WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE OCTOBER 2022 ISSUE: Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairperson Martin J. Oberman remains as difficult to categorize today as when he arrived in January 2019. In many respects, he brings to mind mythical Roman god Janus, who, in seeing forward and backward, symbolizes change and transition.
The time has come. Parents (Shareholders), Teachers (CEOs), Principals (Board of Directors), Students (Railroad Managements), and Boards of Education (STB) need a more descriptive report card—and the latter may demand it.
The rail industry has always placed a keen emphasis on safety – ensuring that every ride is as safe as possible, posing no risk to passengers or employees. But rail systems have
According to Cowen and Company’s recently conducted third-quarter 2022 Rail Equipment and Rail Shipper surveys, the positive outlook for railcar orders remains relatively unchanged from the second quarter, and rail shipping pricing expectations have ticked down sequentially. Details follow, plus insights on the Class I railroads, ahead of earnings.
My son Craig is an automotive technician specializing in German high-performance cars (BMW M Class, Mercedes AMG, Porsches, etc.—you get the picture.) He also owns a new Royal Enfield Continental GT motorcycle he has been modifying, and he and one of his buddies have started buying older rides to spruce up and modify. Craig got his start in his chosen field as a child, building Legos. He still collects and builds them.
One might as well ask who threw the overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s chowder as to enquire what more the Surface Transportation Board (STB) might learn from additional public hearings on the question of whether railroads Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern should be permitted to merge, and under what conditions.
“Take your BART, please!” If memes existed in the late 1980s, comedian Henny Youngman would undoubtedly have become one with these four words–a take on his signature phrase, “Take my wife, please.”
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wants the Surface Transportation Board to dump the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger, unless he gets his way.
In September, our sister agency San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, celebrated its 50th anniversary. BART service changed transportation in the Bay Area forever, connecting communities in a way that hadn’t been done before. For San Francisco, the construction of BART not only provided new travel options within the city and to the East Bay, but also built the Muni Metro system.
A strike has been averted for now as the major unions reached tentative agreements. Contracts details are expected to be in line with the Presidential Emergency Board recommendations. The railroads will have to gradually pass through costs as contracts are renewed if they want to keep margins intact. This may prove difficult as we head into an economic slowdown. We continue to favor Canadian Pacific (CP) in the rail group.