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.

BLET Logs Four Tentative Agreements, One Ratified Contract

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has reported reaching tentative agreements with Canadian Pacific’s Soo Line, Kansas City Southern (KCS), Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern (DM&E), and Union Railroad; and unanimously ratifying a new collective bargaining agreement with Illinois Railway.

Ahead of future service between Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans, La., Amtrak engineers and conductors will soon begin required “familiarization” trips to learn the route’s physical characteristics.

Transit Briefs: Amtrak, MTA Metro-North, Tri-Rail

Amtrak advances crew training for Mobile-to-New Orleans intercity passenger rail service. Also, Connecticut lawmakers eye electrification of MTA Metro-North Railroad’s Danbury Branch; and south Florida’s Tri-Rail commuter railroad saw January ridership grow 30% over the same month last year.

CSX, NS, UP, CN Renew Petition to Stay Requirement That Class I’s Commit to Arbitration Program

CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS), Union Pacific (UP) and the U.S. operating subsidiaries of CN on Feb. 3 renewed their request that the Surface Transportation Board (STB) stay its requirement that the Class I railroads commit to a new arbitration program for small rate disputes.

Commentary

Solution in Search of a Problem

FROM THE EDITOR, RAILWAY AGE FEBRUARY 2023 ISSUE: There are a few observations my predecessor, Luther Miller, used to make when he came across language or statements that he deemed served little purpose: “Making the obvious less obscure.” “The Pope is a Catholic.” “A solution in search of a problem.” “Add that to your treasure trove of useless information.” I think he’d probably say the same thing about most of the statements the United States Department of Justice made in two filings about the pending merger of the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

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