Opinion

Commentary
  • News

Why Not a Merger Timeout?

WATCHING WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 2025 ISSUE: Perhaps the gutsiest-ever regulatory agency decision was the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) 2001 imposition of a railroad merger moratorium. Its architect was then-STB Chairperson Linda J. Morgan. 

Commentary
  • News

On the Ground, In the Shop: Why Facility Visits Matter More Than Ever

This summer, I set out on a journey that took me from the historic rail hubs of upstate New York to cutting-edge manufacturing facilities in Maryland and Louisiana. What started as a series of site visits quickly became a powerful reminder of the innovation that defines our members.

Commentary

John Orr Talks Passenger Trains – Rail Group On Air 

As Norfolk Southern Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, John Orr holds ultimate responsibility for every train on the Class I’s vast network, freight and passenger. Relationships between passenger carriers and

Commentary

A Few Better Ideas: A Contrarian View

Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena claims to have identified a number of rail industry shortcomings that according to him can only be solved by his proposed transcontinental merger between the Union Pacific

Commentary

A Ride on MBTA’s South Coast Rail

Usually when passenger service on a rail line is discontinued, it never comes back, but there have been some exceptions. One is the MBTA’s South Coast Rail “line,” in the shape of

Commentary

Igniting Rail Growth in the Firebox

Given that the new North Star of growth I gave our rail industry is being used to justify an alteration to the course of its future, I must break my annual publication