Surface Transportation Board

BNSF will get to make case before STB on access to Utah short line

Federal regulators will determine whether BNSF Railway can use its trackage rights over Union Pacific to reach a new shortline railroad in Utah.

The Surface Transportation Board on Monday rejected Union Pacific’s request to dismiss the case regarding the Savage Tooele Railroad.

Savage held a groundbreaking ceremony in November for the railroad. It will revive Union Pacific’s former 6-mile Warner Branch, restore a quarter-mile of ripped-up track, and build 5 miles of new track in the Lakeview...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bnsf-will-get-to-make-case-before-stb-on-access-to-utah-short-line

BNSF, UP battle over California mountain pass trackage rights

Every day Union Pacific and BNSF Railway trains battle gravity and curvature as they wind their way up and down the former Southern Pacific main line through the rugged Tehachapi Mountains of Southern California.

Now UP and BNSF are engaged in a different sort of fight: The railroads have been unable to come to terms on a new deal for BNSF’s use of the line. And so UP (NYSE: UNP) has brought a rare trackage rights dispute to the Surface Transportation Board.

The railroads filed final briefs in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bnsf-up-battle-over-california-mountain-pass-trackage-rights

Fuchs: Efficient Surface Transportation Board will foster rail competition, growth

DENVER — The chairman-designate of the Surface Transportation Board says he is transforming the regulatory agency into a more efficient body that will help support competition and growth for railroads.

“We want to break down barriers to growth, encourage competition and elevate the role of markets instead of government,” STB Chairman Patrick Fuchs told a rail industry conference Tuesday. “More broadly, I want the board to be more efficient and effective, to deliver for business, and the country.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fuchs-efficient-surface-transportation-board-will-foster-rail-competition-growth

Central Oregon & Pacific takes over UP operations in Eugene, Oregon, Saturday

Genesee & Wyoming short line Central Oregon & Pacific can take over local operations from Union Pacific in Eugene, Oregon, as soon as Saturday, federal regulators have ruled.

In a unanimous decision Tuesday, the Surface Transportation Board denied the SMART-TD union’s request to scrutinize and reject the lease deal. The decision also denied Central Oregon & Pacific’s request that the board partially waive labor notification requirements.

G&W will take a phased approach to beginning operations on...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/central-oregon-pacific-takes-over-up-operations-in-eugene-oregon-saturday

Servicio local sigue siendo un punto de conflicto para los ferrocarriles de clase I

En el primer trimestre de 2025, los ferrocarriles de Clase I en América del Norte están demostrando hasta ahora niveles variados de rendimiento del servicio, según nuevas métricas ordenadas por la Junta de Transporte de Surface. El STB ahora requiere que los ferrocarriles de carga importantes...

https://fullavantenews.com/servicio-local-sigue-siendo-un-punto-de-conflicto-para-los-ferrocarriles-de-clase-i/?lang=es

Local service still a sticking point for Class I railroads

In the first quarter of 2025, Class I railroads in North America are so far demonstrating varied levels of service performance, according to new metrics mandated by the Surface Transportation Board. The STB now requires major freight railroads to report additional data on on-time percentages, train speeds and terminal dwell times in an effort to increase transparency and accountability.

The new STB metrics, which began being collected in September 2024, establish baseline standards for on-time...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/local-service-still-a-sticking-point-for-class-i-railroads

Fuchs to lead Surface Transportation Board

Republican Patrick J. Fuchs on Monday was designated by President Donald Trump as chairman of the five-member Surface Transportation Board.

The 36-year-old Fuchs succeeds Democrat Robert E. Primus, who was designated chairman by President Joe Biden in May 2024 following the retirement of Martin J. Oberman, also a Democrat. Primus will remain a board member through the expiration of his second term Dec. 31, 2027.

Fuchs was confirmed to his second five-year term on the board in May 2024. Prior to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fuchs-to-lead-surface-transportation-board

STB chair remains frustrated over Class I railroads’ lack of growth

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Approaching the likely end of his tenure as chairman of the Surface Transportation Board, Robert Primus made it clear: The hearing the board held last fall on growth in the rail industry did not ease his concerns about Class I efforts to increase volume.

In a rare address Thursday at the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers Winter Meeting — the same day he issued a statement concerning retaliation by railroads against those who bring matters to the board or participate in its...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/stb-chair-remains-frustrated-over-class-i-railroads-lack-of-growth

At TRB: How high-tech mapping can grow intermodal, and a data reality check

WASHINGTON — Here’s what supply chain stakeholders know for certain about intermodal transportation: It involves freight moving between air, land and sea. Beyond that, well, there are more questions than answers.

The 104th annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board provided a fertile setting for more than 13,000 educators, regulators and private businesses to consider diversified research into how to get from here to there, and the elusive goal of making it all more efficient.

At a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/at-trb-how-high-tech-mapping-can-grow-intermodal-and-a-data-reality-check

Regulators scold Union Pacific for lack of cooperation

This story originally appeared on Trains.com.

WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board has taken Union Pacific to task for an ongoing lack of cooperation in a new decision on the railroad’s effort to construct a 6-mile rail line in Arizona’s Maricopa and Pinal counties.

The primary matter concerns UP’s request for an exemption for construction of the Pecos Industrial Rail Access Train Extension (PIRATE) to connect UP’s Phoenix Subdivision main line to industrial properties near Phoenix-Mesa...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/regulators-scold-union-pacific-for-lack-of-cooperation

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