Rail News

Southeastern shippers are gaining better intermodal services to container terminals at Savannah and Charleston through the development of inland ports.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board today adopted a final rule that will require all rail carriers that submit R-1 reports to begin breaking out expenses for positive train control...

Agriculture shippers are concerned that they won’t be able to bring their goods to BNSF Railway’s soon-to-open intermodal terminal in the Kansas City area because overweight containers aren't permitted on the road connecting the facility and the nearby interstate.

The Surface Transportation Board will hold a public hearing this fall related to a petition by The National Industrial Transportation League to modify the board's standards for mandatory competitive switching.

Kansas City Southern’s current executive chairman and employee, Michael R. Haverty, will transition to non-executive chairman of the board of directors and chairman of the executive committee of the board...

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington today reversed a ruling that turned a price-fixing lawsuit against four U.S.-based Class I railroads into a class action.

CSX has acquired Eastern Associated Terminal in Tampa, Fla., from Ingram Barge.

U.S. Development Group and Gibson Energy have partnered to expand USDG’s crude-by-rail development to Canada, in turn boosting transportation optionality for Gibson’s Hardisty Terminals customers in Alberta.

Montreal, Maine and Atlantic, the Maine-based railroad whose oil train caused the explosion in July that claimed 47 lives in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today.

The first freight train from Zhengzhou, China, to Europe has arrived at the freight yard in Hamburg-Billwerder, Germany, carrying 51 containers.

FreightCar America reported a net loss of $3.4 million in the second quarter of 2013, compared with a net income of $5.6 million in the second quarter of 2012.

Freight carried by Canadian railways rose 12.9 percent year-over-year to 29.3 million metric tons in May, as the industry saw a “strong” increase in domestic freight traffic compared with May 2012 levels.

Trinity Industries reported profit in the second quarter of 2013 was $88.2 million, improving from $67.5 million in the second quarter of 2012.

The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has plans to consider the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 when Congress returns from its August recess in September...

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., introduced legislation this week that would delay the federal deadline for positive train control by five years to 2021.

Twenty years after BNSF Railway opened its first logistics park in Fort Worth, Texas, the railroad this year will open its fourth, a sprawling 433-acre intermodal terminal with up to 7 million square feet of adjacent industrial real estate capacity about 550 miles to the north.

The European Union is ratcheting up efforts to boost short-sea shipping with plans for an attack on customs red tape that will allow sea transport to compete with trucks and trains in moving freight among its 28 member states.

DB Schenker will launch a new China-to-Germany intermodal pilot service on Aug. 14 in conjunction with partners in China, adding to the growing number of rail options available to shippers seeking faster delivery times to Europe from China than currently possible using slow-steaming ocean liner services.

Genesee & Wyoming reported its profit in the second quarter of 2013 was $65.1 million, versus $36.4 million in the second quarter of 2012.

Grupo TMM reported a net loss of 235.1 million Mexican pesos (about US$18.3 million) in the second quarter of 2013, compared with a net loss of 218.4 million pesos in the second quarter of 2012.

CAI International reported its profit in the second quarter of 2013 was $16.9 million, increasing 12 percent from $15.1 million in the second quarter of 2012.

The peak shipping season this fall should be uneventful, with only a modest increase in cargo volume, a temporary spike in freight rates and no real shortages of transportation capacity or equipment to disrupt the supply chain, according to industry experts who spoke at a Journal of Commerce webcast Tuesday.

Gujarat Pipavav Port in India handled 0.143 million 20-foot-equivalent units of container cargo in the second quarter of 2013, increasing 17 percent year-over-year.

BNSF Railway has opened a new economic development office in Bismarck, N.D., to expand the company’s presence in the state and allow it to better serve existing and new customers in the region...

Florida East Coast Holdings reported its net income in the second quarter of 2013 was $3.8 million, improving from a net loss of $4.1 million in the same period last year.

Domestic and international intermodal, the two dominant forms of the U.S. and Canadian containerized rail business, are heading down separate tracks, and the space between them is widening as weak import growth combines with shippers’ growing penchant to transload goods into 53-foot domestic containers.

The German government has signed a financial deal for the construction of a third rail line between Emmerich and Oberhausen in the nation’s North Rhine-Westphalia state.

American Railcar Industries reported its net income in the second quarter of 2013 was $23.6 million, jumping 76 percent from $13.4 million in the second quarter of 2012.

Canadian Pacific reported its profit in the second quarter of 2013 was C$252 million (about US$245 million), spiking 145 percent from C$103 million in the second quarter of 2012.

Transport Canada has issued an emergency directive to boost rail safety following the train disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, on July 6.

Norfolk Southern reported its profit in the second quarter of 2013 fell 11 percent year-over-year to $465 million, compared with $524 million.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has revised its rules regarding railroad rate reasonableness for small and medium-sized shippers’ rate disputes, as part of Rate Regulation Reforms, Ex Parte 715.

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has asked the General Accountability Office to examine the impact of shale oil and gas development on pipelines, rail and other transportation infrastructure and safety.

Freightliner Group has named Russell Mears as chief executive, effective Sept. 30, 2013.

Etihad Rail has signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai Industrial City for the development of a rail terminal within the United Arab Emirates city.

Gujarat Pipavav Port, owned by APM Terminals in India, has upgraded its rail infrastructure and is now able to carry double-stack, high-cube containers on trains.

Konecranes has received an order for four rail-mounted gantry cranes from Australian rail freight operator Pacific National.

Canadian National today reported its profit in the second quarter of 2013 was C$717 million (about US$693.6 million), rising 13.6 percent from $610.4 million in the same quarter last year.

Pacific Imperial Railroad has signed a construction deal with Watkins Environmental for the necessary reconstruction of 57 bridges, 17 tunnels and about 70 miles of track on the Desert Line...

Kansas City Southern reported its profit in the second quarter plummeted from $120.4 million in 2012 to $15.4 million in 2013.