UP
Committed to growing its team’s potential and providing resources for employees to hone their skills and keep up with the latest trends in their field, UP reported investing more than $1 million in free college tuition for employees through its Educational Assistance Program in 2024.
According to the Class I railroad’s Feb. 21 Inside Track article, from day one full-time employees can enroll in specialized courses to pursue advanced degrees at their own pace. More than 1,000 employees across UP’s 23-state system have become students since the Educational Assistance Program launched in 2020.
“At 39, I earned a bachelor’s degree with zero student loan debt—showing my teenage kids that if you’re disciplined, you can achieve any goal,” UP Director-Signal Construction Russell Parris was quoted as saying in the article. “Being the first college graduate in my family motivated me, and Union Pacific provides the opportunity. How can you not take advantage of that?”
“I gained a lot from my program,” added Courtland Ferchaud, a UP track inspector, who graduated cum laude with his bachelor’s degree remotely. “Your degree is something to be proud of. You gain skills for everyday life and your career.”
According to the railroad, 27 employees recently earned degrees through its Educational Assistance Program. Working with the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Metropolitan Community College, for instance, UP provides employees with accelerated admission, waived fees and dedicated enrollment counselors.
Separately, UP recently reported that the Pacific Northwest team earned its esteemed Safety Bell.
NS
“Typically handling 1,800–1,900 cars daily, our rail yard in Elkhart, Ind., plays a crucial role in keeping our network moving safely, efficiently and quickly,” NS reported in the Story Yard section of its website on Feb. 21. “By embracing an innovative approach to train movement, the team has significantly reduced dwell times and improved throughput, making the yard more agile and responsive to operational and customer needs.”
The railroad said its new strategy prioritizes moving all available traffic “as soon as safely possible,” rather than waiting for a later scheduled departure. “While viewing every decision through the lens of safety, the team is running our connection plan, actively managing left-behind traffic, and looking ahead with an enterprise-level approach,” it reported.
“The methodology change that we put in place was to move all traffic that’s available today,” NS Assistant Superintendent for the Great Lakes Division Geoff Craker was quoted as saying. “This enables our team to build the constructive tension needed to develop a standardized, repeatable service product. Once you start doing that, you reduce volume and congestion in the yard, reduce dwell, and increase connections.”
NS said the Elkhart team “has, in a short time, increased the yard’s connection performance from a historical 81% to an average of 90% daily,” which translates to an additional 160 cars per day that are connecting on the right trains, on time, to reach their destination and service the customer. This also reduces left-behind traffic to create capacity for growth, it noted.
This shift is not just about running trains on time, according to Craker; it is about being proactive and making more efficient decisions that benefit the railroad and customers.
Compared with this time last year, NS said the team has delivered:
- “A significant drop in dwell time, now averaging approximately 10 hours.
- “Stronger train connections and improved origin performance.
- “Reduced congestion, keeping operations fluid and productive.
- “An 8% reduction in cost per car.”
While NS said that Elkhart’s scale makes these improvements particularly impactful, the same principles are being applied system-wide, helping to improve throughput, reduce congestion, and strengthen performance across the network.
“I am extremely proud of the results that the Elkhart team has put forth in the second half of 2024 and the consistency of product into 2025,” NS Sr. AVP Transportation Jas Pannu was quoted as saying. “I am even more excited that this is just the beginning of what is possible as the team continues driving down costs and increasing capacity for future growth.”
In other NS news, the railroad recently reported on its support for employees and communities as it restores its network following severe weather impacts in the Eastern U.S.
CSX
CSX on Feb. 21 paid tribute to electrician Dale Reynolds with a special video celebrating his nearly 46-years of railroad service (see above). In the video, released via social media, Reynolds discusses his work at CSX’s Huntington Locomotive Shop, where he started on Oct. 1, 1978, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who began work there in 1923, and his father, who began work in 1947.
“We try to get the best product out there that we can for CSX,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds has trained not only craftsmen during his time at the railroad, but also young managers.
“I first met Dale in 2013,” Huntington Locomotive Shop Plant Superintendent Mike Langhauser said in the video. “I was Assistant Superintendent at Cincinnati, and part of my development was to come here for a couple of weeks and work and learn what they do. I spent a week on third shift with Dale working at the loadbox. He is just a wonderful person all the way around, a good attitude. I still have my notebook today and I still use his troubleshooting tips to help me with my job and position.”
“Dale’s done a phenomenal job with everybody he’s trained to try to instill the love of their job and the love of the locomotives to all the craftspeople,” Huntington Locomotive Shop Clerk Kelly Williams noted in the video. “Dale’s dedicated. He wants to share his knowledge and his experience.” Williams joked that Reynolds even taught his two daughters to read locomotive schematics.
“Dale’s done a phenomenal job with everybody he’s trained to try to instill the love of their job and the love of the locomotives to all the craftspeople,” Williams summed up.
“You will not find another employee that is as dedicated as Dale,” added Langhauser. “I don’t know if he’ll ever retire because he just loves it so much. He’ll help you; he’ll do anything he can for you.”
From testing and calibrating to track-testing locomotives, Reynolds’ love of the job shines though. This self-described “baseball nut” has kept, from the beginning, a lineup card to record the locomotive numbers he and his team work on, as well as what was fixed; he transcribes this journal onto his computer each night.
“I’m really proud of my 39 years of marriage, and I’ve got two girls; and my 45 years and seven months on the railroad, it’s been wonderful,” Reynolds said.
Separately, CSX recently donated $250,000 to Nemours to expand access to pediatric behavioral health services.
