CORONADO, Calif. — If there’s a trend in this year’s Class I capital plans — at least as they’re being presented at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference — it’s that the railroads are keeping the nature of those plans closer to the vest than they have at previous conferences. Dollar figures for […]
Analysts expect fourth quarter earnings to fall at four of the six publicly traded Class I railroads as cost cutting, rate increases, and share buybacks were not enough to offset the impact of traffic declines. On average, earnings per share at the six publicly traded railroads will fall by 1%, according to consensus estimates by […]
HO scale freight cars General American 20,000-gallon general service tank car. Alaska RR (five road numbers [two single cars and one three-pack]), Emery (white with GATX reporting marks in four numbers), GATX (black with Clean, Oil, Test & Stencil panels and Automatic Car Identification tag; black with “Service Driven” logo; and white), and Reagent Chemical […]
Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel speaks during the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference on Monday, Jan. 6. TRAINS: David Lassen CORONADO, Calif. — Consolidation of the rail industry is “inevitable,” Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel says, but the industry-wide embrace of Precision Scheduled Railroading has likely pushed the merger process from a five-year window […]
Steven Ditmeyer Steven Ditmeyer’s long career in railroading and related industries began as a transportation trainee for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. He has been a transportation economist at The World Bank; chief engineer of research, communications, and control systems at Burlington Northern; and held positions with the Federal Railroad Administration. He is currently the principal […]
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has dismissed a complaint from a coalition of rail shippers taking issue with what they characterized as unfair fuel surcharges. The STB’s decision to deny the petition for reconsideration on Dec. 30 is the latest in a long-brewing conflict over fuel surcharges. Railroads say they are simply trying to […]
Trains editors discuss all the rail news that’s fit to print for the week of Jan. 3, 2020. This week, Jim and Steve talk about a BNSF Railway derailment in Idaho, a judge’s ruling on a Durango & Silverton lawsuit, and more. […]
Canadian Pacific was the only Class I railroad to show volume growth in 2019. CP eked out 0.9% growth in total traffic, well above the industry average of a 3% decline in total volume measured by carloads and intermodal units, according to a Trains News Wire review of the railroads’ weekly carload reports. CP also […]
An inbound Metra BNSF train meets Amtrak’s Southwest Chief at Naperville, Ill., on Jan. 1, 2018. Metra will offer free New Year’s Eve rides and discounted New Year’s Day tickets this year. TRAINS: David Lassen CHICAGO — For the first time, Metra will offer free rides on New Year’s Eve, along with discounted rides on […]
E. Hunter Harrison Courtesy, Canadian Pacific Wildfire — in the form of Precision Scheduled Railroading — has enflamed corporate railroad headquarters from Mexico to Canada and throughout the United States. It’s hard to imagine any theory of operations and management, so long opposed by the notoriously status-quo cultures of U.S. railroads, could take root so […]
CHICAGO — Union Pacific’s desire to get out of the business of operating Metra commuter trains has landed in federal court. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that UP filed suit earlier this week. The exact nature of the dispute is unknown, since the filing is sealed at UP’s request, and neither side provided details in response […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Surface Transportation Board is moving forward with the creation of an environmental impact study for a proposed railroad in Utah’s Uinta Basin. On Dec. 13, the STB’s Office of Environmental Analysis published the Final Scope of Study for the Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Uinta Basin Railway. A cooperative regional […]
