Commentary

‘Shockah’: UP Pursues Self Interest

“Shockah” as they might say in “Bahsten” about Union Pacific’s (UP) May 3 federal court filing asking that the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) approval of a Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern marriage creating

Commentary

UP Challenging CPKC Merger—After the Fact

Roughly two months after the Surface Transportation Board approved, with certain conditions, the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger to create transnational CPKC (Canadian Pacific Kansas City), Union Pacific on May 3 filed

STB Scales Back CSX Reporting Requirements

The Surface Transportation Board on May 2 extended its temporary service metrics and employment reporting period for the “Big 4” Class I’s—BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific—to Dec. 31, 2023, but

UP Embargo Update: We’re Making ‘Significant Progress’

Union Pacific (UP) on April 27 submitted a year-to-date progress report on embargoes, inventory management and system fluidity to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), which last year ordered the Class I to

NARS President Bruce Mann

NARS 2023 Annual Meeting: ‘A New Era in Railroading’

The North American Rail Shippers Association (NARS) will host its annual meeting May 24-26, 2023, in Chicago. This year’s theme is “A New Era in Railroading.”

STB’s Latest Service Case: NTEC vs. BNSF (Updated 4/21)

The Navajo Transitional Energy Company, LLC (NTEC) has filed a complaint and petition for declaratory order with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to address what it calls BNSF’s failure to provide adequate

AAR to STB: Railroad Cost of Capital 10.58% for 2022

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) on April 11 submitted to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) its calculations to determine the railroads’ cost of capital for 2022, which the Board will use to make the required annual individual railroad revenue adequacy determination for 2022.

More than 300 people rode Amtrak’s Gulf Coast Inspection Train (pictured) from New Orleans to Jacksonville, Fla., in February 2016, as part of an ongoing effort to restore passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast, which was disrupted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and never resumed. (Marc Glucksman, Amtrak)

Report: Mobile Train Stop ‘Final Infrastructure Issue’ Before Amtrak Gulf Coast Service Can Restart

The construction of a train stop, and a track leading to it in downtown Mobile, Ala., officials say, is the “final infrastructure issue that needs to be addressed before Amtrak can restart passenger trains along the Gulf Coast for the first time in 18 years, according to an AL.com report.

Federal lawmakers and environmental groups are urging the DOT to reject the use of tax-exempt "private equity bonds" to fund the Uinta Basin Railway.

Lawmakers, Environmental Groups Urge DOT to Reject Use of Bonds to Fund Uinta Basin Railway

U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), along with more than 150 environmental groups, some from as far away as New Jersey, have sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urging the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to reject the use of tax-exempt “private activity bonds” for the Uinta Basin Railway, stating that the project would “undermine President Biden’s priority of addressing the climate crisis, and harm communities through which these oil trains will travel and where this oil will be refined.”

STB Rejects CN’s Springfield Line Bid

CN’s request regarding conditional approval of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger on the sale of KCS’s Springfield Line to CN has been denied by the Surface Transportation Board (STB), which on March 23 provided notice that its Office of Environmental Analysis has terminated the review of the proposed divestiture.

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