Surface Transportation Board

STB Reauthorization: ‘If It isn’t Broke, Don’t Fix It’?

Railroad stakeholders on March 8 shared their views on the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) role in regulating the freight railroad industry as well as its reauthorization during a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. Testifying were representatives from the American Chemistry Council, Amtrak, Association of American Railroads, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, National Industrial Transportation League, and Private Railcar Food and Beverage Association.

CP, KCS: First Lázaro Cárdenas-Chicago Interline Service

The first dedicated intermodal train between Lázaro Cárdenas and the U.S. Midwest arrived at Canadian Pacific’s (CP) Bensenville Yard in the Chicago area on March 8, reported CP, which worked with merger partner Kansas City Southern (KCS) on an interline basis for the move.

Commentary

Labor Talks: A Headache But Never a Bore

WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE MARCH 2022 ISSUE: “The farmer and the cowman should be friends,” wrote Rodgers and Hammerstein for the 1943 musical, Oklahoma! In 1967, Aretha Franklin recorded R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Five gets you 10 that neither friendship nor respect exist at the bargaining table where rail management and labor have been negotiating contract amendments since January 2020.

DOJ Weighs in on Reciprocal Switching

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has submitted comments to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) on reciprocal switching, in advance of STB’s March 15-16 hearing on the subject that has divided freight railroads and many of their major customers.

Amtrak-CN Case Moves Forward at STB

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has issued a procedural schedule for Amtrak and CN to submit further evidence and arguments in their dispute over establishing reasonable terms and compensation for Amtrak to use the Class I railroad’s facilities and services.

Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman on March 3 announced that he has selected Danielle Gosselin to lead the Office of Environmental Analysis.

STB: Gosselin Assumes OEA Director Role

Danielle Gosselin has been appointed Director of the Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA), following service in an acting capacity since January 2021.

BNSF to STB: Ensure Cross-Border Competition

BNSF is asking the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to impose conditions that preserve competition, particularly at the U.S.-Mexico border, if the proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger is approved.

CPKC: UP Seeks Conditions at Laredo Gateway

A Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern combination without conditions “would likely cause a significant loss of competition, especially for traffic moving via the Laredo Gateway,” Union Pacific (UP) told the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in comments filed Feb. 28.

Commentary

Does the AAR Fear Competition?

How remarkable that the customarily staid Association of American Railroads (AAR) is following a Marx Brothers comedy script to derail a Surface Transportation Board (STB) proposed rulemaking intended to assure railroad competition. One scene violates first-year law school advice not to irritate judges hearing your case; another vandalizes economic science by comparing a highly competitive soft drink market with rail service monopolies.

CN Pushing for KCS Line Divestiture

CN has officially asked the Surface Transportation Board (STB) “to condition any approval of a Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger on the divestiture of the KCS line from Kansas City, Missouri to Springfield and East St. Louis, Illinois (the Kansas City Speedway) to CN, pursuant to the STB’s statutory authority to order ‘the divestiture of parallel tracks’ as a merger condition.”

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