Rail News

A 73 percent drop in first quarter net income and 15 percent revenue slide still left rail equipment maker American Railcar Industries with $261 million in cash.

Pacer International’s main business line, its intermodal segment, lost $129 million in sales or 32 percent in the first quarter as it led the company toward a $177 million net loss.

Forced to take a large write-down of “goodwill” as business weakened, intermodal provider Pacer International posted a net loss of $177.4 million for the first quarter and warned it might

Scratch another 2,000 jobs, the Class I railroads told the Surface Transportation Board.

Intermodal and logistics firm Pacer International is promoting several executives and changing its management design, in the first phase of a restructuring that Pacer said aims to cut costs, boost com

Sometimes even a good financial report can show how bad the economy is.

Kentucky-based R.J.

Europe’s two top railroads, Germany’s Deutsche Bahn and France’s SNCF, are clashing for supremacy of the continent’s rail freight business.

Members of Congress and the short line railroad industry are humming a riff full of sour notes over a strangled loan pool gasping for support.

The country’s Class I railroads remain profitable, but they’re starting to feel the economy’s sharp edge.

Kansas City Southern, the only North American Railroad with large-scale operations in both the United States and Mexico, says the swine flu outbreak had not been affecting rail operations up to May 1.

A flailing freight market took a weekly gauge of short line traffic to its lowest level of the year, but some cargoes still managed to hit their highest totals of this spring.

The Mexican government will shut down private business, including factories and transportation operations, for five days starting Friday as the country tries to halt the spread of the swine flu virus.

For one week, at least, freight traffic at major U.S. railroads was clearly better, across a range of categories.

Kansas City Southern, parent of the smallest U.S. Class 1 railroad and a Mexico rail unit that once supplied nearly half its revenue, lost $7.5 million in the first quarter.

Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico plummeted a record 30.9 percent from February a year ago to $47.9 bi

Trinity Industries, the largest supplier of railcars in North America, earned $34 million in the first quarter but not thanks to its car sales.

The U.S.

Short line railroad operator Genesee & Wyoming saw first-quarter net income rise 34 percent to $13.9 million, with help from a federal tax credit, newly acquired properties and some fairly stable

With Canadian National Railway set to elevate its chief financial officer into the CEO’s chair, it is replacing Claude Mongeau as CFO with a senior executive from a large holding company that sp

Union Pacific Railroad is paying out $228,000 in civil penalties and related costs to settle environmental complaints linked to its 2005 removal of some railroad-owned huts.

The Childrens Investment Fund Management, the aggressive hedge fund that last year waged a fierce and successful fight to install new directors on the CSX board to reshape the railroad, no longer hold

Freight railroads are eager to climb aboard the Obama administration’s plan for high-speed passenger rail.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe profits in the first quarter fell 36 percent to $293 million as freight volume declined dramatically and an unfavorable coal rate case decision slashed revenue.

Consol Energy, signaling a weakening market for coal shipping this year, cut its production forecast for the year because of reduced demand.

Hub Group profits in the first quarter plunged 52.6 percent to $6.2 million as volumes decreased and costs remained high.

Sharp decreases in operating costs at Union Pacific couldn’t put the brakes on a runaway first-quarter decline in railroad revenue and profit that threatens to gain speed as volumes plummet.

Canadian Pacific Railway profits fell 31 percent in the first quarter to $50.9 million.

For the fourth consecutive week, U.S.

GATX Corporation profit fell 42 percent to $27.6 million in the first quarter as demand for railcars and barges declined, depressing both fleet utilization and lease rates.

W.

A former regulator at the Surface Transportation Board, W.

Profit at one of the largest eastern-U.S.

An aged BNSF Railway bridge on the Upper Mississippi River, which the Coast Guard considers a hazard to barge traffic and other navigation, will be rebuilt with the aid of Recovery Act funds.

Claude Mongeau will replace E. Hunter Harrison at the end of this year as president and CEO of Canadian National Railway, the company said.

Canadian National Railway revenue and operating income took a hit from the tough economic environment but net earnings improved year-over-year in the first quarter after including some exceptional ite

* BNSF Eyes Route to Electric Trains

The Surface Transportation Board tried to launch a big hearing on the most controversial issues it regulates – competition between railroads and access to rail service for shippers – but i

Railcar manufacturer Greenbrier says it has enough cash and credit to get through these lean-plate days, but it describes a 2009 market that looks a lot like table scraps.

A computer model in Chicago displays the city’s rail network, using different colors for different kinds of trains. During the day, main routes are almost solid yellow, signifying commuter trains.