The Manifest

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Every issue, in reverse order. Weekly since April 16, 2026.

Issue 6
Railway Safety Act clears committee; BLET rejects CPKC contract; FRA reverses signal & dispatcher certification; UP-NS merger application revised

■ From the Field THE IRON IN THE FIRE On the Railway Safety Act, the Politics That Delayed It, and the Field That Lives Without It The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee marks up the BUILD America 250 Act this week

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Issue 5
UP-NS Merger Application Lands at STB; Penn Station Tunnel Fire Exposes Infrastructure Fragility; Eagle Pass Rail Corridor Opens New Trade Gateway

He bought Burlington Northern Santa Fe — and the distinction, long treated as a footnote, turns out to be the whole story

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Issue 4
UP-NS Merger Application Lands at STB; FRA Deregulation Blitz Reshapes Track and Certification Rules; Crude Collapse Pressures Crude-by-Rail Economics

■ From the Field THE RAIN MAN RAILROAD There is a scene in Rain Man where Raymond Babbitt sits in an airport and refuses to board the plane

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Issue 3
UP-NS Merger Filing Lands at STB; $2B CRISI Pot Opens; Texas Border Rail Corridors Multiply

A force older than the railroad — entropy — drives the largest merger filing in a generation, while the regulatory and capital fronts move in parallel.

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Issue 2
UP-NS Merger Filing on Track for April 30, $6.7B in Federal Rail Grants Drop, Amtrak Sues Metro-North Over NextGen Acela Access

Earnings season delivers a clear signal on Class I capital posture; federal grant dollars hit the street; passenger rail fights itself in court.

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Issue 1
Virginia Signs Two-Person Crew Law; Short Lines Seek One-Person Waivers; Shippers Push STB on Rate Transparency

The crew-consist landscape splits in real time — and the divergence between Class I and shortline regulatory posture becomes the operational fault line of 2026.

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