CORONADO, Calif. — If there’s a trend in this year’s Class I capital plans — at least as they’re being presented at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference — it’s that the railroads are keeping the nature of those plans closer to the vest than they have at previous conferences. Dollar figures for […]
Tag: Railroad Operations
Traffic downturn expected to take toll on railroads’ fourth quarter earnings NEWSWIRE
Analysts expect fourth quarter earnings to fall at four of the six publicly traded Class I railroads as cost cutting, rate increases, and share buybacks were not enough to offset the impact of traffic declines. On average, earnings per share at the six publicly traded railroads will fall by 1%, according to consensus estimates by […]
CP CEO says he’s OK with US investors pushing for high performance and short-term goals NEWSWIRE
CORONADO, Calif. — Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel spoke for nearly an hour Monday as the keynote speaker at the NRC Conference. In addition to his remarks on mergers and Precision Scheduled Railroading, he also touched on a number of other topics. — Creel said that while railroading might eventually see significant savings through adoption […]
CP’s Creel sees mergers as inevitable, but delayed by Precision Scheduled Railroading NEWSWIRE
Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel speaks during the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference on Monday, Jan. 6. TRAINS: David Lassen CORONADO, Calif. — Consolidation of the rail industry is “inevitable,” Canadian Pacific CEO Keith Creel says, but the industry-wide embrace of Precision Scheduled Railroading has likely pushed the merger process from a five-year window […]
Q&A with railroad technologist Steve Ditmeyer NEWSWIRE
Steven Ditmeyer Steven Ditmeyer’s long career in railroading and related industries began as a transportation trainee for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. He has been a transportation economist at The World Bank; chief engineer of research, communications, and control systems at Burlington Northern; and held positions with the Federal Railroad Administration. He is currently the principal […]
STB members discuss challenges, plans at railroad contractors’ conference NEWSWIRE
Surface Transportation Board Vice Chairman Patrick Fuchs (left) speaks as STB Commissioner Marthy Oberman listens during a Sunday discussion fo STB activities at the NRC Conference in Coronado, Calif. TRAINS: David Lassen CORONADO, Calif. — Two-thirds of the members of the Surface Transportation Board were on hand for a discussion of the agency’s activities on […]
BNSF main line still closed after Idaho derailment
BONNERS FERRY, Idaho — BNSF Railway’s main line to the Pacific Northwest is still closed, more than a day after a derailment sent a locomotive into a frigid Idaho river. On Wednesday night, a westbound manifest freight derailed on BNSF’s Kootenai River Subdivision near Katka, about 10 miles east of Bonners Ferry. Three locomotives and […]
STB rejects shippers’ appeal on fuel surcharges NEWSWIRE
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has dismissed a complaint from a coalition of rail shippers taking issue with what they characterized as unfair fuel surcharges. The STB’s decision to deny the petition for reconsideration on Dec. 30 is the latest in a long-brewing conflict over fuel surcharges. Railroads say they are simply trying to […]
Six of seven Class I railroads see volume decrease in 2019 NEWSWIRE
Canadian Pacific was the only Class I railroad to show volume growth in 2019. CP eked out 0.9% growth in total traffic, well above the industry average of a 3% decline in total volume measured by carloads and intermodal units, according to a Trains News Wire review of the railroads’ weekly carload reports. CP also […]
MARS winter meeting looks at market share versus operating ratio NEWSWIRE
LOMBARD, Ill. – The winter meeting of the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers, which will be held Jan. 14-16, 2020 in Lombard, will focus on “Rail’s 2020 Crossroads: Market Share vs. Operating Ratio.” Trains News Wire will have complete coverage for the duration of the event. Declining freight rail traffic and market share will be […]
Trains Top 10 stories for 2019, No. 4: Big main lines, short lines swapping ownership NEWSWIRE
Central Maine & Quebec’s Job 1 rolls west at Magog, Quebec, with AC44CWs, Nos. 1002 and 1006, and GP38-3 No. 3812 in June 2018. Canadian Pacific has agreed to buy the short line, giving the railroad direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. Frank Jolin In 2018, Trains editors forecasted that CSX Transportation would continue spinning […]
Trains Top 10 stories for 2019, No. 6: Precision Scheduled Railroading takes over NEWSWIRE
E. Hunter Harrison Courtesy, Canadian Pacific Wildfire — in the form of Precision Scheduled Railroading — has enflamed corporate railroad headquarters from Mexico to Canada and throughout the United States. It’s hard to imagine any theory of operations and management, so long opposed by the notoriously status-quo cultures of U.S. railroads, could take root so […]
