000 furloughed employees. These 1,600 employees, many of them train conductors, also work eight days a month so that they can remain current on their training and qualifications. Mr. Young estimates that calling one of these employees back to work will take fewer than 30 days, compared with 60 to 90 days for other furloughed workers.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 25 May 2025 22:52 )
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