James Squires, NS CEO Norfolk Southern LAKE GENEVA, Wis. — Norfolk Southern is looking ahead with its newly implemented TOP21 operations plan, in use now for less than a month. The comments come from NS CEO James Squires at the summer meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers at the Grand Geneva Resort. “I think […]
Class I railroads will announce their second quarter earnings results over the next two weeks against a backdrop of declining traffic in the U.S. and indications that economic growth is slowing. But a combination of rate increases, efficiency gains, cost-cutting, and share buyback programs is expected to offset the impact of traffic volume declines at […]
NEW ORLEANS — Rail operations along the U.S. Gulf Coast were returning somewhat to normal Monday as Tropical Storm Barry — now a tropical depression — moved north into Arkansas and was expected to go in the general direction of St. Louis. The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad started three switching jobs late Sunday and […]
NEW ORLEANS — Railroads in the New Orleans area continued to initiate contingency plans due to the threat of Tropical Storm Barry. BNSF Railway officials said Thursday that they were holding all New Orleans-bound trains from moving into the area. “Our operations teams are working with other carriers to identify alternate gateways unaffected by this […]
NEW ORLEANS — The threat of Tropical Storm Barry striking Louisiana as a hurricane by the weekend has already begun to disrupt rail service. Because the Flood Protection Authority in New Orleans closed flood gates, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are rerouting New Orleans traffic and UP officials say they have suspended interchange with eastern […]
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending July 6. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 448,459 carloads and intermodal units, down 7.5% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending July 6 were 220,759 […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway opened its new intermodal terminal in Barstow, Calif., this week for premium container service between Southern California and Chicago. The $27 million terminal includes two production tracks totaling 6,600 feet, two lifts, and 640 paved parking spaces, BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent says. Service is provided five days a week. […]
ALBANY, N.Y. — A new book promises to “lay out the whole damning history” of moving crude oil by railroad, starting with the tragic wreck and inferno at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, on July 6, 2013. The book is “Bomb Trains: How Industry Greed and Regulatory Failure Put the Public at Risk” by Justin Mikulka. Mikulka says […]
WASHINGTON — Ashley Wieland has been named as the new president of the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association. Wieland, who had previously worked for the NRC in several capacities, was most recently director of state government relations for the American Traffic Safety Services Association. “I’m thrilled to be back with the NRC and honored […]
Canadian Pacific was the clear winner in second quarter traffic growth among the big six Class I railroad systems. CP carried 6% more carloads in the quarter, led by double-digit gains in its potash, forest products, and energy, chemicals and plastics business segments. The only CP traffic segments not to grow were coal, which was […]
BLUEMONT, Va. — Well-known Federal Railroad official Ken Lawson passed away at home in Bluemont on June 19, 2019. He was 90. Born in Chicago in 1928, Ken graduated from Northwestern University in 1951 with a degree in electrical engineering. He served as a gunnery officer on the U.S.S. Healy during the Korean Conflict. Following […]
E. Hunter Harrison, in this Canadian Pacific file photo, is credited with popularizing Precision Scheduled Railroading. Railroads that use the operations method are perceived as doing well according to a report from a logistics managers organization. CP LOMBARD, Ill. — Precision Scheduled Railroading is helping to lift shippers opinions of railroads according to the recently […]
