AAR Backs BNSF, Calls STB Common Carrier Obligation Decision ‘Disastrous’

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) supports BNSF’s appeal of the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) recent preliminary injunction requiring the Class I to this year transport millions of tons of coal from Navajo

Weekly Carloads, Intermodal Volume Decline, Again

U.S. rail traffic in Week 34 (ending Aug. 26, 2023) lagged the same week last year—falling 5.2%, according to the Association of American Railroads’ Aug. 30 report. Both carloads and intermodal volume were down.

AAR: Class I’s Remain Committed to ‘Appropriate Confidential Close-Call Reporting’

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) in an Aug. 24 letter provided a progress report to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose on the Class I railroads’ pending

AAR: North American Rail Volume Down Through Week 33

For the first 33 weeks of 2023 (ending Aug. 19), total U.S. weekly rail traffic dipped 4.9% from the same point last year, according to the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) Aug. 23 report. Both Canada and the U.S. saw declines, while Mexico saw an increase.

Class I Participation in FRA C3RS Still Pending

The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO has written letters to all six Class I railroads (download below) urging them to join the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) voluntary Confidential Close Call Reporting

(BNSF Photograph)

AAR: Carloads, Intermodal Down in Week 32

U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Aug. 12, 2023 (Week 32) dipped 4.2% from the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported Aug. 16.

Photo by David C. Lustig

BNSF Donates Hydrogen Test Locomotive to Oklahoma Railway Museum

BNSF has donated an alternative fuel testbed locomotive, most recently operated by the railroad as a hydrogen fuel cell switcher in Southern California, to the Oklahoma Railway Museum (ORM). Built as Canadian

Union Pacific Photograph

AAR: North American Rail Volume Down Through 31 Weeks

For the first 31 weeks of 2023 (ending Aug. 5), total U.S. weekly rail traffic dipped 4.1% from the same point last year, according to the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) Aug. 9 report. Both Canada and the U.S. saw declines, while Mexico saw an increase.

Railroad Cost of Capital Set at 10.58% for 2022

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has determined that the cost of capital for the railroad industry was 10.58% for 2022.

(Photograph Courtesy of CSX)

U.S. Rail Traffic: ‘Reasons for Both Optimism and Caution’

The three highest-volume intermodal weeks of 2023 were the three July weeks not including Independence Day, AAR Senior Vice President John T. Gray reported Aug. 2. Also, while carloads of chemicals rose in July for the first time in nearly a year, the month was “exceptionally weak” for grain carloadings, he noted during the release of the association’s traffic report for July 2023 and the week ending July 29, 2023.

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