Railroad News

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 9/26/2022 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Recycling used rail ties into bio feedstocks is one of the sustainability initiatives that UP and Shell will explore. Photo – UP's Inside Track blog

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 9/13/2022 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Corp. yesterday announced it issued a $600 million green bond offering to fund investments aimed at decarbonizing the company's footprint and achieving set emissions-reduction targets.The bond transaction was finalized Sept. 9, UP officials said in a press release.The bonds underscore UP's commitment to achieving its climate-action goals: reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions and Scope 3 GHG emissions on a well-to-wheel basis from locomotive operations 26% by 2030 from a 2018 baseline, and net zero by 2050, they said.Expenditures to be funded with proceeds from the green bond offering may include new battery-electric locomotives; locomotive modernizations that reduce GHG emissions and increase fuel efficiency; intermodal facility expansions that promote the modal shift of freight to rail; new sidings and extensions that increase train length and reduce dwell time;  and the development of onsite or offsite generation and distribution of renewable energy from solar or wind sources."When it comes to finding ways to decarbonize our footprint, every idea is on the table. We are acting now on our most promising avenues to make progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and investing in technology to support future initiatives," said Chairman, President and CEO Lance Fritz.

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 8/30/2022 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad and representatives from the city of Houston, Harris County and the Bayou City Initiative announced last week they've begun discussions toward an agreement on measures to remediate a former wood-tie preserving site.The announcement follows a meeting between the railroad and other parties concerning the former Houston Wood Preserving Works Site. The Class I has notified the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) that it is involved in the discussions, UP officials said in a press release.The city, county and Bayou City Initiative have joined UP in asking for a temporary pause in the agency’s processing of a hazardous waste management permit, allowing the local parties to discuss ways to speed up remediation. The pause in processing the permit is not intended to circumvent the administrative process and does not impact private litigation, UP officials said."The well-being of all Houstonians — including our important neighbors in the Fifth Ward and those nearby — are at the heart of all our steps, rooted in compassion, collaboration and, most importantly, action," said Clint Schelbitzki, assistant vice president of public affairs for UP's southern region.UP inherited the site in 1997 after its merger with Southern Pacific Transportation Co. Since then, the Class I has conducted investigative and cleanup work under the oversight and approval of the TCEQ.In 2019, the Texas State Department of Health Services conducted a study and identified a cancer cluster in a census tract covering more than 8,000 acres, which includes the Fifth Ward neighborhood and the wood-tie site. The former Houston Wood Preserving Works Site represents 33 acres, or less than 0.4%, of the total region included in the study.On Aug. 23, UP withdrew 22 appeals related to the site. The railroad's motions are limited to property-damage claims and do not seek to dismiss any pending personal-injury claims, company officials said in a press release.

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 8/29/2022 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad is continuing a partnership with Twin Cities Public Television (TPT), a local division of the Public Broadcasting Service in Minneapolis-St. Paul, to deliver new English- and Spanish-language multimedia rail safety materials during the back-to-school season.New videos and social media infographics with rail-safety tips aimed at children and educators are being featured across the next two months on PBS and Univision/Televisa stations in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Portland and San Antonio, UP officials said in a press release."With more than 140,000 miles of track and 212,000 rail crossings in the U.S., chances are you and your child will come across at least one on the way to and from school, whether it's on foot or by car," said UP Assistant Vice President and Chief Safety Officer Connie Roseberry. "Now is the perfect time to talk about staying safe around the tracks, just as you would remind a child to look both ways when crossing the street."The materials focus on limiting technology use around the tracks; waiting for trains to pass and warning devices to clear; and obeying signs at designated crossing areas.More than 40% of rail-related injury incidents occur during the hours of 3-9 p.m., according to Safe Kids Worldwide.This is the third year UP and TPT have launched multilingual safety messages through the Class I's Community Ties Giving Program, but this year is the first time the program is going nationwide.

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 8/23/2022 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
With its volumes up 2% so far this quarter, Union Pacific Railroad has pulled nearly 3,000 of its own rail cars out of storage to begin adding unit trainsets to support customer demand."We are closely monitoring our operating inventory level to make sure it's climbing at a comparable rate with our carloadings," UP Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales Kenny Rocker reported in an Aug. 18 notice to customers. "Most of the volume growth is within our manifest network, and it is important that we avoid excess rail-car inventories, especially in our terminals."To increase network fluidity, UP has focused on the following areas:• graduated 597 train, engine and yard service (TEY) employees so far in 2022, which is on track to meet the year-end goal of 1,400;• temporarily relocated more than 200 TEY employees for borrow out service to support demand;• maximized train length and improved crew utilization; and• reassessed the pace UP-owned cars are returned to service."We are making steady progress on our service recovery," Rocker said, adding that customers are asked to avoid adding excess cars onto UP's network.By eliminating an excess car inventory and pursuing other resource initiatives, the railroad gains the ability to improve service for all customers, he said.

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 7/19/2022 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad is beginning to "strategically and gradually" return some of its rail cars to the network, as the Class I continues to work on improving freight-rail service, a UP executive informed customers late last week.In a July 15 letter, UP Executive Vice President Kenny Rocker reported that, minus an expected slowdown over the July 4th weekend, UP’s metrics continued to improve this month compared with performance in April."We are in the beginning phases of strategically and gradually returning some Union Pacific-owned cars into the network," the letter stated, which is posted on UP's website. "We will continue to work with each of you to balance the need to bring additional cars online as we increase car velocity and reduce cycle times."Rocker wrote to customers in April to announce UP would remove 2% to 3% of its own rail cars and would begin metering traffic if customers didn’t voluntarily reduce their inventory. The railroad also announced it has added dozens of locomotives since January to help move cars along.Rocker's letters to customers are part of a broader effort by the nation's largest freight railroads to improve their service to customers. After being inundated with shipper complaints about freight-rail service, the Surface Transportation Board ordered UP and some other Class Is to correct their service problems and regularly report their progress to the board.In his July 15 letter, Rocker also reported that UP's hiring efforts are "in full swing" to add train crew members to help step up service levels."Year to date, approximately 400 [new hires] have graduated, and approximately 500 more are in training,” Rocker wrote. "In July, we expect to hire enough crew members to offset turnover and then some, and in the third quarter, we expect to see a significant number of graduates."

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 6/16/2022 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Southwest Texas Junior College students huddle around the contribution check from UP. Behind the check are, from left, Ken Kuwamura (in light blue), UP manager of talent acquisition; Raquel Espinoza, UP senior director of public affairs; Esmerelda Arreola, the college's Diesel Technology Program lab assistant; Texas State Rep. Eddie Morales and his wife Helen Morales; and Tom Blevins, UP superintendent of train operations. Photo – up.com

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 6/7/2022 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad today announced it has joined the RailPulse coalition to support its effort to develop, broaden and accelerate the use of GPS and other telematics technologies in North America’s freight-rail industry.UP is RailPulse’s seventh member. The other six are GATX Corp., Genesee & Wyoming Inc., Norfolk Southern Railway, TrinityRail, Watco and The Greenbrier Cos.RailPulse was formed in 2020 as a coalition of rail-car owners working together to support the development and use of GPS and other telematics technologies. The goal is to provide real-time information and sustained visibility of a rail car’s status, location and condition to shippers, rail-car owners and railroads."The use of technology to increase shipment visibility is critical for ensuring we meet the needs and expectations of our customers who rely upon us for safe and reliable service," said Kenny Rocker, UP's executive vice president of marketing and sales, in a press release.

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 5/12/2022 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
The Class I's Mexican franchise was created May 8, 1992. Photo – UP