JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation reported record first-quarter financial results on Tuesday as revenue gains, merchandise carload growth, and improved operations overcame flat overall traffic volume. CSX’s net income rose 20%, to $834 million, as revenue rose 5%, to $3 billion. The railroad reported earnings per share of $1.02, a 31% increase that easily topped […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern reported record first-quarter revenues on Wednesday despite a 1% decline in volume that was largely due to the impact of Mexican teacher protests that shut down key routes in January and February. When adjusted for one-time items, KCS reported record first-quarter operating income of $242 million as revenue […]
The Ann Arbor’s tracks, foreground, are on the west side of the tower. Sol Tucker TOLEDO, Ohio – Operator Larry Bohland, the most senior employee on the railroad, had 40 years and one week on the job when Hallett Tower in Toledo closed earlier this week. He survived the dark days of the bankrupt Ann […]
A Union Pacific train passes under a signal bridge and past a positive train control installation on BNSF Railway track in Cajon Pass, Calif., in 2013. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney The nation’s railroads continue to work toward completion of positive train control installation. While the process seems like it might be inching along, railroads have made […]
Association of American Railroads WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads reported U.S. rail traffic on Wednesday for the week ending April 6. For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 510,192 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.8 % compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending April 6 […]
Map of proposed trackage rights proposed by Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern and filed with the Surface Transportation Board. Surface Transportation Board WASHINGTON — Norfolk Southern’s former Wabash main line across Missouri and Illinois may be getting a little busier as part of a new shortcut for Union Pacific. UP is seeking Surface Transportation Board […]
GLENVIEW, Ill. — The Glenview Village Board has voted to budget another $36,000 for its fight against efforts to increase Amtrak Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee, running the community’s total tab for the effort to more than $541,000. The Chicago Tribune reports that of the newly budgeted funds, $30,000 will go to a state […]
Hunter Harrison speaks before the Surface Transportation Board in 2017. R.G. Edmonson Some of E. Hunter Harrison’s former colleagues are expressing surprise that a railroad financier credits former Illinois Central CEO Ed Moyers with developing the concepts behind Precision Scheduled Railroading. Last week Gil Lamphere, a former board member at IC, Canadian National, and CSX […]
BALTIMORE — There’s a lot riding on the successful implementation of Precision Scheduled Railroading at Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and Kansas City Southern. That’s the conclusion of railroaders, industry analysts, and shippers who spoke at the North East Association of Rail Shippers conference last week. The rocky implementation of PSR at CSX Transportation under E. […]
A Union Pacific local train passes through suburban areas near Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., in October 2017. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney Question: How do trains crews earn their money? — Lee Martens, Rifle, Colo. Answer: In short, it is complicated. There are differences between how most Class I railroaders are paid and their short line colleagues — […]
Siemens Charger SC-44 No. 4632 leads Amtrak train 391, the southbound Saluki from Chicago to Carbondale, Ill., on the Canadian National Centrailia Subdivision, after passing the coaling towers that were built for the then Illinois Central Railroad in 1949. 18302-27 Jim Pearson Question: What effect, if any, will the implementation of Precision Scheduled Railroading by […]
SEATTLE — The Alaska Railroad carried a third less freight by weight in 2018 compared with 2017 totals, but a change in the mix of freight coupled with gains on the passenger side helped dampen the drop in revenue and net income. The Anchorage, Alaska-based state-owned railroad reported operating revenue of $163.4 million in 2018, […]
