WASHINGTON — A lack of markers warning of a close-clearance situation was the probable cause of a fatal accident involving a BNSF Railway conductor in La Mirada, Calif., on March 3, 2021, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a final accident report issued late last week. The conductor was killed during a shoving move […]
DES LACS, N.D. — BNSF’s main line across North Dakota was fully reopened Saturday evening after a Friday morning derailment, the railroad says in a customer advisory. One track of the main line near Des Lacs, about 14 miles west of Minot, N.D., reopened on Saturday at 5:25 a.m. CST; the second track reopened at […]
OMAHA, Neb. — BNSF Railway’s pre-tax earnings declined 1.9% in 2022 due to a combination of lower volume and higher costs, the railroad’s parent company, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on Saturday. BNSF’s revenue was up 11.9% for the year, to $25.2 billion, reflecting an 18.9% increase in average revenue per car/unit, including the impact from higher […]
MINOT, N.D. — BNSF’s northern transcontinental main line is currently blocked after an early-morning derailment of an intermodal train near Des Lacs, N.D., approximately 14 miles west of Minot. A customer advisory on the BNSF website says the derailment occurred about 3:36 a.m. CDT today (Friday, Feb. 24). The Dakotan website quotes Karter Lesmann, chief […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway has become the fourth of the seven Class I railroads to announce an agreement for paid sick leave with some unionized workers, reaching agreement with the Transportation Communications Union and the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers. The TCU agreement applies to insourced intermodal equipment operators, which represent a […]
BNSF SD75 locomotives: Working out their days in the Pacific Northwest, nearly two dozen former Santa Fe and BNSF Railway SD75s have called this corner of the country home. They are now assigned some of the heaviest trains in and out of the northwest. The design of the SD75 was in part due to compete […]
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Retired BNSF Railway CEO Robert D. Krebs and his wife Anne have donated their Lake Forest mansion, with an assessed value of $5.96 million, to Lake Forest College, the Chicago Tribune reports in a paywalled article. The 9,217-square-foot Italian-villa mansion is on 2.6 acres of land on Walden Road in the […]
BISMARCK, N.D. — As part of its long-running effort to prevent BNSF Railway from replacing a 140-year-old bridge over the Missouri River, a preservation group argued in a Friday hearing against granting a state permit needed for the project. The Bismarck Tribune reports the group Friends of the Rail Bridge argued in the hearing before […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway plans to spend $3.96 billion on capital investments in 2023, the railroad announced Thursday — an increase of more than $400 million from its plan in 2022. “Our capital plan reflects our growth mindset and commitment to having the capacity and equipment we need to support our customers,” Katie […]
LOMBARD, Ill. — BNSF Railway’s plans for a major new facility in Barstow, Calif., represent the continuing evolution of the railroad’s efforts to improve the intermodal supply chain, says CEO Katie Farmer. The railroad’s plans for the Barstow International Gateway, a $1.5 billion, 4,500-acre terminal in Southern California, builds on the development of earlier Logistics […]
WASHINGTON – Montana Rail Link engineers can’t have their cake and eat it too, the railroad has told federal regulators. Last week the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 232, which represents 250 MRL employees in eastern Montana, asked the Surface Transportation Board to continue their benefits at MRL levels if it approves the […]
BOCA RATON, Fla. — Craig Rasmussen, BNSF Railway assistant vice president, engineering services and structures, had plenty of big projects to review during his presentation today (Friday, Jan. 6) at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference. But they all pale in comparison to the BIG project still to come — the Barstow International […]
