Berkshire & Eastern proves good service drives growth: Analysis

Pat Ottensmeyer, the late Kansas City Southern chief executive, had a favorite saying: Service begets growth. It’s not the most catchy phrase you’ll ever hear. But it’s true. And nowhere is that more apparent than in New England, where Genesee & Wyoming’s Berkshire & Eastern is growing a bumper crop of freight in the middle […]

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Railroads debate merits of mergers and alliances

NEW YORK — BNSF Railway, Canadian National, and Canadian Pacific Kansas City are touting interline partnerships as a way to gain new volume without having the regulatory and service-meltdown risks associated with a merger. But Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern say alliances are built on a foundation of sand, and can shift with the whims […]

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Three state attorneys general voice support for UP-NS merger

Freight train led yellow locomotive with Chicago skyline in background

WASHINGTON — Attorneys General in three states — including the headquarters states of both railroads — have announced their support for the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. In a Nov. 20 letter to Surface Transportation Board Chairman Patrick J. Fuchs, Attorneys General Chris Carr of Georgia, Mike Higlers of Nebraska, and J.B. McCuskey of West […]

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NS announces new plans for first-responder training facility in East Palestine, Ohio

Norfolk Southern logo

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Norfolk Southern will provide a $20 million grant toward construction and operation of a first responder training center in East Palestine, the railroad said on Friday (Nov. 21). Plans for the training center were first announced in the wake of the February 2023 derailment in East Palestine, and a groundbreaking was […]

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RailTrends opens with sharp debate over UP-NS merger

Yellow and black locomotives leading train of tank cars

NEW YORK — Rail industry officials focused on only three topics during the opening day of the RailTrends conference: Merger, merger, and merger. Union Pacific’s proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern dominated conversations and presentations on Thursday. Can the plan to create a transcontinental railroad win regulatory approval? Can it lead to volume growth […]

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CSX voices objection to UP-NS request for expedited merger consideration (corrected)

WASHINGTON — CSX Transportation has objected to the accelerated schedule Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have proposed for Surface Transportation Board consideration of the UP-NS merger, with CSX offering its own proposal for a slightly longer schedule than an STB proposal that largely follows an earlier UP-NS proposal. CSX says the proposed shorter timeline “imposes […]

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Norfolk Southern grant to support Tennessee museum’s Pullman restoration

Black-and-white side view of passenger car

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has received a $50,000 grant from Norfolk Southern to support restoration of the museum’s Pullman sleeping car Maitland. The funding comes from the NS Thriving Communities Grant Program, which supports organizations working to further safety, sustainability, workforce development, and community resilience. “The Maitland was donated to TVRM […]

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‘There’s nothing freaking moving’: Vena uses Chicago bottleneck to sell UP–NS merger

CHICAGO — If Union Pacific wanted to show the media how trains can sit around in the nation’s rail capital, it was mission accomplished last week aboard its executive train. As the six-car train headed west at 10 mph on Wednesday — rolling between the Belt Railway of Chicago’s Clearing Yard to the north and […]

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Norfolk Southern donates $450,000 to Alabama children’s hospital

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Norfolk Southern has donated $450,000 to Children’s of Alabama, helping the hospital more than double the size of its pediatric intensive care unit and add two simulation training manikins. NS CEO Mark George presented the donation to the Birmingham hospital at a Nov. 14 press conference. The news site Bham Now reports […]

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Vena: Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger will sail through regulatory review

CHICAGO — Confidence was not in short supply when Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena held a rolling news conference last week to tout UP’s proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern. “I’m 99.999% sure that this merger is going to go through,” Vena said on Wednesday from the back of the Fox River theater car as UP’s […]

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UP, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen reach job protection agreement

OMAHA, Neb. — The Brotherhood of Railway Carmen and Union Pacific have reached an agreement that provides job security for hundreds of union employees if UP’s $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern wins regulatory approval. The BRC is the third union to reach an agreement with Union Pacific that ensures union members employed at both […]

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Nine state attorneys general raise concerns about UP-NS merger

WASHINGTON — The attorneys general from nine states have asked the Surface Transportation Board to give Union Pacific’s proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern a thorough review, arguing that the merger will stifle competition, raise rates, and hurt manufacturers and agricultural producers. “An America First economy will not work if high internal shipping costs kneecap American […]

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