STB’s Schultz Confirmed; Kloster Not (UPDATED 12/19)
The Senate Dec. 18 voted 53-43, along party lines, to confirm STB member Michelle A. Schultz to a second two-year term on the five-member agency.
Surface Transportation Board
Commentary
UP-NS: Already, a Two-Words Debate
The level of granularity in evaluating thousands of pages of a merger application prompted William H. Tucker, when a member of Surface Transportation Board (STB) predecessor Interstate Commerce Commission in 1967, to equate the regulatory process with “a trial for first degree homicide.”
House Dems to STB: Consider ‘Tangible,’ ‘Intangible’ Impacts of UP+NS
Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Troy Carter (D-La.), and Cleo Fields (D-La.) are asking the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to not only consider the “tangible impact the [proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern] merger could
Nominations Open for RSTAC
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is seeking nominations to fill vacancies on its Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council (RSTAC). The deadline is Jan. 12, 2026; candidates may nominate themselves.
Commentary
Primum Non Nocere
FROM THE EDITOR, RAILWAY AGE DECEMBER 2025 ISSUE: When I started freshman year at Essex Catholic High School, Newark, N.J., in September 1973, Latin had been dropped as a requirement. Though it’s the
Commentary
Is a UP-NS ‘Fix’ In? Don’t Bet on It!
WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE DECEMBER 2025 ISSUE: Union Pacific (UP) CEO Jim Vena’s September pilgrimage to the Oval Office—where Republican POTUS 47 picked his corporate pocket for a cash contribution toward a
Commentary
‘We Need a Little Rate Cut Now’
FINANCIAL EDGE, RAILWAY AGE DECEMBER 2025 ISSUE: The holidays always bring the classic tussle between Ebeneezer Scrooge (pre-ghosts) and Santa. In the holiday spirit, Santa (or the true spirit of the holidays)
Spurring Industrial Development in Alabama, Texas
New industrial development initiatives are under way in Alabama and Texas. While a Norfolk Southern (NS)-served site in Huntsville, Ala., will soon be home to Eli Lilly and Company’s $6 billion advanced manufacturing campus, Surface Transportation Board (STB) approval is being sought for rail line construction between Union Pacific’s (UP) Laredo Subdivision in Texas and a new industrial park.
Commentary
Primus, Late of STB, Alleges Racial Bias
Democrat Robert E. Primus, fired Aug. 27 from the Surface Transportation Board (STB) by Republican POTUS 47, alleges in an amended legal challenge filed in federal district court Dec. 4 that the
P&W, State of Connecticut Update Middletown Cluster Operating Agreement
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Nov. 28 provided notice that Genesee & Wyoming’s Providence & Worcester Railroad Company (P&W) will operate the 16.84-mile Middletown Cluster railroad under a new agreement with the State of Connecticut.