Surface Transportation Board

Kneecapping is “a form of malicious wounding, in which the victim is injured in the knee, often as torture,” according to Wikipedia. Nine Republican state attorneys general used this rather strong term…

The Senate Commerce Committee will meet in executive session Wednesday, Nov. 19, to vote on whether to recommend for Senate confirmation numerous POTUS 47 nominees, including Republican Michelle A. Schultz,…

What was expected to be a low-key Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing Nov 6 on the nomination of two Republicans to serve on the independent (from the Executive Branch) Surface…

“The regulatory framework for freight rail must be updated to reflect both the current competitive landscape and the legal consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision in Loper Bright…

Prior to the Staggers of Act of 1980, the only way a Class I railroad could shed the cost of marginal or money losing light density rail line was abandonment.…

Joining BNSF and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) in expressing their concerns about the proposed Union Pacific (UP)-Norfolk Southern (NS) merger, CN recently launched a page on its website encouraging…

WATCHING WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 2025 ISSUE: Perhaps the gutsiest-ever regulatory agency decision was the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) 2001 imposition of a railroad merger moratorium. Its architect was then-STB Chairperson Linda…

Francis Patrick (Frank) Mulvey, a Democrat who served on the Surface Transportation Board (STB) from May 2004 to December 2013, died Oct. 18 at 81. Among just six Ph.D. economists…

An Oct. 30 letter to the Surface Transportation Board co-authored by Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) asks the STB to “closely scrutinize” the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern…

Pinsly Railroad Company President and CEO Ryan Ratledge joins the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council (RSTAC). Also, Anna Lynn Smith rejoins HDR as Intercity and High-Speed Rail…

For months, Union Pacific’s (UP) CEO Jim Vena has been on the offensive, touting possible benefits of the proposed merger between UP and Norfolk Southern (NS). He has spoken with…

Democrat Robert E. Primus, fired Aug. 27 from his Senate-confirmed seat on the Surface Transportation Board (STB) by POTUS 47, wants his job back—and he is suing the Republican POTUS,…

On July 30, 2025, at the Surface Transportation Board, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern filed a notice of intent to file an Application for authority to merge. The earliest the…

WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE, OCTOBER 2025 ISSUE: The proposed marriage of Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) to form the first U.S. seamless Atlantic to Pacific transcontinental railroad is a…

Robert Primus, who was removed from his position on the Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Aug. 27, in a move that Democracy Forward and Justice Legal Strategies, which are representing…

The federal government entered a partial shutdown at 12:01 a.m. ET on Oct. 1, 2025, after both Republican and Democratic funding proposals failed in the Senate.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Sept. 30 issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that it said would “streamline and improve reporting requirements for Class I rail carriers, proposing…

Union Pacific (UP) racks up strong performance numbers for its grain customers. Also, BNSF encourages stakeholders to share their views with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) regarding the proposed merger…

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is inviting public comment on its schedule for reviewing the proposed merger of Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS), which would create the first…

The debut in late August 2025 of Amtrak’s long-awaited NextGen Acela trainsets for the Northeast Corridor captured media and rail industry attention at a time when Amtrak’s much larger—geographically speaking—Long-Distance…