On March 10, 2016, the Surface Transportation Board issued a decision, Docket No. FD 36004, “Canadian Pacific Railway Limited—Petition for Expedited Declaratory Order,” responding to CP’s March 2 petition, and setting a timeline for replies and CP’s rebuttal. Following is the full text:
Railroad rate complaints that come before the Surface Transportation Board for handling under SAC (Stand-Alone Cost) case handling will be subject to “expeditious handling”—a decision rendered in no more than 485 days—according to new final rules the STB announced on March 10, 2016.
Increased pressure on North Dakota crude oil producers is “finally” putting the brakes on Bakken crude production, writes RBN Energy LLC analyst Sandy Fielden in Is It All Over Now? Producers Lose Their Appetite For Bakken Crude Output.
Canadian Pacific, still in hot pursuit of Norfolk Southern, has filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board seeking an expedited declaratory order for a proposed voting trust “confirming the viability of the voting trust structure CP has suggested as part of its proposed merger.” CP filed the petition on March 2, 2016.
The chasing by suitor Canadian Pacific of grand dame Norfolk Southern has reintroduced to the railroad chattering classes the nebulous term “public interest,” used often and broadly when mergers and other railroad maneuvers requiring regulatory approval are afoot.
Aided by a labor dispute at West Coast ports last year that impacted volume, intermodal traffic experienced a spike of nearly 13% in February 2016, compared to the prior-year period, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said on March 2, 2016, reporting weekly traffic as well as February traffic. Carload traffic remained weak.
Norfolk Southern’s 22-state eastern U.S. network consists of 10 operating divisions spread across three larger operating regions—Eastern, Western, and Northern. Effective March 15, 2016, the three regions will transform into two, Northern and Southern. This is one strategy that NS is employing in an attempt to end the increasingly uncivil war in which it’s engaged with Canadian Pacific and its activist shareholder, Bill Ackman, and their efforts to force a merger.
The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. announced Feb. 26, 2016 that William Glenn, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer has decided to pursue opportunities outside the company. Effective immediately, Glenn is relinquishing his
The Federal Railroad Administration on Feb. 26, 2016 launched a new tool on its website that allows states and municipalities to request inspection reports for railroad bridges in their communities. FRA’s announcement of the website came with allegations leveled at the railroads that the industry says are essentially bogus.
A study released by the University of Calgary Van Horne Institute suggests that it is feasible to build a railway to transport bitumen between Alberta and Alaska.