Canadian Pacific (CP) officially launched its international intermodal service through the Port of Saint John, N.B. the morning of Aug. 11. The inaugural train carried containers from the Hapag-Lloyd vessel Detroit Express bound for intermodal terminals on the CP network in Canada and the U.S.
CSX last week joined Operation Homefront to assist and distribute 800 backpacks with essential school supplies to military children in the Fayetteville, N.C., area, as a part of Operation Homefront’s annual Back-to-School Brigade® (BTSB).
Canadian Pacific reaffirmed “its commitment to grow traffic at the Port of Saint John and stimulate economic growth and investment in New Brunswick” at a recent meeting with Premier Blaine Higgs.
Mexico has a freight railway system owned by the national government. However, the trains and the network are operated and managed by various private entities under concessions (charters) granted by the national government. Today, Mexico has service from eight concessionaire railway companies. Beyond Kansas City Southern de México, and Ferromex, are the smaller, but important Ferrosur, Ferrovalle, Coahuila-Durango, Ferrocarril Chiapas Mayab, Ferrocarril del Istmo and Ferrocarril Tijuana-Tecate.
OmniTRAX, an affiliate of The Broe Group, is working with the Calumet Area Industrial Commission (CAIC) to launch its Rail-Ready Sites program at the Chicago Rail Link (CRL). The Rail-Ready Sites program connects customers looking to maximize supply chain performance with rail-served properties.
RAILWAY AGE, AUGUST 2020 ISSUE: Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), as we know it today, is rapidly reaching an inflection point. Escalating trade disruptions, rail strikes, blockades, weather events and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the urgency to make supply chains more resilient. Weaknesses in international supply chains have been exposed, and escalating domestic transportation turmoil demonstrates the need for end-to-end approaches, standards, solutions, and greater service level accountability and safety. PSR has been applied to some Class I’s and has yet to be applied widely to Class II, Class III, tenant and passenger railroads in North America. This gap represents 40% of North American route-miles.
After the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported on U.S. rail traffic for the week ended Aug. 1, 2020, as well as for July 2020, there appears to be hope in traffic volumes returning to pre-COVID-19 levels.
“Permanent changes in trade flows will likely cause the Port of LA to permanently lose about 15% of its market share to Gulf and East Coast ports, a clear negative for Union Pacific but favorable for CSX, Kansas City Southern and Norfolk Southern. COVID-19 has had as large of an effect as the Great Recession. Peak season expectations were mixed to positive, with retail inventory replenishment likely needed.”
Two private equity firms are considering a takeover bid for Kansas City Southern, according to a report based on information from anonymous sources in the Wall Street Journal posted late afternoon on July 31, just before the closing bell on Wall Street.
Due to the ongoing concerns with COVID-19, the NEARS Fall 2020 Virtual Conference in Pittsburgh, Penn., has been switched to a Live Virtual Conference Format, scheduled for Sept. 21-25. The conference plans to have live panels, a Q&A, and many interactive features.
