BNSF

Less than one year after completion of BNSF Railway’s Sandpoint Junction Connector project in northern Idaho, one can hardly tell that there was an army of workers and machinery stationed there for roughly four years building new bridges, rebuilding an existing bridge and laying new track to eliminate a bottleneck in BNSF’s Northern Corridor. Sandpoint is back to the tranquil,…

Railway Age and Railway Track & Structures are returning to Chicago for our second-annual in-person Women in Rail Conference featuring trailblazing women and their allies who are significantly influencing today’s freight, passenger and transit rail industry. After selling out in 2023, we have expanded this important event to two days—filled with instructive panels covering everything from mentorship to advancing current…

The National Association of Railway Business Women (NARBW) has elected Rhonda Gomez as its 42nd President.

CSX is recognized for its 2023 finished vehicle transport service by Hyundai GLOVIS, the logistics service provider for Hyundai Motor America and Kia America. Also, BNSF’s Wichita Falls, Tex.-based signal group sets a safety record; and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) launches a new Winnipeg (Manitoba) General Yard Office.

The Port of Long Beach (POLB) on July 18 held a groundbreaking ceremony for its $1.567 billion Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility project, which is slated to double the footprint of the existing rail yard from 82 to 171 acres, and more than triple the Port’s capacity for on-dock rail from 1.5 million to 4.7 million TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent…

Jackie Corletto, Norfolk Southern (NS) AVP Sourcing, is named as RailMarketplace (RMP) Board Chair. Also, Valley Metro CEO Jessica Mefford-Miller is selected as one of the Most Influential Women in Arizona Business for 2024; and Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) President and CEO Joni Casey announces her retirement after 27 years of leadership.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on July 16 announced that BNSF has requested to add the Missoula, Mont., location to its existing waiver regarding single air brake tests (SCABT), which permits the Class I railroad to change the repair track designation so that the track on which in-train wheel replacements are performed “is not designated a shop or repair track.”

A new 800,405-square-foot speculative rail service building located within the Cedar Port Industrial Park in Baytown, Texas, which will provide dual rail service to both Union Pacific (UP) and BNSF is now ready for immediate occupancy. Also, CSX and BNSF are named as one of America’s “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion” by the Disability Equality Index; and UP's…

Railroad volume growth has been scarce over the past two years, but it has shown up—primarily in the form of international intermodal—so far in 2024. The chart below consolidates loads for the four major U.S. railroads and the gap between the dark green line (this year) and light green line (last year) shows the extent of the growth. On average,…

RAILWAY AGE JULY 20224 ISSUE: Handheld devices are here to stay.

CN’s net-zero by 2050 target is validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). Also, CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) are recognized by Corporate Knights as top-rated freight transport companies in Canada’s “Best 50 Corporate Citizens” for 2024; and BNSF honors 109 companies with its annual Product Stewardship Award.

The Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Office of Environmental Analysis on March 29 issued a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in connection with Green Eagle Railroad, LLC’s (GER) proposed construction and operation of an approximately 1.335-mile rail line in Maverick County, Tex., extending from the southern border of the United States and connecting to Union Pacific…

BNSF on July 1 announced that it is honoring four state Departments of Transportation (DOT) in Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming with the inaugural “Tracking to Zero” awards for their “dedication to improving crossing safety in their communities,” a first-of-its kind initiative to reduce grade crossing incidents across the Class I’s 32,500-mile network.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on June 21, 2024 ordered the Federal Railroad Administration to cease its attempt to limit BNSF’s use of ATI (Automated Track Inspection). Specifically, FRA had been denying the railroad’s application to extend an existing waiver. The Court called FRA’s actions “arbitrary and capricious.” Finally, some common sense! The entire decision,…

Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) last month hosted a “fact-finding” tour at the San Pedro Bay port complex in California for Robert E. Primus, the new Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chair, according to the railroad’s parent company Anacostia Rail Holdings, which owns and manages six short lines operating in seven states. PHL provides switching services to customers at the ports of…

CSX is honored by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) for “exceptional support” of military employees. Also, Norfolk Southern (NS) highlights Thriving Communities grant recipient Citi Fields; Union Pacific (UP) releases a video of the Big Boy heading westward; Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) is named the Most Sustainable Company in the Transportation Industry by World Finance;…

The Port of Long Beach, Calif., (POLB) has awarded Alameda, Calif.-based Stacy & Witbeck Inc. a $21.7 million contract for the Pier B Rail Yard East Expansion Project.

OmniTRAX on June 27 reported being selected as the exclusive rail operator for Ports of Indiana-Mount Vernon; the projected start date is Aug. 1. This will be the fourth domestic port in the OmniTRAX network, which also includes 27 railroads. The 1,200-acre port, with eight miles of track, handles as many as 40,000 railcars annually, including direct unit train service…

The Port of Los Angeles on June 25 reported deploying “the first commercially available” battery-powered electric cargo top handlers in the U.S., as part of its zero-emissions strategy.

More than $310 million in FY 2024 RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) program grants will be distributed to 23 freight and passenger rail-related projects in 19 states, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) report released June 26. Funding will go toward Arizona’s Valley Metro Rio East-Dobson streetcar extension, California’s Sprinter corridor service improvements, Michigan’s KKIL Terminal improvements, New York Metropolitan…