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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: railroad

railroad stories: 11 news summaries
ANALYSIS

Buffett's Railroad Buy
Is a (Smart) Bet on Coal

Growth in US economy will boost electricity demand

Nov 3, 09 5:56 PM CST
(Newser) - Berkshire Hathaway’s acquisition of railroad operator Burlington North Santa Fe is really a "huge bet" by Warren Buffett on the coal industry, writes Steve Gelsi . Burlington hauls more coal than anything else, and the material accounted for a quarter of its third-quarter revenue. Buffett already is heavily invested... More »

MORE ABOUT:
coal • Warren Buffett • electricity • Berkshire Hathaway • railroad • Burlington Northern Santa Fe

Buffett Bets on Recovery, Buys Burlington for $26B

Deal will be Berkshire Hathaway's largest ever

Nov 3, 09 8:41 AM CST
(Newser) - Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to buy up the 77.4% of railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe it didn’t already own for $26 billion, in what would be Warren Buffett’s largest acquisition ever. “It’s an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States,”... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Warren Buffett • mergers and acquisitions • acquisition • Berkshire Hathaway • railroad • Oracle of Omaha • Burlington Northern Santa Fe

Famed Man-Eating Lions Not That Hungry: Scientists

Kenyan duo credited with 135 kills ate just 35 humans

Nov 2, 09 4:43 PM CST
(Newser) - The Tsavo lions, reputed to have consumed 135 railroad workers in Africa at the turn of the last century, were not quite as ravenous as legend would have it. The lions—whose stuffed carcasses are enshrined at Chicago ’s Field Museum —actually dispatched a mere 35 souls,... More »

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Africa • Kenya • Chicago • railroad • Field Museum • Tsavo lions • British Empire • taxidermy • John H. Patterson

 Obama: We Need 
 High-Speed Rail, Fast 

System would fight congestion, save energy, clean air: Prez

Apr 16, 09 9:47 AM CDT
(AP) - President Obama is calling for the country to move swiftly to a system of high-speed rail travel, saying it will relieve congestion, help clean the air, and save on energy. "This is not some fanciful, pie-in-the-sky vision of the future. It's happening now," he said today in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
train • railroad • Obama administration • President Obama • Ray LaHood

(Newser) - The engineer of the passenger train involved in the September collision that killed 25 people near Los Angeles sometimes allowed amateur rail buffs to ride with him and take the controls, the Times reports. Federal investigators today released evidence, including a text from the day of the crash: “I’... More »

MORE ABOUT:
texting • railroad • train crash • Metrolink • Robert Sanchez

Boxcars Idled by Recession Become Residential Blight

Residents who have gained a new town wall aren't pleased

Feb 23, 09 1:50 PM CST
(Newser) - Miles of boxcars that used to rumble through rural US communities now sit idle—and though quieter, towns are finding them much more obtrusive, reports the Wall Street Journal. With shipping down across the world, 30% of America’s boxcars have nothing to transport, and rail yards just can’t... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Midwest • recession • train • railroad • economy • financial crisis • freight • recession depression • boxcar

Obama Gets Rail Rolling
With $8B Stimulus

Prez plots $8b high-speed train network

Feb 17, 09 11:31 AM CST
(Newser) - America's railways are about to get a huge handout: At today's signing of the stimulus package, $8 billion will be allocated to high-speed rail. Though the money will be divvied up according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's master plan, the expansion is truly President Obama's pet project, reports Politico. "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • transit • Rahm Emanuel • Harry M. Reid • railroad • economic stimulus package • Department of Transportation • Obama administration • Ray LaHood

Slowdown
Stalls Nation's
Freight Carriers

Haulers are hunkering down for a 'nuclear winter' in 2009

Dec 11, 08 3:21 PM CST
(Newser) - With freight carriers predicting 2009 could be the worst year in three decades, some haulers  say they’re “settling in for nuclear winter,” holding off on making capital expenditures, mothballing equipment and laying off employees, reports the Wall Street Journal. From truckers to railroads to ocean shipping, companies... More »

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shipping • FedEx • railroad • trucking • United Parcel Service Inc. • financial crisis • freight

Amtrak Sees Boom in
Riders as Fuel Costs Soar

But shrunken rail service is nearing capacity

Jun 21, 08 10:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - With fuel prices soaring, travelers are increasingly turning to Amtrak, which posted a record for passengers in May—not usually a big travel month, reports the New York Times. But the struggling rail service has shrunk so drastically since it was created in the '70s that it won't be able... More »

MORE ABOUT:
travel • Amtrak • railroad • fuel costs

Railroads Hopping Aboard Green Marketing Trend

Train pushed as eco-friendlier option—and environmentalists are conceding the point

May 29, 08 8:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Often maligned as noxious-fume-spewing bad citizens, railroad companies are hopping the green train, the Wall Street Journal reports. Campaigns by Norfolk Southern and CSX tout clean-burning diesel engines that "can move a ton of freight 423 miles on a single gallon," and Union Pacific claims diverting 25% of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • global warming • marketing • green technology • green transportation • railroad

India Train Bomb Kills 5

Adivasi militants claim responsibility

Dec 13, 07 5:37 AM CST
(Newser) - At least five passengers were killed early today when a bomb exploded beneath a packed passenger train in trouble-wracked northeast India, AP reports. The bomb tore through the luggage car of the Rajdhani Express traveling to New Delhi from Assam state.  A little known militant group claimed responsibility for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
India • bombing • Assam • railroad • United Liberation Front of Asom

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