It turned out to be “much ado about nothing” or a political stunt, as some industry observers opined: On May 19, the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) deployed
Alstom announced on Sept. 22 that it has signed a contract renewal to “carry out preventive and corrective maintenance” on 186 locomotives of the Ferrocarril Mexicano (Ferromex) fleet for a period of five years, starting immediately.
Two first-quarter 2021 surveys of rail shippers on pricing and business outlook as well as equipment needs conducted by Cowen and Company analysts Jason Seidl (Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor), Matt Elkott and Elliot Alper indicate that, compared with the previous quarter, Class I railroad customers are anticipating somewhat higher rate increases, and a slight decline in new railcar demand.
Rail shippers in fourth-quarter 2020 expected price increases of 3.2% (up 10bps sequentially), and their sub-group of railcar buyers raised order expectations modestly, according to two surveys conducted by Cowen and Company analysts Jason H. Seidl (Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor), Matt Elkott and Elliot Alper.
Union Pacific (UP) has named Humberto Vargas Vice President-Mexico, Marketing and Sales, succeeding Bernardo Ayala. Ayala will take on a leadership position in Locomotive Distribution and Network Operations at the Class I railroad.
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.
Railroads in the U.S. are expected to benefit from a plan by USD Group LLC to expand its network of refined-products destination terminals across Mexico.
Total U.S. rail traffic was 534,140 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Sept. 2, down 0.9% from the same week a year ago.
Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 548,790 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending August 12, up 2.75% compared with the same week in 2016.
The Association of American Railroads said U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Aug. 5, 2017 totaled 554,822 carloads and intermodal units, up 4.3% compared with the same week a year ago.
