Freight

BART on April 20 will hold a retirement ceremony and final dispatch of its legacy trains that have been in service for more than half a century. The event, “Riding into History: Final Run of the First Fleet,” will take place at Oakland’s MacArthur Station.

Transit Briefs: BART, Denver RTD, Metra, Sound Transit

San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) will fully retire its legacy trains next month and is advancing a systemwide fare gates project. Also, Denver (Colo.) Regional Transit District (RTD) launches an elevator pilot program and joins the White House’s “Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose” initiative; Chicago’s Metra plans a new layover yard near the McHenry County community; and Seattle’s Sound Transit will test new Link LRV (light rail vehicle) seat material.

Betsy Talton-Buck (left), incoming Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, NS; Angie Kolar (center), incoming Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, NS; and Robin Pol, Managing Director, Trifleet, a GATX Company.
  • News

High Profile: NS, GATX

Norfolk Southern (NS) hires new corporate communications and compliance leaders. Also, Trifleet Leasing Holding B.V. (Trifleet), a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago-based GATX Corporation, promotes a veteran employee to Managing Director.

Class I Briefs: CSX, CN, UP, NS

CSX donates $10,000 to the Red Cross for storm relief efforts. Also, CN and Union Pacific (UP) are recognized by CDP as 2023 Supplier Engagement Leaders; CN sends a “supply chain salute” to MacroSource, LLC for their new facility in Memphis, Tenn.; and Norfolk Southern (NS) honors customer sustainability achievements.

CPKC Stadium opened March 16 for the KC Current, the professional women’s soccer team in Kansas City, Mo. (Screen Grab Courtesy of CPKC via LinkedIn video post)

Now Open: CPKC Stadium, Home of KC Current

One of the first stadiums purpose-built for a women’s professional sports team opened March 16 under the banner of Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), which last fall reported signing a 10-year naming rights agreement with the National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) Kansas City (KC) Current.

STB Denies UP’s Motion to Keep Employment Data Confidential

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on March 14 announced that it has denied a motion for protective order filed by Union Pacific (UP) to keep certain required, temporary employment data reporting confidential. STB also directs UP to submit public versions of previously submitted data.

Commentary

Bearing Down on Bearings

The bearing related derailment that occurred in East Palestine Feb. 3, 2023 on a Norfolk Southern line was tragic in many ways. Following months of investigation, the NTSB held a hearing on

LeAnna Gutierrez Cumber, Chief Strategy Officer, Herzog
  • M/W

Herzog Hires Chief Strategy Officer

LeAnna Gutierrez Cumber has joined rail and heavy/highway contractor Herzog as Chief Strategy Officer. She will work to expand the St. Joseph, Mo.-based company’s capabilities and reach, including helping customers obtain project financing.

Commentary

BNSF Desperate for an Inflection

The Smokehouse Creek wildfire in Texas, which severed BNSF’s Transcon route on February 27, was the latest in a series of problems that have significantly slowed BNSF’s network and impacted service. After