Transit Briefs: Amtrak, MassDOT, SMRT

Louisiana Amtrak passenger service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is one step closer to reality now that the Surface Transportation Board (STB) has approved Canadian Pacific’s (CP) $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern (KCS). Also, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will receive $2 million to use drones and sensors to monitor and analyze railroad infrastructure; and Maryland’s FY24 budget includes a significant funding commitment for the Southern Maryland Rapid Transit (SMRT) project.

STB: Rail Cost Adjustment Factor Set for 2Q23

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has adopted for second-quarter 2023 the rail cost adjustment factor (RCAF), defined as “an index formulated to represent changes in railroad costs incurred by the nation’s largest railroads over a specified period of time.”

James (Leggett) Kitchin of Norfolk Southern (left) and Richard Erstad of Hawkins, Inc., have joined the Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council.

Kitchin, Erstad Join RSTAC

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on March 10 reported appointing James (Leggett) Kitchin of Norfolk Southern (NS) and Richard Erstad of Hawkins, Inc., to the Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council (RSTAC). RSTAC, which

For STB’s RETAC, Nine New Members

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on March 9 reported appointing nine new members to its Rail Energy Transportation Advisory Committee (RETAC).

Pictured: MRL manifest approaching Bozeman, Mont. (Bruce Kelly Photograph)

STB OKs MRL Rails’ Return to BNSF

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on March 8 approved Montana Rail Link’s (MRL) petition to cease operating over main line between Huntley, Mont., and Sandpoint, Idaho, under a long-term lease with BNSF.

BLET Ratifies Agreements With KCS, DM&E, Union Railroad

Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) on March 3 ratified an implementing agreement with Kansas City Southern (KCS) and Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern (DM&E), as well as a new collective bargaining agreement with the Union Railroad of Pittsburg, Pa.

Ronald L. Batory

Ronald L. Batory Confirmed as CPKC Voting Trustee (Updated March 3)

Canadian Pacific (CP) on March 1 proposed the appointment of former Federal Railroad Administrator Ronald L. Batory as Trustee of the CP-Kansas City Southern (KCS) voting trust, following the death of David

The NGFA's lineup of speakers for its 127th Annual Convention includes AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies (left) and STB Board Member Michelle Schultz (right).

NGFA Announces Speaker Lineup for 127th Annual Convention

The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) on March 2 announced its 127th Annual Convention lineup of speakers, including Association of American Railroads (AAR) President and CEO Ian Jefferies and Surface Transportation Board (STB) Board Member Michelle Schultz, who will address upcoming opportunities for grain, feed, processing and export markets at the La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, Calif., on March 21-23.

STB Arbitration Program Sidelined

The Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) arbitration program for small rate disputes will not go forward as written in its Dec. 19, 2022, rule.

STB Rejects Foster Farms’ Emergency Service Order Request

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Feb. 14 denied “as moot” the petition for an emergency service order by Foster Poultry Farms (Foster Farms), which in late 2022 said there had been a “substantial, measurable deterioration” of Union Pacific (UP) rail service to its Traver, Turlock and Delhi, Calif., facilities.

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