T4America Blog

News, press releases and other updates

Posts Tagged "freight rail"

Tracking damaging divides in Gretna, LA

Two sedans break as a train approaches, unable to cross

In a small southern city across the Mississippi River from New Orleans where daily freight trains run down the center of their main street, local elected leaders at all levels have negotiated with freight companies to relocate the incredibly disruptive freight line, but they’ll need federal support to make it happen.

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Off the rails: A call for freight railroad reform

Aerial view of several rolled train cars piled on top of and near each other, with smoke, debris, and water surrounding them.

Between all seven Class I freight railroad companies, the U.S. saw over 1,000 derailments in 2022. Norfolk Southern (the company responsible for the derailment in East Palestine) had 119 by itself. Other railways had even more, like BNSF which derailed 279 times in 2022. Derailments are harmful to the supply chain at best and record-setting environmental disasters at worst. The systemic problems within the freight industry that have led to derailments also have the side-effect of delaying passenger rail service.

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Steps taken toward first expansion of passenger rail in decades

press release

Amtrak and SRC submit a planning grant that will expand long-distance passenger rail service along the I-20 Corridor and in the Deep South.

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The STB is finally acting to improve freight railroads. Will it be enough?

Freight train

After years of looking the other way while deliveries suffered, the Surface Transportation Board finally ruled that freight railroads have to improve their service. Here’s what it could mean for goods and travelers alike.

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Bad faith arguments continue: Another look at the #SoNotBusy Gulf Coast Corridor

Over a month ago, we explained why freight railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern (NS) were trying to halt the return of passenger rail service on the Gulf Coast—an effort that could hinder passenger rail service across the country. Well, CSX is still at it, and their easily-disputed claims are proof that freight railroads have had free rein to stand in the path of passenger rail for far too long.

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Rail barons return: How two freight railroads are trying to derail the infrastructure law’s historic investment in passenger rail

mosaic of mobile residents cheering on the 2016 inspection train

Two freight railroads have been waging a bad-faith effort to kill the incredibly popular, fully funded, multi-state effort to restore long-awaited passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast, in part because the precedent could stall the infrastructure law’s historic investment in the country’s passenger rail network which would give millions more Americans access to regular rail service.

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New Amtrak president supports the return of Gulf Coast passenger rail

Though overshadowed by the President’s budget proposal to make deep cuts to passenger rail, there’s encouraging momentum for the opposite, including a commitment by Amtrak to restore long-distance service to the Gulf Coast, and the broader freight-dominated rail industry speaking out for the expansion of passenger rail service.

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