FORT WORTH, Tex. — Longtime partners BNSF Railway and J.B. Hunt today said they will significantly boost intermodal capacity in the next few years by adding containers, chassis, and well cars while expanding terminals and their capabilities. “Over the past few years, intermodal has been disrupted by increased demand and tight capacity, resulting in poor […]
WASHINGTON — Railroads and shipper groups squared off over a proposed reciprocal switching rule during a daylong Surface Transportation Board hearing on Tuesday, with railroads warning of dire operational consequences and sole-served shippers saying they needed relief from high rates and poor service. Federal regulators seemed sympathetic to shippers’ concerns but grappled with how they […]
BISMARCK, N.D. — BNSF Railway has blasted a preservation group’s claim that a railroad bridge over the Missouri River belongs to the state of North Dakota, rather than the railroad, as “legally absurd,” asking the U.S. Coast Guard to move forward with the permit process for a replacement bridge. The Bismarck Tribune reports the railroad […]
BISMARCK, N.D. — The state of North Dakota will not become involved in a claim that the state owns a BNSF rail bridge slated for replacement, leading the preservation group that made the contention to say it is “shocked” by the decision. The Bismarck Tribune reports the Friends of the Rail Bridge group seeks to […]
Bash Canadian Pacific Kansas City Day – otherwise known as Feb. 28, the deadline for comments on the CP-Kansas City Southern merger – has come and gone. What have we learned from the flurry of regulatory filings from other railroads, shippers, and lineside communities? The Class I railroads behaved like you’d expect: Following a tradition […]
Q: While browsing a railcar photo site, I came across an interesting Burlington Northern car. The photo’s caption calls it an “air repeater car.” What is its intended purpose? Where is it mainly used? – Tom Huffman, Fort Worth, Texas A: An air repeater car is used to keep up the pressure in brake air […]
BISMARCK, N.D. — In a new twist to a lengthy battle by a preservation group to save a BNSF Railway bridge over the Missouri River between Bismarck and Mandan, N.D. — which has thwarted railroad efforts to build a new structure — the Friends of the Rail Bridge is claiming the bridge in question actually […]
FORT WORTH – Analysts and industry observers suspected that BNSF Railway had to pay a pretty penny to buy out Montana Rail Link’s long-term lease on the former Northern Pacific main line. It turns out they were right. BNSF’s financial report suggests the railroad paid MRL around $2 billion to tear up the lease well […]
WASHINGTON — BNSF Railway has urged federal regulators to take steps to protect cross-border traffic to and from Mexico as part of any approval of the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger. But BNSF dropped its plan to pursue trackage rights over KCS to the Laredo, Texas, gateway in its Monday regulatory filing, which was […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mid-America Car of Kansas City has completed the cosmetic restoration of former Santa Fe SD45-2 No. 5704 — donated to the Southern California Railroad Museum in Perris, Calif., in 2021 — to the eye-catching bicentennial paint scheme it wore in the mid-1970s. Mid-America’s craftsmen took several months to recreate the appearance […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF will increase capital spending to $3.55 billion in 2022, after a spend of $2.97 billion in 2021, the railroad reported in its fourth-quarter financial summary. Of that $3.55 billion, $2.71 billion is budgeted for maintenance and replacement, including 14,000 miles of track surfacing or undercutting; replacement of 381 miles of […]
CHICAGO — BNSF Railway is working to recover from intermodal service issues in the Chicago area stemming from weather and construction impacts, the railroad informed customers on Friday. The Corwith, Cicero, Wilow Springs, and Logistic Park Chicago facilities were hit by blizzard conditions Feb. 17-18, leading to major road closures and “reduced productivity at intermodal […]
