JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX was named the recipient of the inaugural W.F. Thompson Award for Class I Operating Performance for 2023. The award, presented by analyst firm Loop Capital, is designed to recognize the Class I railroad with the best operational performance in a calendar year.
“By any measure, CSX had a strong year in 2023,” Rick Paterson, managing director of Loop Capital, said in a news release with his final 2023 weekly report on rail operational and service trends. “CSX was the first of the four U.S. Class I railroads to recover from the 2022 Service Crisis, by a wide margin, and quickly locked in strong and remarkably consistent operating performance over the course of the year.”
Paterson said CSX’s average network train velocity last year was its highest ever recorded, demonstrating minimal week-to-week volatility. He said CSX reduced terminal dwell in 2023, ending the year with an average dwell that ranks third best in the company’s history.
So far in 2024, CSX has recorded an average train velocity of 19.3 miles per hour across the system in the first week, a 5% improvement compared to the first week of 2023. “As we navigate past pandemic-induced supply chain challenges, I am confident that our culture of collaboration will help us further improve our performance metrics in 2024,” said Mike Cory, CSX executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Cory said the company’s better service performance is part of its strategy of business growth, which involves converting shipments from truck to rail and attracting new customer facilities to rail-served properties.
And no mention of PSR or OR. Hopefully this trend continues.