CN

CN will focus on improving velocity, finding customers where capacity available

CN is planning to tweak its operational plan to emphasize improving velocity and focus on finding customers in areas where there is available network capacity, executives said during the Canadian railway’s earnings call to discuss fourth-quarter 2022 financial results.

The adjustments come as CN (NYSE: CNI) is bracing for a mild recession in 2023.

The plan, which relies on “scheduled railroading,” also calls for trains to stay with a schedule and run the same schedule every day, regardless of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cn-will-focus-on-improving-velocity-finding-customers-where-capacity-available

4 Class I railroads seek stay of federal order for rate disputes

Four Class I railroads want the Surface Transportation Board to pause the implementation of an arbitration program to resolve rail rate disputes involving smaller financial amounts.

CSX (NASDAQ: CSX), Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) and the U.S. subsidiaries of Canadian railway CN (NYSE: CNI) argue that STB’s deadline for the Class I railroads to commit to a five-year arbitration program as prescribed in STB’s December order is too soon. 

They contend that the sign-up...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/4-class-i-railroads-seek-stay-of-federal-order-for-rate-disputes

Rail Roundup: Union Pacific ordered to fix service to Foster Farms

googletag.cmd.push(function() { var gptSlot = googletag.defineSlot(‘/21776187881/FW-Responsive-Main_Content-Slot1’, [[728, 90], [468, 60], [300, 100], [320, 50]], ‘div-gpt-ad-b1-i-fw-ad-1’).defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps.banner1).setCollapseEmptyDiv(true).addService(googletag.pubads());
gptAdSlots.push(gptSlot);
});

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-b1-i-fw-ad-1’); });

STB orders UP to resolve service issues at Foster Farms

The Surface Transportation Board wants Union...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rail-roundup-union-pacific-ordered-to-fix-service-to-foster-farms

Class I railroads earn environmental accolades

A number of Class I railroads have recently earned recognition for efforts to follow guidelines promoting environmental, social and governance (ESG) values. Rail technology provider Wabtec also received accolades for its battery-electric locomotives.

The Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DSJI) named CSX (NASDAQ: CSX), Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP) and CN (NYSE: CNI) to its annual list of companies to achieve high scores on S&P Global’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). 

More...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/class-i-railroads-earn-environmental-accolades

Rail Roundup: CN, NS make leadership changes

CN appoints new COO

CN has appointed Ed Harris as its COO, replacing Rob Reilly. The change is effective immediately.

Harris has served in the rail industry for 40 years, including more than three decades at Illinois Central Railroad and CN (NYSE: CNI), CN said in a Monday news release. That tenure included his serving as CN executive vice president of operations until 2007. 

Harris’ other executive appointments include executive vice president of operations at CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) from 2018-20 and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rail-roundup-cn-ns-make-leadership-changes-transport-canada-to-fund-rail-resiliency-projects

Rail Roundup: Breaking ground and breaking records

CREATE breaks ground on 2 congestion-reducing projects in Chicago

The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program broke ground Tuesday on two projects aimed at improving network flows for freight and passenger trains in Chicago.

The Forest Hill Flyover project involves the construction of a bridge that the CREATE Program says will reduce conflicts between freight rail carriers Chicago Belt Railways, CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) and passenger...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rail-roundup-breaking-ground-and-breaking-records

CN, electrical workers union agree to labor contract

Canadian railway CN and the Canadian branch of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) have a new labor contract at hand after having completed arbitration.

IBEW had threatened to go on strike at CN’s Canadian operations in June. Both parties subsequently entered into arbitration.

The new collective agreement, which has been ratified according to CN, is retroactive to Jan. 1. It will be in place for three years, running through Dec. 31, 2024. The new agreement calls for an...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cn-electrical-workers-union-agree-to-labor-contract

CN adding power, equipment and crews to prep for winter

CN will deploy additional power and equipment to ensure rail operations continue smoothly through the winter, the Canadian railway said in its 2022-23 winter plan released this week.

Both CN (NYSE: CNI) and Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP) are required by the Canadian government to detail how they expect to handle operations amid the extreme cold, heavy snowfall and sometimes heavy rainfall that can occur from November through March. 

“Winter is when demand from all commodity sectors is often at or...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cn-adding-power-equipment-and-crews-to-prep-for-winter

7 takeaways from STB’s hearing on proposed CP-KCS merger

Last week’s public hearing before the Surface Transportation Board on the proposed merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern consisted of three days of testimony spanning over 25 hours on why or why not the merger should proceed. 

And the hearing isn’t over yet. Shippers and other stakeholders provided oral testimonies to STB on Monday and Tuesday, while CP (NYSE: CP) is expected to respond to them during a hearing Thursday.

Shareholders of CP and KCS approved the $31 billion merger in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/7-takeaways-from-stbs-hearing-on-proposed-cp-kcs-merger

Transportation Safety Board of Canada calls for rail safety technology implementation

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is recommending all of the country’s major railways that travel along high-speed corridors or key routes adopt technology similar to positive train control in the United States.

The recommendation for Transport Canada to implement “physical fail-safe train controls” is one of TSB’s determinations that resulted from studying why two CN (NYSE: CNI) trains collided near Portage la Prairie in Manitoba in January 2019. That incident caused derailments...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/transportation-safety-board-of-canada-calls-for-rail-safety-technology-implementation

+ More