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One of the most thorough and worthwhile analyses on the outlook for railroads to achieve zero emissions within the next 25 years was published on the Railway Age website news [...]

MxV Rail (formerly TTCI) analyzed the effects of shoulder ballast cleaning (SBC) on ballast degradation levels in revenue service. SBC is a production ballast maintenance technique used by North American [...]

Welcome to the 2022 Railroad Financial Desk Book. The rail market has had a hot summer--Donna Summer 'Hot Stuff' hot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqS4aNi0HQY). However, this year's Desk Book is not another article [...]

Rail fastening systems are often underappreciated by the casual observer. However, without them, a railroad would literally fall apart. We begin this year's roundup of rail fastening vendors and their [...]

According to one of the vendors in our 2021 survey of companies manufacturing and supplying materials and construction services for rail-grade crossings, one of their Class 1 customer's engineering employees [...]

Crosstie consumption is expected to reach just over 19 million in 2021, according to RTA Executive Director Ashley Goodin, as Class I railroad capex--which also includes bridge programs and siding [...]

Longer, faster, heavier is the mantra that many in the heavy haul railway sector live by. Technological advancements have been critical to steady improvements in performance and safety over the [...]

The International Union of Railways (UIC) Future of Railways symposium offered a platform for global railway leaders to express their views on the future direction of the industry. David Briginshaw [...]

While most aspects of railroading have not been immune from the effects of COVID-19--namely, a drop in business--many railroads have been 'working smart' and thinking ahead, taking advantage of lower [...]

Rail's sustainable credentials are setting it apart from other transport modes as a sound long-term investment opportunity for European banks. Two of Europe's most important lenders, the European Investment Bank [...]

THE 2020 results for rail transport in Russia, as well as the entire economy, were largely dictated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the counter measures by both [...]

DIGITALISATION of rail freight was one of the hot topics under discussion at the UlC's Global Rail Freight Conference in Genoa, Italy, in June. Digitalisation has the potential to improve [...]

Newer isn't always better--especially when it comes to locomotives. Modern, though, is a horse (power) of a different color. Modernization is all the rage in the industry these days, and [...]

GERMAN Rail (DB) had a tough time in 2018. Poor service reliability coupled with worse-than-expected half-year results put the railway's performance under intense scrutiny. CEO Dr Richard Lutz admitted in [...]

The crosstie industry has faced its fair share of challenges in recent years: from shortages of treated ties in 2013, 2014 and the beginning 2015 to a surplus that wrapped [...]

Welcome to the 2018 Railway Age Railroad Financial Desk Book. Through the month of September, 2017 has been a year filled with high drama at CSX, service disruptions, increasing freight [...]

THE rail sector faces huge challenges. New competitors from Asia are challenging historical European leadership, and the railway industry must take steps to improve its competitiveness. Low-cost airlines and long-distance [...]

While bulky machinery tends to dominate the rail industry, some of the most significant gains are made on projects when using hand-held equipment. Cembre During the past year, Cembre released [...]

Buckle up and hold on tight, because 2016 and beyond promises to be a time of, in automobile enthusiast terms, 'spirited driving.' Hunter Harrison, at the throttle of a fast, [...]

Railroads are infrastructure-intensive organizations that rely on significant amounts of information and data for operations and maintenance. As an aggregate, the U.S. railroad industry operates approximately 200,000 miles of railroad [...]

After drastically cutting back services in response to dwindling passenger numbers in March and April, rail operators have begun the process of returning to normal, albeit with social distancing and [...]

A stagnant North America freight market is set to continue in 2020. However, as Jim Blaze explains, technological advances and potential growth in intermodal, heavy-haul offer the Class 1 railways [...]

2013 has been a record year for the railroads, 'a very robust and challenging year for growth and re-investment,' in the words of BNSF chief executive Matt Rose. The indications [...]

Keeping track in place is important to all railroads, whether it's a Class 1, regional, shortline or transit line. The following pages highlight this year's most advanced fastening systems and [...]

They may be classified as small, but these hand-held tools pack a lot of punch when it comes to maintaining safe and reliable tracks across North America. Safety, along with [...]

The tie market during 2010 had its ups and downs. Purchases during the first half of the year were erratic, though they seem to be stabilizing near the end of [...]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hauling coal for utilities, industries, and export has been and still is good business for railroads. It is relatively easy to handle and moves in trainload lots, so […]

In the waning weeks of summer, long lines of stored freight cars and parked locomotives were beginning to get shorter. Norfolk Southern Chief Operating Officer Mark Manion and Chief Marketing […]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "The future whispers while the present shouts." So wrote former Vice President Al Gore in his book, Earth in the Balance. His hypothesis chillingly summarizes the dilemma of […]

To paraphrase the philosopher, if the fasteners don't hold, there is chaos. Fortunately, fasteners suppliers are coming up with new products and features that ensure everything will hold together--and chaos [...]

To paraphrase the philosopher, if the fasteners don't hold, there is chaos. Fortunately, fasteners suppliers are coming up with new products and features that ensure everything will hold together--and chaos [...]

A soft lumber market and tough real estate market may have an impact on the tie side of the rail industry. However, demand continued strong in 2007, making for another [...]

Forgive freight car designers if they're bemused by the energy fuss of 2007. Amid trendy and frantic shouts of "green" and "clean" and "change" and "need," freight car equipment designers […]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Back in July, Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman said he thought there would be a resurgence in the carload business. The occasion was the Sixth Annual Short Line […]

In the mid-20th Century, America's railroads were dealing with a crisis of monumental proportions. Straining under difficult government regulation, fighting subsidized competition, and saddled with bloated payrolls, they were facing […]

The track and structures side of the railroad business, whether for a Class I like Union Pacific, moving 140 heavy-axle-load trains a day across the triple-track main line between North […]

Railroads are, first and foremost, a business. But what a business it has been and continues so strongly to be. Railroading is an enterprise of continental scope and nearly two […]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" wrote Charles Dickens in the memorable opening lines of his 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities. Washington […]

VICTOR R. BABIN AREMA President 2020-21 AREMA was formed in 1997 by the merger of three railway engineering associations and the transfer of the functions of the Communications and Signals [...]

2003 has been a tough year for the industry, one in which, during a stagnant economy, railroads dealt with mostly-flat traffic levels (except for intermodal, the year's one bright spot) […]

A good year is what Rich Keller calls 2003, which included the publication of the Practical Guide to Railway Engineering and the announcement that AREMA and REMSA will meet together [...]

Welcome to Railway Age' foray into the misty regions of what will likely be the rail finance and equipment markets in 2003. Over the years, these annual future-think sessions have […]

Both the ability of railroads to handle intermodal and its fundamental economics have recently been called into question. Most railroads remain committed, but doubts linger. Sometimes, you just have to […]

Under fire for service problems, closely monitored on safety- and merger-related issues, and preparing for what will be a tough legislative year, the railroad industry is moving toward the doorway […]

What kind of year has '97 been-and how is '98 shaping up?" Railway Age put that question to key railway leaders in the U.S. and Canada. Here's what they told […]

A trimmed-down, high-productivity industry performed well this year in the face of adversity, and new highs in traffic and profits appear to be in store for '94. Ravaged by the […]

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times For some, 1993 has been the best of times. Railroads, flush with financial health and new labor efficiencies, […]

Still strong despite the national recession, railroads enter '93 with solid plans for growth and substantial capital budgets to help bring those plans to fruition. Again in 1992, the national […]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If America habitually demands and expects railroads to set the bar for safety--often with very little acknowledgement of the industry's stellar safety record--it also seems to […]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program, CREATE, is a first-of-its-kind partnership involving the State of Illinois, City of Chicago, Metra, Amtrak, AAR, and FHWA. CREATE includes […]