OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific plans to spend $3.4 billion on capital projects in 2024, the railroad announced Wednesday, with more than half of that going to basic infrastructure upgrades and replacement, such as rail, ties, and ballast.
The $1.9 billion for infrastructure represents approximately 56% of the capital plan. Another $600 million is budgeted toward locomotive upgrades and freight car acquisitions.
“We invest to keep our railroad and employees safe, and we will never compromise on that,” CEO Jim Vena said in a press release. “We also spend capital dollars to provide a quality service product, and strong service, creating a winning environment for our customers.”
The $3.4 billion figure represents a decrease of about 8% from 2023, when the railroad spent about $3.7 billion, according to its filing for fiscal 2023 with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
The railroad said it would expand its intermodal footprint to support business development in targeted, high-growth areas such as Southern California, Phoenix, and Kansas City. It will also invest in capacity projects such as siding extension, as well as technology projects. It did not provide specifics.
They needed to spend 8% more this year to offset the inflation of everything just to break even. An 8% cut really turns out after factoring in inflation is more like a cut of 15-16%. Running the railroad into the ground to give more money to the hedge fund owners or for stock buy backs.
Spending 3.8 billion on Capital investment is hardly “running the railroad into the ground…” as Mr. Huerkamp stated. In fact it is a turnaround over the decade long reductions in capital spending under former CEO Lance Fritz who only cared about catering to his buddies in accounting and on Wall Street. I applaud the capital expenditures on rail, locomotives and other infrastructure, and so should you.
How much of that investment is going into safety? Box detectors, axle pre-failures, warning notification improvements in the cab and at the dispatch center?
Just asking.
Please spend a little of that capital putting the wings back on the front of those now bland looking loco’s. Its that little bit of lipstick that makes all the difference in this writers opinion.