North-American rail

A refrigerated rail provider has ended operations only five months after launching boxcar services between Selma, California, and Wilmington, Illinois, sending perishable shippers scrambling for transportation alternatives.

U.S. intermodal volume rose 2.2 percent year-over-year this week while a major metric of intermodal rail service stayed near flat in the same period.

The seven U.S.- and Canada-based Class I railroads told U.S. regulators they shouldn’t have to provide any more data on their operations than they are already sending unless the Surface Transportation Board begins a rule-making process.

WASHINGTON — A group opposing the reconstruction of a CSX Transportation tunnel in a Washington D.C. terminal that would allow the railroad to double-stack containers has filed a lawsuit challenging a federal decision to let the project proceed.

North American intermodal volume growth will likely end the year with more than 5 percent growth over 2013, and will likely see similar-sized gains in 2015, according to the Intermodal Association of North America.

BNSF Railway profit in the third quarter rose nearly 4.7 percent to $1.03 billion, even as the company admitted service fell below customer standards and has lost market share.

The Federal Highway Administration has approved a preferred construction alternative for CSX’s Virginia Avenue Tunnel project, paving the way for the 110-year-old, 4,000-foot tunnel to be reconstructed for double-stacking container services after intense pushback from local residents.

With the U.S. Weather Service forecasting a polar vortex will hit the eastern half of the country next week, a CSX executive said the railroads will be better prepared this year to operate in harsh winter conditions than they were last winter.

The activist investor who wrestled control of Canadian Pacific Railway in 2012 reignited speculation that the Calgary-based railroad would acquire a U.S. counterpart by suggesting Norfolk Southern Railway might be the next target.

Canadian Pacific Railway doesn’t expect a “sharp seasonal peak” in intermodal volume this fall, even after seeing a modest bump in international intermodal traffic from diversions of U.S. West Coast traffic to Port Metro Vancouver and gaining domestic intermodal market share.

Union Pacific Railroad appears to be grabbing intermodal market share from its archrival, BNSF Railway.

BNSF Railway told intermodal customers this week that it’s better prepared for the coming winter than it was last year, with more personnel ready and expanded storage capacity at Chicago area facilities.

A higher surcharge on westbound-moving overweight containers imposed by Union Pacific Railroad this month is drawing fire from Midwest agriculture exporters.

Canadian Pacific Railway CEO E. Hunter Harrison sees railroad consolidation as possible and a way to greatly improve service, but the majority of his Class I counterparts aren’t on board.

Western Pennsylvania intermodal shippers will soon get better access to CSX Transportation’s network when the railroad opens a Pittsburgh terminal, allowing it to better compete with its archrival, Norfolk Southern Railway, in the market.

Norfolk Southern Railway said it is working to correct service problems that accompanies faster-than-expected 10 percent growth in intermodal volume during the third quarter.

Canadian National Railway said today that congestion at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex could cause U.S. shippers to divert cargo to western Canadian ports in three weeks, giving the railroad more intermodal business.

Canadian Pacific Railway CEO E. Hunter Harrison yesterday struck back at critics of potential rail industry consolidation, saying U.S. regulators could approve a merger and service would improve as a result.

Canadian Pacific Railway’s domestic intermodal push keeps gaining steam, with volume jumping 19 percent year-over-year in the third quarter and demand sometimes even exceeding the railroad’s capacity.

Canadian Pacific said its exploratory discussions with CSX Corp. about a possible merger have ended and that no further talks are planned.

Kansas City Southern Railway said it’s investing in its network at a higher rate than most other Class I railroads, as the company expects to increasingly handle more U.S.-Mexico cross-border intermodal, vehicle, crude oil and agriculture and mineral shipments.

Northern Southern Railway has increased the frequency of its intermodal service to the inland port of Greer, South Carolina, partially reflecting growth at the adjacent BMW plant.

Mexican intermodal volume jumped this week, reaching a high not seen in the last two years, according to the Association of American Railroads, as Mexican shippers increasingly turn to rail to protect their cargo.

Kansas City Southern Railway rode a rebound of container traffic at Lazaro Cardenas port in the third quarter, helping the company hit record revenue in the period.

CSX Transportation expects growth in domestic intermodal for many years ahead, driven in particular by highway-to-rail conversions.

Intermodal shippers using CSX Transportation and Canadian Pacific Railway would see few benefits if the two railroads merged, and could risk a short-term deterioration in service if operations were meshed.

CSX has rebuffed an overture from Canadian Pacific Railway about a merger or acquisition that would reshape North America’s transportation map by creating the continent’s largest rail network.

Following months of service problems and public hearings, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board will require all Class I railroads to issue weekly performance metrics in areas including train speed, terminal dwell times, train delays and others.

Shippers surveyed by Wolfe Research in August and September expect rates to rise on average 2.6 percent over the next 12 months.

A coalition of soybean exporters urged the U.S. freight transportation industry Friday to invest in infrastructure, equipment and process improvements to maintain the role of the American farmer as the world’s preeminent supplier of soybeans.

The Mexican Senate will likely consider rail reform legislation this month, paving the way for the country’s three largest railroads to keep their concessions and preventing any supply chain disruptions caused by proposed legislation that would force them to open their networks to third-parties.

Shippers are getting U.S.-bound cargo more easily through the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert as the surge in imports avoiding the U.S. West Coast due to labor talks subsides with the conclusion of the ocean peak season.

BNSF Railway is bullish about intermodal Mexico-U.S. cross border growth.

A proposed Norfolk Southern Railway intermodal terminal in Elliston, Virginia, faces a much higher price tag than originally estimated, along with the threat of litigation, making its construction less likely

Florida East Coast Railway has acquired 500 new 53-foot containers and 100 chassis, as well as 50 refrigerated trailers to cater to customers in the perishables market. All of the units will be in service by mid-October.

Class I railroads plan to add locomotives and train crews to their networks in an effort to improve service in the "strongest fall peak in recent years."

Florida East Coast Railway launched at 53-foot domestic container service two weeks ago, giving North Carolina shippers a new option to ship goods to South Florida for either domestic consumption or to transload for export.

BNSF Railway is spending billions of dollars to double-track key segments of its northern tier route, purchase equipment and hire additional crew, but a company executive told grain shippers this week it could take two to three years for the investments to produce all of the results they are looking for.