Ann Dawn Begeman was designated permanent chairman of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) March 19 by President Trump. She has been acting chairman since January 2017.
As ascendancy of jaw-jaw over war-war is making even a partial national rail work stoppage less probable, an agreement this week between the freight railroads and their second largest labor union has further decreased such concern.
“Riding the brand”—a code of conduct exemplifying unbendable trustworthiness, integrity and commitment—is an expression as old as the Wild West, yet as contemporary as Federal Railroad Administrator Ron Batory. Nowhere is this code more needed than at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), lacking permanent leadership since January 2015 and suffering discord and an organizational brain-drain even longer.
A Senate committee staffer and a lawyer for a commuter rail agency have been nominated to fill vacant seats at the Surface Transportation Board. Current Acting Chairman Ann Begeman is expected to be named permanent chairman.
The Senate by voice vote early Tuesday evening, Feb. 13, confirmed Ronald Batory as Federal Railroad Administrator, the nation’s rail safety watchdog agency.
For the Trump Administration to offer in a congressional election year a Cracker Jack box containing a prize of massive renewed infrastructure, yet absent a realistic funding source (as the Treasury cupboard is bare), is the equivalent of a Samaritan in a sinking boat offering a hand to a struggling swimmer.
CSX is a mighty fine line, with an equally illustrious railroad ancestry. That CSX has fallen on difficult times, service-wise, is regrettable.
The regional and short line railroad investment tax credit (known as 45G for its provision in the Internal Revenue Code) was signed into law by President Trump following its unexpected insertion into the massive two-year Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 passed in the predawn hours Friday, Feb. 9, by the House and Senate.
Imagine if we all just got along. Maybe, someday. For now, countervailing power—labor unions checking managerial authority; shippers challenging rail market muscle—results in personality-charged regulatory proceedings and litigation.
At CSX over the past 12 months, there has been a series of tumultuous events infusing investors with paroxysms of “what next” worry and propelling the stock price on a roller coaster ride*:
