BNSF has set a $2.99 billion capital plan for 2021, with the largest portion going toward maintaining the core network and related assets, the railroad reported Jan. 20. The 2020 plan, at $3.08 billion, followed a similar strategy.
Railway Age is honoring 20 “Fast Trackers” from a pool of more than 100 strong nominations for this year’s 20 Under 40 awards program.
Rail shippers in fourth-quarter 2020 expected price increases of 3.2% (up 10bps sequentially), and their sub-group of railcar buyers raised order expectations modestly, according to two surveys conducted by Cowen and Company analysts Jason H. Seidl (Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor), Matt Elkott and Elliot Alper.
BNSF Group Vice President Consumer Products Business Group Tom Williams has been elected Treasurer of the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). He joins Port of Long Beach Deputy Executive Director Dr. Noel Hacegaba, elected Chair; and InTek Freight & Logistics Inc. President Shelli Austin, elected Vice Chair, on IANA’s 2021 Board of Directors and Officers.
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued two final rules for unmanned aircraft (drone) operations. They cover the requirement for Remote Identification (Remote ID) of drones as well as drone operations over people and at night.
BNSF Railway and Wabtec have begun testing a battery-electric locomotive (BEL) in revenue service between Barstow and Stockton, Calif. The BEL, sandwiched in between two Wabtec Tier 4 diesel-electric locomotives, creates what is described as a “battery-electric hybrid consist.” All three units power the train in main line operations.
Colorado, Midland & Pacific Railway Co. (CMP), a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Grande Pacific Corp. (RGPC), has entered into an agreement to lease the majority (163.1 miles) of the Tennessee Pass rail line between Parkdale and Sage, Colo., from Union Pacific. The short line has also submitted a filing to the Surface Transportation Board for common-carrier authority to operate the line.
While BNSF and Kansas City Southern were unable to run their annual holiday trains this year due to the pandemic, they continued delivering donations to communities along their lines.
Three locations on the BNSF network, one each in Kansas, Missouri and Texas, have been designated as Certified Sites, part of the railroads’s Premier Parks, Sites and Transload program, bringing the total to 27. The program’s goal is “to provide an inventory of rail-served sites that are available for immediate development,”
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) will distribute $392.4 million to 10 freight and passenger rail projects as part of its recent approval of $2 billion for 56 state projects that will reduce traffic, improve goods movement and increase transit service, among other measures.