Railroad News

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Managing Editor

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Managing Editor

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) in January named Chuck Baker president. He assumed the post Feb. 4.

Norfolk Southern Corp. officials today will provide details of the Class I’s latest strategic plan, which includes targeting an operating ratio (OR) of 60 percent by 2021.

The details — which will be revealed at the railroad’s Investor and Financial Analyst Conference being held today in Atlanta — will cover ways to increase productivity, efficiency and growth.

The U.S. Coast Guard has released a draft environmental assessment (EA) of BNSF Railway Co.'s proposed construction of railroad bridges across Lake Pend Oreille and Sand Creek at Sandpoint in Bonner County, Idaho.

BNSF proposes constructing a second mainline track and associated bridges parallel to existing rail bridges that cross the lake and creek. As structures over U.S. navigable waters, the proposed bridges will require a Coast Guard bridge permit.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Associate Editor

Passing a permanent extension of the 45G short-line tax credit. Maintaining existing truck size and weight restrictions. Introducing a comprehensive infrastructure package that includes funding priority for freight and passenger rail. Shoring up the federal Highway Trust Fund. Continuing existing "balanced" regulations for freight railroads.

The "Canada's Top 100 Employers" project has recognized CN as one of Montreal's top employers, the Class I announced yesterday.

This is the third consecutive year that the railroad has been recognized by Canada's Top 100 Employers, an annual competition first published in 2006, CN officials said in a press release.

For the U.S. rail realm, this year’s legislative priorities — passing a permanent extension of the 45G short-line tax credit, maintaining existing truck size and weight restrictions, keeping the regulatory playing field “balanced” for freight railroads — are, for the most part, of the usual-suspect variety, as Senior Associate Editor Julie Sneider reports in this month’s cover story. But rail advocates have a few other concerns they’ll be talking about with lawmakers and their staffers — including the potential monitoring of railroads that implement precision scheduled railroading (PSR).

Last month, Railway Supply Institute Vice President of Government Affairs Nicole Brewin told Sneider she’d heard rumblings that congressional hearings could be in the offing on such topics as PSR. We heard similar comments about oversight interest in PSR late last fall during our annual RailTrends summit.

By Michael Popke

CN employees who are members of United Steelworkers Local 2004 (USW) have approved a new five-year contract, the union and Class I announced yesterday.

For the past several weeks, members have been voting on the tentative agreement reached between CN and Local 2004 in December 2018. The contract covers 3,000 USW members who inspect, maintain and repair CN's system of track, bridges and infrastructure in Canada.

A Canadian Pacific unit grain train began to move on its own prior to a fatal derailment that occurred early Monday near Field, British Columbia, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) announced yesterday.

The derailment, which occurred between the Upper and Lower Spiral Tunnel, resulted in the deaths of the train's three crew members. They were identified as conductor Dylan Paradis, engineer Andrew Dockrell and trainee Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer.

A Canadian Pacific grain train derailed early yesterday near Field, British Columbia, resulting in the deaths of the train's three crew members.

The deceased were identified as conductor Dylan Paradis, engineer Andrew Dockrell and trainee Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer, according to a statement issued by CP President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Creel.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., editor

Will business be better this year than it was last year? Will it be about the same? Worse? What are the key issues facing the rail finance and leasing sector in 2019? 

Unifor Local 100 members have voted in favor of ratifying a new four-year collective agreement with CN.

The agreement — which covers 2,100 locomotive and freight-car mechanics, electricians and apprentices — represents a "breakthrough in improvements to benefits at CN," Unifor officials said in a press release.

BNSF Railway Co. announced yesterday that plant construction and upgrade investments made by its customers in 2018 totaled nearly $3 billion.

Last year marked the eighth consecutive year that BNSF customers and local economic development organizations have invested more than $1 billion in a calendar year for new or expanded facilities, according to a BNSF press release.

CN yesterday reported fourth-quarter revenue of CA$3.8 billion, up 16 percent compared with fourth-quarter 2017 results.

Operating income climbed 19 percent to CA$1.4 billion and adjusted diluted earnings per share jumped 24 percent to CA$1.49. Diluted earnings in fourth-quarter 2017 included a deferred income tax recovery of CA$2.35 per share resulting from the enactment of a lower U.S. corporate income tax rate, CN officials said in a press release.

[Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a statement from CSX.]

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is threatening legal action against CSX if the Whitesboro rail bridge in Oneida County is not rebuilt.

Norfolk Southern Corp. yesterday reported record fourth-quarter income from operations of $1.1 billion, up 27 percent compared with fourth-quarter 2017 and up 9 percent on an adjusted basis.

Net income shot up 44 percent to $702 million, earnings per share jumped 52 percent to $2.57, revenue rose 9 percent to $2.9 billion, volume increased 3 percent to 1.98 million units, railway operating expenses climbed 9 percent to $1.8 billion and the operating ratio improved 5.5 points to 62.8.

Norfolk Southern Corp. has named Michael Cox vice president of taxation, effective March 1. He will succeed Robert Kesler, who is retiring.

Cox has held positions of increasing responsibility since he joined NS as assistant tax counsel in 2000. Prior to joining the company, he spent more than a decade in private industry and with the federal government, including serving as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice's tax division.

Canadian Pacific yesterday announced record operating income of CA$874 million for the fourth quarter, a 28 percent increase compared with the same period in 2017.

CP's revenue for the quarter climbed 17 percent to CA$2 billion from CA$1.7 billion a year ago. Q4 diluted earnings per share (EPS) fell 43 percent to $3.83 from $6.77 a year ago, however adjusted diluted EPS rose 41 percent to a new quarterly record of $4.55 from $3.22 in 2017, according to a CP press release.