Locomotive Spare Parts and Inventory

A recently released Amtrak study found that proposed service from Iowa City to the Quad Cities would be financially feasible and had support from both local citizens and legislators. The plan will go before the Iowa Legislature during the 2009 session. The Iowa route would cost between $26.1 million and $32.5 million, depending on how fast the trains would travel. The study examined both a 60-mph and a 79-mph train. Read more...

English Channel tunnel operator Groupe Eurotunnel SA on Tuesday reported profits of $1.57 million for 2007, its first annual net profit, less than a year after the company nearly drowned in debt. The company, whose main source of revenue is toll fees collected from railway companies and train operators, described cross-Channel traffic as "buoyant" in 2007. Read more...

On March 24, 2008 CSX Corp. sold $1 billion in debt in a two part sale, said a source familiar with the deal.

Barclays Capital, Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley were the lead managers of the sale. Read More...

Trespassers account for the largest number of fatalities in the railroad industry – approximately 500 per year. In order to better understand who is trespassing, their locations, and the reasons they are on railroad property, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a report using three years of reported trespasser fatalities. Click here to download a PDF of the report.

Starting no later than April 2008, Railfood will be changing our pricing structure. While there will still be free registration, we will also be offering a Professional registration for $500/year. Companies who upgrade or join at the Professional level will enjoy reduced costs for credits and a host of other, yet to be announced features. The price for credits on the Basic level will soon rise to $5 per credit so we encourage those who have not yet purchased credits to take advantage of the current $1 price while available.

Canadian National Railway Co.says it will spend more than $1.5 billion this year on capital projects, including a line to the new container terminal at Prince Rupert, B.C., and improvements at rail yards near Toronto and Memphis, Tenn. The Montreal-based company also announced plans to upgrade its recently acquired Athabasca Northern Railway, seen as an important transportation link to the oilsands region near Fort McMurray. Read more...

The Transportation Department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics said its freight transportation services index, which measures changes in the output of services by the railroad, air freight and trucking industries, was 111.5 in January, 2.7 percent higher than the same month last year.

The freight index also rose 2.4 percent from its December level. It started in January 1990 at 66.6, and peaked in November 2005 at 113.1.

Argentina has shocked the world by deciding to build the first high-speed railway in the Americas. Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV) in Italy looks set to be the world’s first open-access high-speed rail operator. Kirchner signed a $1.35 billion contract with a consortium led by Alstom, a French company, to construct a 440 mile (710 km) high-speed rail system that would connect the country's major cities. Read More...