Archive for February 2020
Federal court orders BNSF to pay worker $696,173 for lost wages after U.S. Department of Labor finds railroad retaliated against whistleblower
(Source: U.S. Department of Labor press release, February 5, 2020) DENVER, Colo. — The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado has ordered Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) to pay $696,173 in lost back and future wages to a former employee who reported track defects, bringing the total paid to the whistleblower to…
Read MoreRRB announces 2020 Pre-Retirement Seminars
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, February 6 — The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has announced is schedule of Pre-Retirement Seminars for 2020. Designed for union officers and railroad employees and spouses planning to retire within five years, Pre-Retirement Seminars will familiarize attendees with the retirement benefits available to them, and also guide them through the application process.…
Read MoreAAR: January rail traffic trends offer ‘glimmers of hope’
(Source: Progressive Railroading 02/06/2020) U.S. railroads hauled 2,410,813 carloads and intermodal units in January, down 5.6 percent compared with traffic hauled in January 2019, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). The combined number of carloads last month fell 5.9 percent to 1,165,733 units, while the number of intermodal containers and trailers dipped 5.4 percent to…
Read MoreAAR: U.S. Rail Traffic Still Down; Canada, Mexico See Gains
(Source: Railway Age January 30, 2020) Written by Andrew Corselli, Managing Editor The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ended Jan. 25, 2020, and for this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 485,282 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.1% compared with the same week last year. However, our neighbors to the…
Read MoreBNSF budgets $3.4 billion for capital expenditures in 2020
(Source: Progressive Railroading 02/04/2020) BNSF Railway Co. will spend $3.4 billion on capital expenditures this year, down from the $3.57 billion the Class I budgeted in 2019. This year’s plan emphasizes maintaining network infrastructure as well as expansion projects designed to meet customer demand, BNSF officials said last week in a customer notification. The plan’s largest…
Read More