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 […]
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CHICAGO – The Chicago area’s congressional delegation delivered for commuter rail agency Metra in 2022, helping secure $204.1 million in competitive federal grants for Metra projects – the most by far in Metra’s history. The amount includes the largest discretionary grant Metra ever received – $117 million for the next phase of the Union Pacific North […]
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WASHINGTON — Replacement of Amtrak’s long-distance passenger cars has been included in forward-looking fleet plans for more than a decade, but the company announced Thursday it contacted carbuilders in December as “a first formal step” to re-equip the 14 overnight routes of the long-distance network. The request for expressions of interest “was sent to potential […]
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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 […]
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LOMBARD, Ill. — It is safe to say we have not heard the last from the Surface Transportation Board on Union Pacific’s use of embargoes to address congestion. That was made fairly obvious during a wide-ranging and engaging Q&A with STB Chairman Martin J. Oberman on Thursday’s second and concluding day of the Midwest Association […]
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WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board’s final decision on the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger has been delayed and likely won’t come until late February at the earliest. Today was the statutory deadline for the board to issue its decision on the first merger of Class I railroads in more than two decades. But […]
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LOWELL, Ark. – J.B. Hunt executives say rail service is improving on BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, and Norfolk Southern, which should enable the trucking company to gain additional intermodal volume this year. BNSF is now back to pre-pandemic service levels, Darren Field, president of J.B. Hunt’s intermodal division, said on the company’s quarterly earnings call […]
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WASHINGTON – Members of Congress from Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have asked federal regulators to order Union Pacific to lift a weather-related embargo on rail traffic in their states before it has “devastating effects” on shippers. UP imposed the 14-day embargo on Dec. 29 and on Jan. 11 extended it another 14 days, saying ongoing […]
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation has strongly condemned hateful displays that purportedly appeared on the side of the company’s headquarters building during the Jacksonville Jaguars game last weekend, News 4 Jacksonville reported. A swastika and cross were seen projected on the side of the building in a photo that was shared widely on Reddit. It […]
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ST. LOUIS – Anheuser-Busch is partnering with with Union Pacific and Doll Distributing, one of the largest beverage distributors in the Midwest, to transport product from its breweries in Colorado and Missouri to wholesalers across the country. Anheuser-Busch purchased 240 new insulated rail cars to move beverages on UP. The cars are equipped with GPS, […]
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LOMBARD, Ill. — Attendees at the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting could be excused on Wednesday if they occasionally thought they had wandered into a job fair. Attracting and retaining workers was one of the recurring themes of the first day of the two-day meeting. It’s been a huge issue for railroads, of […]
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LOMBARD, Ill. — The two Class I CEOs who addressed the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers on Wednesday took different approaches to the same addressing the same concerns for the audience filling a hotel ballroom, which is to say providing assurances that railroad service is improving and will continue to do so after the rail […]
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