KCS Announces Holiday Express Details
Kansas City Southern (KCS) recently announced the schedule for the 19th annual Holiday Express train, which plans to stop in 20 communities in five U.S. states on 25 dates and begins in late November.
Class I
Wi-Tronix Turns 15
Advanced Internet of Things (IoT) services provider Wi-Tronix, LLC recently celebrated its 15th year in the rail industry.
STB Moves to Rehab Antique URCS
If you think a currently under way Surface Transportation Board (STB) search for outside experts to rehabilitate and modernize the 30-year-old Uniform Rail Costing System (URCS) is not of significant importance to railroads and their customers, then think again, and stay focused.
So, What Do Rail Shippers Really Want?
Periodically, pundits who are not active participants in Surface Transportation Board (STB) proceedings offer for publication in a variety of newspapers—presumably aimed at members of Congress and other public policy opinion leaders—guest opinion columns containing warnings of dire results should railroads be “re-regulated.”
NEARS Announces Award Winners, Conference Details
The North East Association of Rail Shippers (NEARS) announced that Michael Smith, President, Finger Lakes Railway Corporation, has been named its 2019 Transportation Person of the Year, and Erik Bohn and Gerald Racette will be inducted into the NEARS Hall of Fame.
U.S. Rail Traffic Still Not Improving
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ended August 17, 2019, and, if you’ve been paying attention recently, the results really shouldn’t come as a surprise.
BNSF, Wabtec Advancing the Future of Motive Power
In a wide-ranging interview with Railway Age in December 2018, BNSF’s then-Executive Chairman Matt Rose had this to say about the future of locomotive propulsion technology:
“It Ain’t Over ’Till The Fat Lady Sings”
A 2007 class-action antitrust suit brought by a large group of rail shippers against four Class I railroads took yet another turn in its 12-year court dance, this one in the defendants’ favor, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled on Aug. 16 against class-action certification. The plaintiffs contend that the railroads—BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific—colluded to engage in unlawful price fixing to set fuel surcharges.
Thermal Rail Stress and Undergrade Bridges
When consideration is given to track engineering and maintenance, many newcomers to the railroad industry don’t realize what massive amount of effort is put forward to properly manage thermal rail stress by track engineering and track maintenance professionals. A concept even more difficult to grasp is the relationship of thermal rail stress to undergrade bridges.
NS Promotes Allen Sutherland, Farrell
Norfolk Southern on Aug. 14 announced promotions for two senior-level managers, effective Aug. 16: Vanessa Allen Sutherland and Michael Farrell. Allen Sutherland, previously Vice President Law, is now SVP Government Relations and Chief Legal Officer. Farrell, previously Senior Vice President Transportation, is now SVP Operations and Mechanical.