Railroad News

Federal and state of Montana officials have proposed an agreement that would make BNSF Railway Co. responsible for maintaining and operating track that the railroad is accused of contaminating with asbestos.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Montana Department of Environmental Quality and BNSF proposed in a consent decree that the Class I would implement an operation and a maintenance plan, a health and safety plan and institutional controls to minimize risk to railroad workers and the surrounding community from low levels of asbestos within the Operable Unit 6 of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site in Lincoln County, Montana.

BNSF Railway Co. recently unveiled the first of 10 locomotives with special paint schemes marking the railroad's 25th anniversary.

The General Electric ES44AC No. 5828 now displays a "25th Anniversary" label on the nose and side, as well as predecessor railroads that are part of BNSF's history: Burlington Northern; Santa Fe Railway; Great Northern; Northern Pacific; Spokane, Portland & Seattle; Colorado & Southern; and the Frisco, BNSF officials said in the Class I's Inside Track newsletter.

BNSF Railway Co. recently recognized 106 customers with its annual Product Stewardship Award for the safe transportation of hazardous materials by rail during 2019. 

Companies receiving the award transported an established minimum of loaded tank cars of hazardous materials with zero non-accident releases during last year's full transportation cycle, BNSF officials said in a press release.

Construction is advancing on a rail connector and industrial access project involving BNSF Railway Co. in Willmar, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) reported this week.

Known as Willmar Wye, the project is a public-private partnership between BNSF, MnDOT, Kandiyohi County and the city of Willmar to build a new rail line bypass on the city's west side.

Work is advancing on two BNSF Railway Co. bridges this spring, one near Sandpoint, Idaho, and the other over Drano Lake in Skamania County, Washington.

BNSF is continuing work on a temporary rail bridge over Lake Pend Oreille near Sandpoint. Construction crews are building a second rail bridge adjacent to the existing rail bridge, and are currently working on a temporary span. That span will be taller than the eventual permanent bridge, which will be the same height as the existing bridge that BNSF is replacing, BNSF officials said in a recent company newsletter.

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday announced six new industrial locations have been awarded the Class I's Certified Sites designation.

Four of the sites are the first for their state in Arizona, Minnesota, Mississippi and Missouri. Two new sites were named in Illinois, bringing that state's count to four, BNSF officials said in a press release.

BNSF Railway Co. is challenging in federal court an Oklahoma law that requires railroads operating in the state to minimize blocking grade crossings for longer than 10 minutes without good reason, an Oklahoma newspaper reported today.

The suit, which the Class I filed yesterday in Oklahoma City, targets Oklahoma's elected corporation commissioners and two cities' police departments that have cited the railroad for violations so far, The Oklahoman reported.

Ceres Global Ag Corp. has established a yet-to-be-named joint venture with Steel Reef Infrastructure Corp. that will focus on transloading hydrocarbon products for transportation between the United States and Canada.

The joint venture's facilities will be located at Ceres' Northgate rail terminal in Saskatchewan, Canada, which is served by BNSF Railway Co. The joint venture will begin operations July 1, according to a Ceres press release.

BNSF Railway Co. reported its first-quarter 2019 operating income rose 2 percent to $1.8 billion, total revenue climbed 2 percent to $5.76 billion and net income jumped 9 percent to $1.25 billion compared with the same period a year ago.

The Class I attributed its growth in total revenue to higher rates per car, a favorable outcome of an arbitration hearing and higher fuel surcharges, according to a quarterly financial summary posted on bnsf.com.

By Vesna Brajkovic, Associate Editor

BNSF Railway Co. last week was granted exemptions from the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016, which will help lay the foundation for expanded drone operations, according to an FAA grant of exemption document. 

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday rolled out more of its state-by-state capital expenditure plans for 2019, announcing $445 million worth of projects slated for Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

In Kansas, the Class I will invest $165 million to replace and upgrade rail, ties and ballast. The maintenance program will include 560 miles of track surfacing and/or undercutting work, as well as the replacement of 30 miles of rail and 120,000 ties. In addition, BNSF plans to begin a multiyear project to install double track on portions of the Emporia Subdivision, which operates between Wellington and Kansas City.

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday announced it will invest $105 million this year on capital expenditures in Montana.

Consisting mostly of planned maintenance, the plan calls for more than 840 miles of track surfacing and/or undercutting work, as well as the replacement of 55 miles of rail and close to 110,000 ties. 

BNSF Railway Co. posted fourth-quarter operating income of $2.1 billion, up 3 percent over the same quarter's results in 2017.

A subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., BNSF logged quarterly revenue of $6.2 billion, up 10 percent, and a net income of $1.4 billion, up 30 percent, compared with 2017's results, according to a BNSF financial performance summary.