Canadian Regulator Rules on Grain ‘Entitlements’

In the 2020–2021 crop year, Canadian Pacific and CN collectively moved 52,334,795 metric tons of Western grain, 9.0% more than the volume moved during the previous crop year and the highest volume ever on record. For CN, its record volume comes at a price, as grain is a heavily regulated commodity in Canada, with revenue caps or “entitlements” set by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), Canada’s equivalent of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

CP, Canpotex Renew Contract

Canadian Pacific has entered into a new seven-year agreement with Canpotex Limited, a major exporter of Canadian potash. The contract, which runs through 2028, is a successor to the current, 10-year agreement, which expires in 2022.

U.S., Canadian Intermodal Continues Recent Downward Trend

U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Dec. 18, 2021was 504,099 carloads and intermodal units, down 3.1% compared with the same week last year, based on 234,704 carloads—up 1.7% compared with the same week in 2020—and intermodal volume of 269,395 containers and trailers—down 6.9%, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on Dec. 22.

TRAC Relocates North Jersey Chassis Facility

TRAC Intermodal and Columbia Group have relocated the TRAC Bayonne Chassis Yard from Bayonne to Jersey City in northern New Jersey, effective Dec. 13, 2021. The new facility is located near the GCT Bayonne Terminal.

STB OKs Watco Wisconsin and Michigan Acquisitions

The Surface Transportation Board On Dec. 20 issued a decision granting approval for exemptions sought by Watco Holdings, Inc., and two of its subsidiaries in the acquisition of approximately 652 miles of rail line in Wisconsin and Michigan from Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WCL), which is controlled by CN.

CN: Vena ‘No Longer Interested’ in Top Spot

CN on Dec. 20 announced that Jim Vena, the former long-time CN operating executive who recently retired for the second time in his career as Chief Operating Officer of Union Pacific, has decided not to pursue returning to CN as President and CEO to replace the retiring JJ Ruest.

Rail Cybersecurity with Shift5’s Josh Lospinoso

In December 2021, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration deployed a Security Directive that shined a spotlight on rail cybersecurity following a series of global cyberattacks that occurred at the New York Metropolitan

Commentary

‘What Matters is Deciding To Get On’

FROM THE EDITOR, RAILWAY AGE, DECEMBER 2021 ISSUE: I like inclusion, but I disdain the stultifying requirement imposed by some sectors of our society to be politically correct, particularly with language. While “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” is perfectly fine, I prefer a hearty “Merry Christmas!”

A Smooth One

RAILWAY AGE, DECEMBER 2021 ISSUE: High-tech solutions are helping railroads improve the rail/road interface.

Richard B. Hasselman, 1926-2021

Richard B. “Dick” Hasselman, former Senior Vice President-Operations, Conrail, died peacefully at Oceanside, Calif. on Dec. 5, 2021 at the age of 95.

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