Surface Transportation Board

The Senate Dec. 18 voted 53-43, along party lines, to confirm STB member Michelle A. Schultz to a second two-year term on the five-member agency.

The level of granularity in evaluating thousands of pages of a merger application prompted William H. Tucker, when a member of Surface Transportation Board (STB) predecessor Interstate Commerce Commission in…

Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Troy Carter (D-La.), and Cleo Fields (D-La.) are asking the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to not only consider the “tangible impact the [proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern]…

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is seeking nominations to fill vacancies on its Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council (RSTAC). The deadline is Jan. 12, 2026; candidates may nominate themselves.

FROM THE EDITOR, RAILWAY AGE DECEMBER 2025 ISSUE: When I started freshman year at Essex Catholic High School, Newark, N.J.,  in September 1973, Latin had been dropped as a requirement. Though…

WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE DECEMBER 2025 ISSUE: Union Pacific (UP) CEO Jim Vena’s September pilgrimage to the Oval Office—where Republican POTUS 47 picked his corporate pocket for a cash contribution…

FINANCIAL EDGE, RAILWAY AGE DECEMBER 2025 ISSUE: The holidays always bring the classic tussle between Ebeneezer Scrooge (pre-ghosts) and Santa. In the holiday spirit, Santa (or the true spirit of…

New industrial development initiatives are under way in Alabama and Texas. While a Norfolk Southern (NS)-served site in Huntsville, Ala., will soon be home to Eli Lilly and Company’s $6…

Democrat Robert E. Primus, fired Aug. 27 from the Surface Transportation Board (STB) by Republican POTUS 47, alleges in an amended legal challenge filed in federal district court Dec. 4…

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Nov. 28 provided notice that Genesee & Wyoming’s Providence & Worcester Railroad Company (P&W) will operate the 16.84-mile Middletown Cluster railroad under a new…

In advance of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) evaluating a Union Pacific (UP)-Norfolk Southern (NS) merger application (yet to be filed), rival BNSF wants a separate proceeding to examine, with…

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Nov. 26 granted authority for Fortress Investment Group LLC (Fortress) to acquire control of Class II Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company (W&LE) and…

A Nov. 24 letter to the Surface Transportation Board co-authored by 64 U.S. trade associations, chambers, and businesses—from the chemical and agribusiness sectors to the automotive dealer, plastics, building, vinyl,…

The U.S. transportation system is being pushed beyond the limits of what it was built to handle. Freight volumes continue climbing, supply chains are more time-sensitive, and our roads —…

To those of us having experience as both a Class I pricing officer and a railroad shipper, it’s axiomatic that the primary advantage of shipping by rail is price. Now…

Shortly after nine Republican state attorneys general wrote to the Surface Transportation Board expressing serious concerns about the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, three counterparts, also Republicans—Mike Hilgers, Nebraska; J.B.…

The late Henry G. Manne, a pioneer in melding the academic disciplines of economics and law through a lens favoring free markets and reduced government regulation, gained international acclaim through…

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has filed a notice of intent to participate in the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) review of the forthcoming Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern…

The Senate Commerce Committee on Nov. 19 recommended Senate reconfirmation of Republican Michelle A. Schutz to a second five-year term on the Surface Transportation Board (STB). Her renomination is now…

18 U.S. Senators—evenly split between Republicans and Democrats—from agricultural-producer states sent a letter to the Surface Transportation Board urging “a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation” of the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern…