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Railroads

RWU Opposes Merger, Responds To Latest Fratricide In Rail Labor

November 24, 2025 Railroad Workers United. , , , , , ,
When Railroad Workers United (RWU) was founded in 2008, delegates agreed that rail labor’s strength depends on solidarity, unity, and democracy across all crafts. That remains our position today. Sentiment alone does not win better wages, benefits, and working conditions; strategy and coordinated action do. As Eugene V. Debs reminded us, the success of the labor movement rests on real - not rhetorical - solidarity. Unfortunately, recent developments have undermined these principles. In its latest statement, SMART-TD abandoned solidarity, unity, and democratic process.

Demand Transportation Board Block Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Mega-Merger!

November 11, 2025 More Perfect Union.
Fifty years ago, there were 71 major US railroad companies. Now just 4 rail corporations control 90% of the market -- and two of them are on the verge of merging. If this merger goes through, it would make everything more expensive, because huge swaths of the economy still rely on rail infrastructure. And these two companies -- Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific -- have a history of raising prices while cutting costs. Journalists at More Perfect Union sat down with rail experts about what this merger would mean for Americans, and what it would mean for America if it goes through.

Railroad Barons Launch An Astroturf Campaign For Their Mega-Merger

October 14, 2025 Brett Heinz, Revolving Door Project Newsletter. , , ,
The power of railroad monopolies was one of most fraught political issues in America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rampant political corruption, fraud, violations of workers’ rights, inefficiencies, and inflated prices were an endemic feature of monopolistic control over our national transportation system. So bad was the rail companies’ behavior that the first ever regulatory agency in US history was created specifically to monitor their abuses. At the center of many of these controversies was Union Pacific (UP), a company whose actions played an important role in shaping early antitrust policy. Flash forward to today, and that same company is back at it again.

Make Trains Great Again For The Sake Of People And The Planet

September 24, 2025 Nature. , , , ,
What if there were a technology that could help to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, air pollution and environmental degradation, while improving health, reducing social inequality and boosting economic growth? There is, and this month it turns 200. The opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in northeast England on 27 September 1825 is generally considered to be the birth of the modern railway — an event that set in motion a revolution in human mobility and social organization. Initially, the railways enjoyed breakneck expansion, but since the mid-twentieth century, railway development in most countries has hit the buffers, and been overtaken by growth in road and air travel.

Why Railroad Workers Are Fighting The Proposed UP-NS Merger

September 16, 2025 Bill Moyer, Solutionary Rail. , , , ,
In the coming year or so, the Surface Transportation Board will determine whether to approve or block Union Pacific’s $85-billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern. This signals an attempt by Wall Street to squeeze yet more from this critical infrastructure in order to maximize returns for shareholders. In 2023, Surface Transportation Board (STB) member Robert Primus was the sole board member to vote against the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern to form Canadian Pacific Kansas City. President Trump’s recent illegal firing of board member Primus further weakens the STB and corrupts its adjudicatory mandate. The absence of a key critical voice from the Board raises the pressure on concerned workers, shippers, competing railroads, and the public to make their voices heard. Unless Primus is reinstated, the approval of this Wall Street railroad merger is a near done deal.

Railroad Worker Group Opposes Further Class One Rail Mergers

August 11, 2025 Railroad Workers United, Popular Resistance. , , ,
The group Railroad Workers United (RWU) has issued a formal Resolution and statement opposing any and all mega-rail mergers such as the one under question in recent weeks between rail giants Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. Should that merger move forward and be condoned by the U.S. government, RWU notes that the remaining two Class One railroads, BNSF and CSX, would in effect be forced to amalgamate as well, resulting in just four major rail corporations controlling not just the industry, but the infrastructure as well. Upwards of 90% of the rail traffic of North America will be controlled by these four corporations. According to RWU General Secretary Nick Wurst, “In no other counties in the world outside of North America do huge rail corporations not just run the trains, but own the tracks, yards, signals, shops and other infrastructure."

‘Fund The 15!’ Building Out A True National Railroad Network

June 17, 2025 Dan Bilka, Railway Age. , , ,
The American passenger rail renaissance is well-under way! Sold out trains, highly successful new services, and (justifiable) frustration about high ticket prices because of it: This is only the beginning. FY2024 was Amtrak’s most successful year in history with record ridership and record revenue. Americans, loudly and clearly, want more passenger rail travel options. Our limited existing services are already oversubscribed. Now is the time we need to work to meet the moment and bring passenger trains to more people in more places as part of a truly interconnected transportation network. They are truly engines of economic growth.

Rail Users’ Network Conference: Good News, Bad News

June 3, 2025 David Peter Alan, Railway Age. , , ,
The bad news was, of course, the fiscal cliff that is exacerbating funding crises for many transit providers, as we have been reporting. The good news is that some providers still expect to open new lines soon that have been planned and built over the years. This writer delivered the closing remarks, which will be summarized in a separate commentary at the end of this article. RUN is a not-for-profit advocacy organization whose purview includes Amtrak, other passenger-rail carriers in the United States and Canada, and rail transit in both countries. It holds two aftenoon-length conferences each year. Last year’s events focused on potential expansion of the Amtrak network through the FRA’s Long-Distance and Corridor ID studies, both of which now face uncertain futures due to political changes in Washington.

Locomotive Builders Forge Green Rail Project

May 9, 2025 Kari Thompson, Labor Notes. , , ,
Union workers who make diesel locomotives at a plant in Pennsylvania are pushing ahead with their campaign to manufacture more green-powered locomotives. The workers aim to clean up diesel railroad pollution while also revitalizing their locomotive engine manufacturing plant in Erie. But they’re facing roadblocks, and the recent federal chaos has added to the uncertainty. In the meantime, workers are making direct changes to clean up their jobsite. The Wabtec plant, formerly General Electric, makes diesel locomotives for both freight and passenger trains. The company began researching all-electric and hybrid diesel-electric locomotives several years ago, and more recently began exploring hydrogen power.

As US Threatens To Privatize Amtrak, UK Begins To Renationalize Rail

April 22, 2025 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. , , , , ,
While the Trump Administration and billionaire advisor Elon Musk are talking about privatizing passenger rail here in the USA, in the UK, they’re going in the opposite direction. Next month, on May 25, the British will begin nationalizing passenger rail after decades of failed privatization, which began in 1994 (see write-up from the British House of Commons). Amtrak referenced the UK’s experiment with privatization in a March 2025 analysis explaining why privatization is a bad idea (see Amtrak FAQ here). On this side of the Atlantic, Amtrak had its best year ever for ridership and revenue. Some of its ridership growth is due to an increasing number of long-haul commuters, especially commuters from Philadelphia to New York City.

Amtrak Doesn’t Understand Why Elon Musk Wants To Privatize Amtrak

March 18, 2025 Ryan Erik King, Jalopnik. , , ,
Elon Musk has eagerly positioned himself as a chainsaw-welding horror movie slasher with government agencies as his victims, instead of promiscuous high schoolers. The Tesla CEO set his sights on privatizing the USPS and Amtrak, but the federally-owned railroad released a response last week stating that it can't understand why it needs private ownership. Amtrak has turned a lemon from the 1960s into a decent lemonade by the 21st century. Musk spoke at a Morgan Stanley technology conference last week and advised travelers visiting the country to stay away from Amtrak.

Federal Personnel Cuts Could Further Delay Languishing Rail Initiatives

March 8, 2025 Bob Johnston, Trains. , , ,
Disbursement of funds from grants awarded under a variety of Federal Railroad Administration continue to be held up by a lengthy approval process involving FRA personnel. These investments are threatened by potential staff reductions at the agency, as well as possible vetos by overseers invoking new Trump administration ideological criteria. Concerned about such a prospect, the Rail Passengers Association and 22 other public transportation advocacy organizations on Friday, Feb. 28, sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, urging him to “preserve mission-critical personnel to avoid further delays in the administration of these passenger and freight projects.”

Court Strikes Down Federal Rule That Would Have Allowed ‘Bomb Trains’

January 22, 2025 Earthjustice. , , , , ,
A federal court today struck down a 2020 rule that would have allowed trains to travel the country filled with an unprecedented amount of explosive liquefied natural gas (LNG). The liquefied natural gas from just one rail tank car — without even considering a whole train — could be enough to destroy a city. “We’re pleased that the court saw the danger this rule posed to our nation’s communities,” said Earthjustice attorney Bradley Marshall. “As we pointed out, it would only take 22 tank cars to hold the equivalent energy of the Hiroshima bomb.” The federal effort to cut critical safeguards for liquefied natural gas started on April 10, 2019, when President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to initiate rulemaking to allow liquefied natural gas transport by rail.

From Dream To Reality: Go-Op, Britain’s First Cooperative Railway

January 5, 2025 Jack Simpson, The Guardian. , , ,
The idea for the country’s first cooperative rail service came to Alex Lawrie in 2004 after another frustrating trip across Somerset. Having moved to Yeovil four years earlier with his young family, his job as a cooperative development manager involved daily trips across the south-west trying to set up member-owned businesses. A reluctant motorist, he quickly became frustrated with the rail service he was depending on to get around. “It baffled me, trains came at seemingly random intervals, there were only a few trains serving a big town like Yeovil, hours would pass without a train coming,” Lawrie says.

Teamsters: Government Should Stay Out Of The Bargaining Process

December 17, 2024 Bill Stephens, Trains. , , , , , , ,
Toronto – Teamsters Canada union leaders are urging federal officials in Ottawa to stay out of the collective bargaining process and back railway workers’ right to strike. “The transportation industry’s most powerful chief executives have developed a way to sidestep union negotiations,” Francois Laporte, national president of Teamsters Canada, and Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, wrote in an op-ed in Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper this week. “Here’s their playbook, as we see it: Make unreasonable demands, accuse unions of being unreasonable for refusing to accept them, instigate job action, lock workers out to disrupt supply chains, and use the resulting outcry to press Ottawa to impose binding arbitration. We believe this to be bad faith bargaining.
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