North-American rail

U.S. rail traffic is returning to normal after one of the coldest winters in recent memory, Bradley Thrasher, vice president and general manager of industrial products at the Union Pacific Railroad, told the Los Angeles Transportation Club April 15.

CSX Transportation said rail service will “gradually” improve and that it was reasonable to expect operations to return to normal by the end of June, following a harsh winter that snarled operations and created a backlog of freight.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Intermodal service delays at Union Pacific Railway and CSX Transportation will end in roughly two to four weeks following a harsh winter that wrecked havoc on the railroads’ networks, rail representatives said at a conference on April 10.

Bulk rail shippers ranging from agriculture to coal producers told the U.S. Surface Transportation Board today that poor rail service must be solved before their business suffers even more.

WASHINGTON — Following many shippers’ complaints of poor rail service, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board said today it will hear on April 10 from Class I carriers and their customers on what can done to improve service.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. rail industry and the nation’s largest shipper group today presented to the Surface Transportation Board widely disparate scenarios about what would happen if the rail regulatory agency mandated reciprocal switching for certain railroad customers.

Canadian National Railway said it’s meeting the government requirement to transport more grain but warned that grain elevators on the west coast are nearing capacity and ice coverage prevents shipping via the Great Lakes.

The union representing about 3,000 conductors and train and railyard workers at Canadian National Railway agreed late yesterday to restart labor contract negotiations with the railroad and accept final and binding arbitration if a deal can’t be reached.

The union representing about 3,000 conductors and train and railyard workers at Canadian National Railway could strike as soon as March 22 after rejecting a tentative agreement yesterday.

WASHINGTON — A new study suggesting U.S. freight railcar premiums have soared in recent years...

Canadian National Railway today obtained an injunction against striking union and non-union truck groups that will prevent their drivers from blocking access...

Canadian National Railway told forest product shippers that the ongoing truck strike at the Port Metro Vancouver is preventing the railroad from taking all of their lumber and pulp carload shipments for transloading into containers.

The Canadian government is requiring the nation’s two largest freight railroad to move about 551,000 tons of grains weekly or suffer daily fines of up to C$100,000 (approximately US$90,000).

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Canadian National Railway CEO and President Claude Mongeau yesterday said the railroad is looking at ways to build more resiliency into its network as it grapples with traffic delays caused by the severest winter in decades.

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Canadian National Railway CEO and President Claude Mongeau sat down with JOC senior editor Mark Szakonyi at JOC’s annual TPM conference to share his views on intermodal growth, the pace of the U.S. and Canadian economic recovery and whether Class I rail consolidation is ahead.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Surface Transportation Board told BNSF Railway that it’s increasingly concerned about the “deterioration in service” shippers have experienced on the Class I railroad’s network.

Canadian Pacific Railway CEO and Director E. Hunter Harrison told investors last week that he expects rail consolidation among the largest North American railroads within six years, but the scenario he laid out was far bolder than what’s been swirling around the industry for years.

Canadian National Railway and a union representing about 3,000 conductors, train and railyard workers at the railroad reached a new tentative labor agreement last night, averting a strike threatened to begin Feb. 8.

A union representing about 3,000 conductors, train and railyard workers at Canadian National Railway gave the railroad a 72-hour strike notice yesterday evening.

WASHINGTON — The types of questions posed by Surface Transportation Board commissioners to railroads and shippers in late March could give some indication on how the trio, particularly its newest addition, views a controversial competitive switching proposal.

CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian National Railway’s $220 million investment in its Calgary area logistics park, which opened a year ago, is a case study in how intermodal is paying off for Canada’s largest railroad.

Canadian Pacific Railway CEO and Director E. Hunter Harrison doesn’t think the Class I industry will go another five to six year without some consolidation.

Canadian Pacific Railway is targeting domestic intermodal as one of the two biggest drivers of growth for the company in the coming years. The railroad said it has already gained market share though new services.

Kansas City Southern Railway expects to see a surge of business from three new Mexican auto plants later than previously anticipated, as the Nissan, Honda and Audi plants are slated to produce only half their full capacity this year.

Archrivals CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway will further their different approaches to attract truck loads to the rails this year, but it’s too soon to say which eastern railroad will dominate one of the fastest growing North American intermodal markets.

Kansas City Southern today reported record revenue of $616 million in the fourth quarter of 2013, up 8 percent year-over-year...

Union Pacific reported record net income of $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013, up 13 percent year-over-year, which helped fuel a best-ever full year profit of $4.4 billion...

Norfolk Southern today reported record fourth quarter net income of $513 million, jumping 24 percent year-over-year from $413 million....

The polar vortex didn’t put the U.S. into a deep freeze for long but the widespread chill is still causing transportation problems for shippers, railroads and drayage truckers. Those problems may be contributing to stronger-than-usual business for over-the-road truckers.

CSX Transportation told investors Thursday that it plans to expand its intermodal hub in northwest Ohio, after the railroad's intermodal traffic jumped 11 percent in the fourth quarter.

CSX today reported fourth quarter net income of $426 million, falling 5 percent from $449 million in the same period last year...

Union Pacific Railroad recently began intermodal service between Laredo, Texas and Memphis, Tenn., providing shippers with better access to Mexico’s booming automotive and consumer goods manufacturing industries.

Canadian Pacific Railway will sell the western end of its Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern line to Genesee & Wyoming for $210 million, the latest effort by the former to boost profitability by cutting non-core assets.

Schneider National is making the rare move of offering its own 600-strong chassis fleet, giving shippers more reliable access to lightweight equipment that will allow them to load more goods into the company’s containers.

BSNF Railway CEO Matt Rose will leave his post at the end of the year to become executive chairman, relinquishing his position to Carl Ice, the railroad’s president and chief operating officer.

Norfolk Southern Railway’s new Charlotte, N.C., intermodal terminal began handling shipments Monday, boosting the railroad’s ability to attract highway loads to its major corridor connecting the mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast.

The derailment of a Metro North commuter train on Dec. 1 in the Bronx, N.Y., could delay certain freight shipments on the Hudson Line, east of the Hudson River, according to CSX.

Federal investigators are determining whether a Caterpillar subsidiary dumped train parts into the Pacific Ocean to conceal evidence of charging railroads for unneeded repairs, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.