In the ongoing juggling of transport logistics affecting fossil fuels throughout western North America, British Columbia’s Port Metro Vancouver on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, approved a new rail-to-barge coal transfer facility.
The Surface Transportation Board late Monday, Aug. 18, 2014, announced it will hold a public field hearing on Sept. 4, 2014 “to provide interested persons and parties the opportunity to report on service problems in the United States rail network, to hear from rail industry executives on their efforts to address service problems, and to discuss additional options to improve rail service.”
Oregon’s Department of State Lands on Monday, Aug. 18, 2014, denied a permit for construction of a coal export project on the Columbia River to bolster international coal export.
Earlier this year, congestion and trackwork on its Northern Corridor forced BNSF to increase transit times for intermodal shipments between the Pacific Northwest and Chicago, a move which has driven some customers to ship via Union Pacific. Now, a segment of Northwest perishables traffic is looking elsewhere as well.
BNSF Railway, wholly owned by Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., has reported second-quarter net income of $916 million, up 4% from $884 million in the comparable quarter of 2013.
A series of wildfires in central and eastern Washington state, some blazing for nearly a week, have devastated entire communities and left several sections of railway damaged.
BNSF is expanding its Northern Corridor to meet increasing demand.