Senate bill would mandate STB reforms

It is shipper-friendly legislation with which freight railroads probably can live. And while it’s not all the stuff so-called captive shippers would prefer—such as mandatory caps on rail rates and a study into the benefits of mandatory reciprocal switching—it stands a better probability of becoming law than anything previously attempted in Congress on behalf of shippers.

Senators seek to speed infrastructure permitting

Bi-partisan legislation has been introduced in the Senate to remedy what are termed “significant challenges in the federal environmental permitting process” that delay and discourage railroads from constructing additional capacity.

BNSF drones will patrol the track

One need not look to the wild blue yonder to find the BNSF air force. Soon, it will be patrolling BNSF tracks from altitudes no higher than 500 feet, but not within three miles of any airport and always during daylight hours.

SMART will have new president May 1

One of the largest rail labor unions—the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART)—will have a new president May 1 upon the unexpected retirement April 30 of SMART General President Joseph J. Nigro.
Commentary

Implications aplenty in Supreme Court Amtrak ruling

The Supreme Court March 9 sent back to a federal appellate court for reconsideration a freight railroad challenge to a provision of the 2008 Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) that allowed the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Amtrak to collaborate in establishing minimum on-time performance standards for Amtrak passenger trains operating on freight railroad-owned track. The 9-0 unanimous decision was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Commentary

Fini to saga of Amtrak’s common stock

American Financial Group’s 18-year quest to turn hopelessly unprofitable Amtrak into a gold-coin spewing piñata appears to have met its Waterloo in an emphatic all caps “CASE CLOSED” order of a federal court Feb. 23.

Commentary

Better rail safety? Buck stops with the Senate

Railroads live at the intersection of necessity and disaster—the disaster substantial when dangerous cargo goes boom, is accompanied by a highly visible fireball, or threatens human life through inhalation or skin absorption.
Commentary

Can Sen. Thune mediate a rail/shipper cease-fire?

Could it be that Republicans in control of Congress might facilitate an end to three decades of productivity sapping legislative fisticuffs between railroads and self-proclaimed captive shippers over an appropriate level of regulatory oversight?
Commentary

A second act at STB for Dan Elliott?

Proving once again he has more lives than cartoon character Wile E. Coyote, former Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Dan Elliott is poised to receive his second White House renomination. The first renomination expired with adjournment of the 113th Congress in December after the Senate failed to confirm him. A formal announcement of the second renomination will be made this week.

Passenger trains: Between Barack and a hard place

Only a damned fool would beg Congress for passenger rail funding, trapping in amber the status quo. With tax-and-spend hostile Republicans in control of the House and Senate until at least 2017, America’s passenger trains and their advocates are between Barack and a hard place.