“Examining Freight Rail Safety” was the theme of a June 14 hearing of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. The aim: for members “to hear from government and stakeholder witnesses about the state of freight rail safety and issues pertinent to keeping rail operations, rail workers and communities safe.” Railway Age provides a roundup.
Norfolk Southern (NS), Union Pacific (UP), the Port of Virginia and Hapag-Lloyd are offering shippers a new option to reach West Coast markets, NS reported on June 8.
Norfolk Southern (NS) on June 7 rang The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Opening Bell®, marking the 40th anniversary of the merger that created the Class I railroad.
RailPulse has a seventh member: Union Pacific, which on June 7 joined the coalition established in late 2020 to “develop, broaden and accelerate the use of GPS and other telematics technologies in North America’s freight rail industry.”
Railinc will develop, maintain and operate RailPulse’s technology platform for monitoring railcar location, condition and health under a 10-year agreement, RailPulse reported on May 31.
BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS) and Union Pacific (UP) have answered the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) call to submit service recovery plans—identifying the steps they will take to clear congestion and improve service plus the metrics they will use to evaluate progress over the next six months.
CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS), and the Alabama State Port Authority and its Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks division (collectively, the Port) are again requesting Surface Transportation Board (STB)-sponsored mediation as they “continue to believe that an amicable resolution is possible—one that facilitates a prompt and orderly commencement of Gulf Coast passenger service while protecting the customers and shipping partners that rely on quality freight rail service.”
U.S. diesel pricing remains elevated, passing along significant costs to shippers via fuel surcharges. At Cowen and Company, we believe sustained high diesel pricing will ultimately benefit the railroads and IMCs (intermodal marketing companies) as shippers explore different modes of transport.
The witness phase of the slugout between Amtrak on one side and CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS) and the Port of Mobile on the other, ended May 12 as its 11th day concluded. It ended not with T.S. Eliot’s oft-quoted “whimper” but truly with a bang.
Norfolk Southern (NS) President and CEO Alan H. Shaw on May 12 discussed his railroad’s top priority—the restoration of service “to the quality our customers expect and deserve”—at an annual meeting of