Pushback against crude-by-rail (CBR) oil shipments continues to develop in a variety of ways, from local protests to looming action from the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
Chicagoland’s Metra on Wednesday, June 25, 2014, joined local elected officials and to mark the completion of a $4.5 million renovati0on of Metra’s Cicero Station on the BNSF Line.
The Surface Transportation Board is requiring Canadian Pacific and BNSF “to publicly file their plans to timely resolve their backlogs of grain car orders, as well as weekly status reports pertaining to grain car service.”
The Surface Transportation Board on Thursday, May 29, 2014, instituted an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proceeding to provide interested persons the opportunity to comment on whether the “safe harbor” provision of the Board’s current rail fuel surcharge rules should be modified or removed.
OmniTRAX announced Wednesday, May 28, 2014 that it is acquiring Sand Springs Railway Co., a 32-mile short line linking the railroad’s namesake Oklahoma city with Tulsa, Okla.
BNSF Railway and Ferromex (FXE) announced a new intermodal service between Chicago and Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico, on Tuesday, May 20, 2014.
While BNSF expands capacity along its Northern Corridor, many of its customers are expanding their own facilities to accommodate more of the business that corridor carries. The Port of Quincy in central Washington serves a bustling agriculture region that ships an ever-increasing amount of its products by rail. Key to Quincy’s success is the intermodal terminal where Cold Train Express containers are loaded for pick-up by BNSF high-priority intermodal trains.
If recent reports published by Railway Age and others regarding BNSF’s clogged network have managed to discourage any shipper or industry-related investor, I have news that might brighten their outlook.
Honoring a request by BNSF Railway for a temporary service adjustment, Amtrak will alter its westbound Empire Builder schedule through North Dakota through Sept. 30, 2014, using chartered buses to ensure timekeeping and continue service to Grand Forks, Devils Lake, and Rugby.