STB

Commentary

Dancing With the Flames of Success and Failure

For investors, industry watchers and rail consumers, August has been either the most interesting or frustrating month to date in the reality dating show, “I Want to Buy a Class I Railroad.”

STB Issues Chicago Union Station Rent Decision

The Surface Transportation Board has resolved a long-running dispute between Amtrak and Metra, deciding that the Chicago commuter rail agency must pay $10.67 million annually for use of Amtrak’s Chicago Union Station.

Will STB Take Up Reciprocal Switching?

Shipper associations in early August met with Surface Transportation Board (STB) members to answer questions about STB’s options for advancing Ex Parte 711 (Sub-No. 1), reciprocal switching.

KCS + CN or CP: Timeout Called

Yet another potentially game-changing moment for Kansas City Southern in the railroad version of the Super Bowl—the merger tug-of-war between rival Canadian teams, taking place on the Surface Transportation Board playing field before head official Marty Oberman, this one not entirely unexpected: The KCS board has called a timeout (postponed) the Aug. 19 shareholder vote on accepting or rejecting CN’s power-play* offer until the STB rules on the CN/KCS voting trust. Will Canadian Pacific pull off a hat trick?*

AAR Warns STB About ‘Unintended Consequences’

In responding to Surface Transportation Board Chair Marty Oberman’s July 22 letter to the Class I railroads requesting information on the extent of congestion at key U.S. container terminals and on their railroads’