Surface Transportation Board

Internal email reveals $105 million in maintenance cutbacks at BNSF that could lead to service disruptions.

Regulators may consider more oversight as a way to improve rail volumes.

The Biden administration is calling railroad executives to Washington to explain how they plan to reverse negative cargo trends and grow their business.

Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena defended the railroad’s safety record, which recently has come in for criticism from Federal Railroad Administration Chairman Amit Bose.

A Norfolk Southern train derailed in Pennsylvania on Saturday amid an already heated battle over railroad safety issues. Here’s the latest.

Craig M. Keats started his career in 1972 as an attorney for the Interstate Commerce Commission — the Surface Transportation Board’s predecessor — and he has stayed on since then.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way – Employes Division is continuing to express its disappointment over planned furloughs at Union Pacific. But UP insists that it will call back furloughed employees as the railway pursues rail service and safety goals.

In light of the numerous comments that the Surface Transportation Board received on its proposed reciprocal switching rule, the board has extended a deadline for additional feedback by two weeks.

Outgoing STB Chair Martin Oberman had harsh words for Union Pacific at the RailTrends conference.

After serving one five-year term on the Surface Transportation Board, Chairman Marty Oberman has decided against seeking reappointment.

Dozens of industry stakeholders, from individual Class I railroads to multiple shipper groups to the trade unions, offered their input on what’s wrong and what’s right about the Surface Transportation Board’s proposed rulemaking on reciprocal switching.

BNSF and Navajo Transitional Energy Co. have reached a settlement on NTEC’s request for more rail service to export coal.

Norfolk Southern is asking the Surface Transportation Board to compel Canadian Pacific Kansas City and CSX to consolidate their applications on plans to create a Mexico-Southeast U.S. corridor. Doing so would provide greater insight on freight and passenger rail impacts, NS argues.

Chicago commuter rail system Metra filed a lawsuit against the Surface Transportation Board over its decision to approve the merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and West Virginia Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito want the Surface Transportation Board to “move swiftly” on reciprocal switching.

This AskWaves article looks at how a U.S. federal government shutdown would affect freight rail operations and proposed rail safety and economic rulemakings.

Rail shippers largely welcome a reciprocal switching rule proposed last week by the Surface Transportation Board, but some wish it did more to incentivize rail competition.

Regulatory policy expert Rosyln Layton says it’s dangerous to have the Surface Transportation Board lay the grounds for defining how rail service should look under the common carrier obligation.

After years of wrangling over the issue, the Surface Transportation Board has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on reciprocal switching that will seek to define the service parameters where a switching action could take place.

Environmental and financial concerns weighed in the U.S. appeals court decision to reject the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the construction of the Uinta Basin Railway.

In a 3-2 vote, the Surface Transportation Board denied BNSF’s request to halt an order compelling the railway to ship 1 million more tons of Montana coal should it reach the capacity to do so.

CSX’s chief operating officer, Jamie Boychuk, will be leaving the company, while the Rail Customer Coalition wants President Joe Biden to renominate Surface Transportation Board Chairman Marty Oberman and board member Patrick Fuchs to the board.

The Surface Transportation Board will look into whether freight rail operations are affecting the on-time performance of Amtrak’s passenger rail service between New Orleans and Los Angeles.

The Reliable Rail Service Act would charge the Surface Transportation Board to provide more clarity on the freight railroads’ common carrier obligation.

The Surface Transportation Board has ordered BNSF to meet the Navajo Transitional Energy Company’s request for more coal trains.

Calls to remove Surface Transportation Board Chairman Marty Oberman are misguided in light of regulatory efforts that Oberman and the current board have undertaken, labor groups tell President Joe Biden.

Passenger rail advocates call for swift action to resolve Amtrak’s substandard on-time performance for its Sunset Limited service. But freight rail supporters say better data is needed to assess what the problems are.

Surface Transportation Board Chair Marty Oberman at a national rail shippers conference urged the railroads to increase their employee levels as a way to improve rail service.

The unions blast the Class I railroads’ public statements on the railroads’ efforts to bolster employee head count in a filing to the Surface Transportation Board.

The Surface Transportation Board is grappling with fallout from its March decision to approve the CP-KCS merger. Three progressive groups want STB Chairman Marty Oberman stripped of his role, while western Chicago suburbs have filed a lawsuit against the board.

Union Pacific wants a federal court to review STB’s approval of the merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

Shippers want Congress to expand FMC’s power over rail storage fees, but shipping lines say the power is already in the hands of the STB.

Union Pacific, BNSF and Norfolk Southern need to go further in improving rail service, according to a Surface Transportation Board decision requiring the railroads to submit service performance reports.

A roundup of recent news items from Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, Amtrak and the Surface Transportation Board.

BNSF and three unions reach sick leave deals; Trinity Industries acquires a 3PL; and STB names new members to an energy transportation advisory committee.

Four lawmakers from Illinois want the Surface Transportation Board to delay its decision on whether to approve the merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern because of their concerns about the freight rail traffic projections used in STB’s environmental review.

A rail shipper analyzed SEC filings and found four institutional investors own about 20% of three Class I railroads and classify themselves as passive.

A leading federal regulator says a merger between Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern would ratchet up rail noise.

The Surface Transportation Board recently took action on Union Pacific’s use of embargoes in the Midwest and rejected the Class I railroads’ request to delay a program related to smaller rate disputes.

Eight U.S. representatives from Iowa and Minnesota want the Surface Transportation Board to require Union Pacific to fix service issues and lift weather-related embargoes in the region.

Patriot Rail seals a deal; BNSF signs an MOU; Trinity strengthens its position; Port of Pasco secures project funding; Indiana Rail Road sets titles; and Hedlund succeeds Schulz as STB vice chair.

Four Class I railroads have asked the Surface Transportation Board and U.S. appeals courts to review an order that seeks to resolve small rate disputes through voluntary arbitration.

An active Surface Transportation Board and ongoing issues to fully restore rail network capacity are among the issues that industry stakeholders are eyeing in the new year.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office’s report on precision scheduled railroading serves as a broad overview of how the freight rail industry has changed over the past decade.

The number of employees working for the U.S. operations of the Class I railroads rose 4.4% year over year in November. But some of the employment data submitted to the board should be provided in a more user-friendly way, an attorney representing several unions said.

The STB has rendered decisions on two rules aimed at helping the railroads and shippers resolve small rate disputes.

Following last week’s hearing on embargoes before the Surface Transportation Board, Union Pacific has decided to pause the program. Meanwhile, the board is considering what it can do to encourage rail volume growth.

Shippers testified before the Surface Transportation Board on Tuesday about how embargoes affect their operations.

STB Chairman Marty Oberman told UP it didn’t provide enough information on its embargo practices ahead of a two-day hearing next week.

The Surface Transportation Board wants to know why Union Pacific has been issuing hundreds of embargoes since 2018.

The head of the railroads’ key regulator spoke at RailTrends and was highly critical of the industry’s job cutting of recent years.

Federal board wants four Class I railroads to continue submitting rail service data that shows how service is improving.

Promoting competition, Laredo’s rail conversion potential and passenger rail in Louisiana were among the themes explored in the second half of the seven-day hearing proceeding on the CP-KCS merger.

The Surface Transportation Board logged over 25 hours last week to hear from stakeholders about the advantages and drawbacks of the proposed Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern merger.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin has introduced the Reliable Rail Service Act in response to calls from shippers’ groups and the unions to help restore the nation’s rail network capacity.

A Canadian whistleblower wants STB to press CP on how it plans to operate its private police force in the U.S. after its merger with Kansas City Southern.

The Utah Inland Port Authority, short-line operator TNW Corp. and the Surface Transportation Board have announced appointments and promotions.

The American Chemistry Council says freight rail service still leaves much to be desired, despite the railroads’ efforts to improve.

The Surface Transportation Board wants to know how the seven Class I railroads expect to meet demand for rail service during the harvest season running from September into the new year.

Precision scheduled railroading again took center stage during a roundtable concerning rail service.

Recent filings to the board from various parties focus on wo bears the burden to show if or how Amtrak service between Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans would affect freight operations.

The Surface Transportation Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis studied the potential environmental impacts resulting from a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

A Democrat-backed bill in the U.S. House of Representatives addresses rail service concerns raised during recent hearings by the House transportation committee.

While headcount for train and engine employees is up for the first six months of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021, the freight rail headcount across all categories hasn’t risen.

Senators and two U.S. House representatives from Illinois object to the railway merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern as currently proposed, saying the Surface Transportation Board should respond to their constituents’ concerns.

The Surface Transportation Board will conduct a three-day hearing in late September to find out from Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern directly about issues related to the railways’ proposed merger.

The STB is sifting through hundreds of pages on the perceived advantages and disadvantages of a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

Railroad crews are facing “all-time low” morale. They could legally strike in July, worsening supply-chain congestion.

Data from June reflects how rail service challenges persist into summer. Meanwhile, higher headcount levels and macroeconomic uncertainties await the rails for the remainder of this year.

Congressmen back calls from fertilizer and agricultural products shippers to improve freight rail service, plus news about a new federal grant program to eliminate railroad crossings and updates on CN and Canadian Pacific.

The Transportation Trades Department wants Congress to modify the language to ensure freight railroads provide adequate service.

Amid soaring inflation and supply chain crunches, the United States’ key rail regulator has been mired in political antics.

Three commissioners of the Federal Maritime Commission contend a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern would result in diverting U.S.-bound intermodal traffic to Canadian ports.

Foster Poultry Farms asked STB last week to order UP to improve rail service to two poultry processing plants in California. The board agreed to that request.

The Surface Transportation Board wants BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific to submit additional information on their rail service recovery plans after finding that the initial plan submissions “were perfunctory” and lacked detail.

AskWaves defines what the common carrier obligation is and why the concept has garnered attention lately.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators wants the Surface Transportation Board to take action to address service delays and congestion on the freight rail network.

The board could adopt reciprocal switching and first-mile and last-mile data collection, according to comments made by STB Chairman Marty Oberman at a U.S. House subcommittee hearing last week.

Rail investors and observers think the Class I railroads’ efforts to bolster train and engine crew counts will improve rail service in the second half of this year. But geopolitical, economic and regulatory uncertainties also abound.

The Surface Transportation Board wants Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX and Norfolk Southern to provide service recovery plans following reports and testimony about deteriorating rail service.

A hearing at the Surface Transportation Board raised hard questions that could influence the trajectory of the freight rail industry.

The Surface Transportation Board wants ‘act on its own initiative’ to modify rules governing its response to service emergencies

The Sweeteners Users Association asks federal regulators to address rail service issues, plus news from Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern and Commtrex.

The Surface Transportation Board gives the green light for CSX to acquire Pan Am Railways.

The letter sent by the National Grain and Feed Association to regulators about subpar rail service is finding support among other rail industry stakeholders.

The Class I railroads say they have been trying to improve service, which has deteriorated amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Surface Transportation Board questions whether headcount reductions come into play.

The evidentiary hearing before the Surface Transportation Board, which was originally scheduled for two days, will likely tack on two more days as the board collects lots of data and testimony over how Amtrak’s service could affect freight and port operations.

FreightWaves rounds up recent freight rail-related news items.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wants the Surface Transportation Board to move forward with proceedings that would address rail service for grain and agricultural products shippers.

The National Grain and Feed Association is asking the Surface Transportation Board to compel three Class I railroads to provide weekly and annual service updates.

The board held a two-day hearing on reciprocal switching to help it determine how it should move forward.

The Surface Transportation Board will hold a two-day hearing on reciprocal switching next week. Here is some background on the issue.

Congress should fund the Surface Transportation Board, agreed panelists at a U.S. House hearing on the board’s funding reauthorization. But they disagree on what STB’s role should be in regulating the freight railroads.

Communities contend increase in freight train traffic could bring more blocked crossings

CN and three other Class I railroads outlined to the Surface Transportation Board conditions that should be met before the board approves a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

Eight Chicago-area communities say a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern would result in more freight traffic and an increased likelihood of blocked crossings stemming from longer trains.

The Surface Transportation Board wants more details about the concessions that BNSF and CN are seeking as Canadian Pacific acquires Kansas City Southern.

From capital investments to competitive access, issues that CSX has brought before the Surface Transportation Board reflect concerns facing the freight rail industry as a whole.

CN is asking the Surface Transportation Board to require Canadian Pacific to divest KCS’ Springfield Line in Missouri and Illinois to help ensure competition.

FreightWaves chatted with former STB Chairman Dan Elliott on the history of the board’s relationship with reciprocal switching and why the board should still review it today.