FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway’s revenue and profits were up in 2018, with industrial products revenue and volume leading the way. BNSF’s annual operating income increased 9 percent, to $6.9 billion, on revenue of $23.9 billion, an increase of 12 percent, the railroad’s parent, Berkshire Hathaway, reported on Saturday and BNSF reported in its […]
With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada — and the expectation that pot will become a $5 billion business by 2020 — the rail industry now has a shipping code for cannabis and related products. Effective Feb. 2, a new Standard Transportation Commodity Code, or STCC, went into effect to govern the shipment of […]
CLOQUET, Minn. and ST. LAZARE, Manitoba – It was a bad weekend for BNSF Railway and Canadian National as both railroads suffered derailments Feb. 16 in Minnesota and Manitoba, respectively. Around 11:25 a.m. Saturday a westbound BNSF coal train bound for Minnesota Power’s Boswell Energy Center at Cohasset, Minn., derailed 40 cars near Draco siding […]
SEATTLE — One of the biggest construction projects in the Pacific Northwest in recent years is actually a demolition job — the removal of a two-mile double-decker elevated highway slicing between downtown and the Elliott Bay waterfront. And slicing under that highway structure is one of the region’s most important rail lines. BNSF Railway’s main […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway today announced its 2019 capital investment plan of $3.57 billion. The emphasis of this year’s capital plan continues to be on maintaining and expanding its network with an unwavering focus on operating a safe railroad that meets customers’ demands. “Our rail network is in excellent shape and its condition […]
WENDOVER, Wyo. – Two BNSF Railway coal trains derailed in a remote Wyoming canyon on Monday, injuring two people and spilling fuel into a nearby river. The Star Tribune reports that a loaded coal train rear ended another train north of Wendover. Three locomotives and four cars derailed as a result of the incident. The […]
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington state Supreme Court has ruled that the Pierce County, Wash., medical examiner isn’t entitled to a copy of a video recording made and held by BNSF Railway of a 2017 fatality in which a man standing on tracks was struck and killed. The ruling, filed Jan. 31, stems from a […]
BNSF Railway Executive Chairman Matt Rose, left, speaks with independent rail analyst Anthony B. Hatch, right, at the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers’ conference in Lombard, Ill., on Jan. 16, 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen LOMBARD, Ill. — What’s on Matt Rose’s mind? Lots. As part of a long-ranging conversation with independent rail analyst Anthony B. […]
BNSF Railway Executive Chairman Matt Rose speaks to an audience at the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers conference in Lombard, Ill., on Jan. 16, 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen LOMBARD, Ill. — Matt Rose has a lot of things on his mind as he nears the end of his tenure as executive chairman of BNSF Railway. […]
BNSF Executive Chairman Matt Rose TRAINS: David Lassen LOMBARD, Ill. — Matt Rose continues spiking hard on Precision Scheduled Railroading. Speaking before the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers on Wednesday, BNSF Railway’s executive chairman laid out additional considerations and problems he sees with the continued roll-out of PSR. He spoke candidly on the topic a […]
SANDPOINT, Idaho — The U.S. Coast Guard is looking for public comments on how two bridge proposals by BNSF Railway would affect navigation on the Pend Oreille River and Lake Pend Oreille. Two new bridges would parallel the existing 1905-built Northern Pacific bridges on BNSF’s “Northern Transcon.” One would be 4,874-feet-long. The other would be […]
MARCO ISLAND, Florida – BNSF Railway’s capital plans for 2019 include a cluster of major bridge projects in Washington state, and pairs of bridges near Quenemo, Kan., and on the Hannibal subdivision in Missouri. Not included is a bridge over the Missouri River at Bismarck, N.D., and therein lies a tale that serves an an […]
