Railroad News

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 5/4/2021 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
The 2020 Building America Report is the first to include the company's Fact Book. Photo – up.com

Rail News Home Kansas City Southern 5/3/2021 Rail News: Kansas City Southern
Canadian Pacific late last week filed a formal objection with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) stating that CN does not qualify for a waiver of the STB's rules for major transactions with respect to CN's proposal to acquire Kansas City Southern.In its letter, CP states that the CN-KCS transaction does not satisfy the criteria that the STB relied upon in finding that the waiver should apply to a CP-KCS transaction, which the STB granted on April 23.Meanwhile, in other developments:
• CN today issued an open letter to the KCS community regarding CN’s proposal to combine with KCS. The letter outlines why CN believes a combined CN-KCS represents the best solution for all stakeholders and sets the record straight on the merits of the proposal.
• CP today announced that more than 110 customers and other stakeholders have filed letters with the STB to express concerns about and/or opposition to CN’s proposal for KCS. The letters from customers and other stakeholders highlight growing concerns that the CN-KCS combination would reduce competition in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico corridor, CP officials said in a press release.
• CN late last week announced that more than 200 additional letters in favor of its proposed KCS combination have been filed with the STB, bringing the total number of support letters CN has received to more than 600 in just over a week since its proposal was made public. That number exceeds the number of letters that CP has received in over five weeks, CN officials said in a press release.

Rail News Home BNSF Railway 5/3/2021 Rail News: BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway Co. posted first-quarter 2021 net income of $1.25 billion, up 5%, and operating income of $1.9 billion, up 4%, compared with the same period a year ago.The Class I posted an operating ratio of 63.7% in the quarter compared to 65.2% in Q1 2020, according to a financial report on bnsf.com.Total revenue for the quarter decreased 0.3% compared with the same period in 2020. The decrease was primarily due to a 5% increase in unit volume offset by a 5% decrease in average revenue per unit.The change in Q1 2021 revenue also resulted from the following:
• Average revenue per unit decreased as a result of business mix changes and lower fuel surcharge revenue due to lower fuel prices.
• Consumer products volumes increased 15%. Growth in both international and domestic intermodal shipments was driven by increased retail sales and inventory replenishments by retailers, along with increased e-commerce activity. Automotive volumes declined due to production impacts from a global microchip shortage.
• Agricultural products volumes increased 12% due to higher grain exports.
• Industrial products volumes decreased 13%. These changes were primarily due to reduced production and demand in the energy sector, which drove lower petroleum products and sand volume. In addition, shipments of chemicals, plastics and aggregates were lower due to winter storm related impacts to Texas and the U.S. Gulf Coast regions.
• Coal volumes decreased 12%. These changes were primarily due to lower utility demand in the early part of the quarter, along with severe winter weather which impacted deliveries.Operating expenses for the quarter fell 2%, which reflected increased volume-related costs and inflation, offset by productivity improvements and lower average fuel prices.