STB

Class III D&I Railroad (D&I) in northwest Iowa and southeast South Dakota, plus two long-time CN customers have submitted letters of support for the Canadian Class I’s application to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to acquire control of U.S. regional Iowa Northern Railway (IANR). Additionally, Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) is calling on the Board to evaluate the proposed merger as…

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is permitting the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (Rock Island) to provide service for 30 days over rail line owned by the state of Oklahoma and the Blackwell Industrial Authority (BIA), which late last month petitioned for an emergency service order. Blackwell Northern Gateway Railroad Company (BNGR) had been leasing the line owned by state…

The Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Office of Environmental Analysis has released a Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for Savage Tooele Railroad Company’s proposal to construct and operate an 11-mile rail line in Tooele County, Utah. The STB will use the assessment to help determine whether or not to approve the project.

Republican Patrick J. Fuchs, who was nominated late last month by President Joe Biden for a second term on the Surface Transportation Board (STB), now has shipper support for Senate confirmation. Fuchs is awaiting a Senate Commerce Committee hearing to determine whether his name goes forward for a Senate-floor confirmation vote. A group of 24 agricultural producers and agribusinesses is…

The State of Oklahoma, by and through the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), and the Blackwell Industrial Authority (BIA) have petitioned the Surface Transportation Board (STB) for an emergency order allowing the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, LLC (Rock Island) to provide local rail service on the Blackwell Subdivision, 35.3 miles of rail lines owned by ODOT and BIA…

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Feb. 26 decided the Amtrak Gulf Coast Service proceeding will remain in abeyance and directed the parties to file a joint status report by March 15 covering issues raised during this month’s hearing on the slow pace of getting two Amtrak trains in each direction running between New Orleans and Mobile.

Sanimax USA LLC and Union Pacific (UP) on Feb. 12 told the Surface Transportation Board (STB) they have settled their dispute and jointly requested that Sanimax’s common carrier complaint be dismissed with prejudice and the proceeding be dropped. STB on Feb. 15 approved.

Union Pacific (UP) on Feb. 8 announced that it has appointed Andrew Brady to Vice President-External Relations, following the retirement of Printz Bolin at the end of February.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is seeking nominations for candidates to fill a large-railroad representative vacancy on its Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council (RSTAC).

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Jan. 31 extended its temporary employment-data reporting period for the “Big Four” Class I railroads—BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS) and Union Pacific (UP)—to Dec. 31, 2024, but did not extend service-data reporting. On April 26-27, 2022, the STB held a public hearing on what it called “the significant performance deterioration of the freight rail…

Major General Gavin Lawrence will be a featured speaker at the American Short Line and Railroad Association’s (ASLRRA) 2024 Annual Conference, scheduled to take place March 24-26 in Kansas City, Mo.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has for the second time found that CN-subsidiary Wisconsin Central, Ltd.’s proposal “to unilaterally designate” the Belt Railway of Chicago’s (BRC) Clearing Yard as the location where it will receive traffic in interchange from Canadian Pacific Kansas City-subsidiary Soo Line Railroad Company “is not consistent with the reasonableness requirement of 49 U.S.C. § 10742.”

Republican Patrick J. Fuchs, 35, has been nominated by President Biden to a second term on the Surface Transportation Board (STB), which has economic regulatory authority over railroad rates and practices. His first term expired earlier this month, but the STB’s statute permits members to remain in office an additional 12 months pending Senate confirmation. Fuchs now awaits a Senate…

Independent rail economist Jim Blaze shares another fearless forecast for North American rail freight, as originally reported in Railway Age's sister publication, International Railway Journal (IRJ).

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is amending its emergency service regulations to provide “immediate relief” for shippers in certain situations. On Jan. 24, it reported adopting a final rule clarifying that it “may act on its own initiative to direct emergency rail service” and establishing “an accelerated process for acute service emergencies.” The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA), American…

A majority of members from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) Divisions 72 and 191 on Jan. 15 ratified an implementing agreement regarding CSX Transportation’s acquisition of the Springfield Terminal Railway (a Pan Am Railway affiliate).

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) will require additional information in the Amtrak Gulf Coast proceeding and schedules hearing. Also, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) pilots upgraded seating on light rail and streetcar vehicles; and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) installs platform barriers the at 191st Street Station.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Jan. 18 presented its calculation for the change in railroad productivity for the 2018-2022 averaging period. Comments are due by Feb. 5.

Three days before Christmas, a coalition of tank car owners asked the Surface Transportation Board (STB) what happened to their complaint. The coalition alleges that Union Pacific’s fee for moving empty tank cars to repair facilities is an unreasonable practice. They had filed their complaint on March 31, 2015. They amended their complaint on June 2, 2015. STB started a…

The Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) on Jan. 5 issued a Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) for the proposed construction and operation of a new rail line in Suffolk County, N.Y., by Townline Rail Terminal, LLC (Townline).