WEEKLY RAIL REVIEW
FOR THE WEEK ENDING Friday, May 18, 2007
BY: DAVE MEARS
(Posted by permission)
WEEKLY RAIL REVIEW
FOR THE 7 DAYS ENDING
FRI, MAY 18, 2007
BY DAVE MEARS
THE WEEK’S TOP RAIL AND
TRANSIT NEWS (in chronological order):
(SAT) In a notable
derailment, a BNSF freight train derailed 57 cars near Red Oak, IA. No one was
injured in the accident. A BNSF spokesman said that the cause of the derailment
was under investigation and that its freight trains, and also some Amtrak
passenger trains, would be diverted around the accident and onto alternate BNSF
routes. (ffd: BNSF Corp.)
(SUN) BNSF originated
what it believed to be the nation’s first intermodal
freight train at least 10,000 feet in length. The train operated from Los Angeles, CA to the BNSF Logistics Park intermodal
terminal near Cicero, IL. Industry analysts
reported that BNSF had been studying the use of longer trains “to maximize the
amount of containers that it can carry while minimizing the number of trains it
takes to move containers.” (ffd:
Trains)
(MON) The Rail Labor
Bargaining Coalition announced that it had reached a tentative agreement with
the National Carriers Conference Committee on a new national contract. The RLBC
represents approximately 85,000 rail workers, including the brotherhoods now
organized under the Teamsters. A RLBC spokesman said that the agreements “gives
up no work rules and raises wages more than 16 percent after cost sharing for
health and welfare.” The agreement did not include the United Transportation
Union, which has been negotiating separately with the NCCC. (ffd: Railway Age)
(MON) BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union
Pacific were sued in U.S. District Court for alleged price fixing. The lawsuit
charges that the railroads “moved in uniform lockstep” to fix prices for fuel
surcharges, adding that they had no relationship to actual fuel cost increases.
The suit was initially filed by Dust Pro, on behalf of other parties who
shipped on one or more of the railroads since July, 2003, and seeks
class-action status. (ffd:
wire services)
(MON) One SEPTA commuter
train rear-ended another in Philadelphia, PA’s Center City commuter tunnel. The
accident resulted in minor injuries to 35 passengers. Following the crash, the
two trains continued out of the tunnel and then stopped at the Temple
University Station so that injured passengers would be closer to emergency treatment
facilities. (ffd: Philadelphia Inquirer)
(TUE) Two notable
investors announced that they had purchased big blocks of railroad stocks.
Warren Buffet, whose Berkshire Hathaway had recently
purchased 11 percent of all BNSF shares, confirmed that it had increased its
holdings of Norfolk Southern to total 6.4
million shares, valued at approximately $322 million, and also increased its
holdings of Union Pacific to total 10.5 million shares. Also on Tuesday, Carl Icahn announced that he had added 2.68 million shares of
CSX to his holdings. (ffd:
Virginian-Pilot, wire services)
(WED) Canadian Pacific
was struck by approximately 1,200 track maintenance workers. A spokesman for
the striking union, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference’s Maintenance of Way
Division, said it launched the strike because it and CPR had failed to
negotiate an agreement on wage increases, benefit improvements and work rules.
A CPR spokesman said that it had dispatched more than 1,300 “MOW-trained”
managers to cover for the striking workers. (ffd: CanWest News,
Progressive Railroading)
(WED) Energy Washington
Week reported that California fuel terminals have
been refusing new ethanol shipments over the last several weeks due to
congestion. The newsletter quoted unnamed ethanol industry sources as saying
that there was a “horrendous backup of [ethanol-filled] rail cars” in California railroad yards. “You
can’t ship it [to California] unless you get
pre-approval from the fuel terminals,” said the source. (ffd: Energy Washington Week)
(WED) In a notable
derailment, one Union Pacific intermodal train
derailed into another near Tacoma, WA. No crewmembers were
injured in the accident, although one of the locomotives slid down an
embankment more than 75 feet and then sank into a road. The derailment halted
freight service and also Amtrak passenger service on the line, which is
operated by BNSF but over which Amtrak and UP have operating rights, into the
next day. (ffd: Trains)
(WED) The Canadian
government announced that its transportation and environmental agencies had
signed a “memorandum of understanding” with Canadian National, Canadian
Pacific, VIA Rail and GO Transit. A government spokesman said that these
railroads and agencies had “collectively agreed to reduce air pollution from
railway operations consisted with the world-leading standards of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Administration." The spokesman added that this
included preparing actions plans for locomotive emission reduction, purchasing
only EPA-certified locomotives, and upgrading existing locomotives when
overhauled beginning in 2010. (ffd:
Railway Age)
(THU) The Harriman and
Hammond rail safety awards were presented in Washington, DC. Norfolk Southern won the Group A category for the 18th consecutive year. Kansas City Southern won the Group
B category, Florida East Coast won the Group C category, and Birmingham Southern won the
Switching and Terminal category. Kevin Cheek, a 36-year NS employee, was
presented with the Hammond Award for his outstanding devotion to safety, including
having been instrumental in correcting more than 200 safety deficiencies and
potential safety hazards. (ffd:
Progressive Railroading)
(THU) The Federal
Railroad Administration announced that it had added two more track inspection
vehicles to its fleet, which now numbers five in total. Designated the T-19 and
T-20, a FRA spokesman said that the new vehicles will help the FRA “triple
annual track inspection capacity to about 100,000 miles." (ffd: FRA, Progressive Railroading)
(FRI) The Association of
American Railroads launched its new “Freight Rail Works!” advertising
initiative. An AAR spokesman said that the initiative includes a
national television, radio, print, Internet, and billboard ad campaign
promoting the freight rail industry. Information about the initiative may be
found at a new website, freightrailworks.org. (ffd: AAR)
(FRI) The Railroad
Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA debuted
its recently remodeled sections. The remodeled areas include the museum’s
entrance, lobby, exhibition area and gift shop. A new
exhibit features a 20 foot by 40 foot scale train layout of the former
Pennsylvania Railroad’s Middle Division. A spokesman for the museum noted that
it draws more than 120,000 visitors annually. (ffd: wire services)
(FRI) The Pennsylvania
Railroad Technical & Historical Society announced that it would affix a
plaque to New Jersey Transit’s Princeton Junction, NJ rail station to
commemorate what a spokesman said was “the beginning of high speed rail
transportation in North America." The plaque will recognize three
speed records for rail passenger equipment established at Princeton Junction in
the late 1960s by four U.S. Department of Transportation test cars, the United
Aircraft TurboTrain, and all of the original Budd-built
Westinghouse Electric and General Electric Metroliner
cars. A PRRT&HS spokesman said that the unveiling of the plaque would take
place at 1:30PM on Thursday, June 14. (ffd: wire services)
STATS – TRAFFIC:
(NOTE: Canadian traffic
includes that on U.S. operations of
Canadian-headquartered railroads.)
(THU) For the week
ending May 12, 2007, U.S. rail volume grand
totaled 32.7 billion ton-miles, down 5.8 percent from the comparable week last
year. U.S. carload rail traffic
was down 7.0 percent, down 5.1 percent in the East and down 8.5 percent in the
West. Also for the week, U.S. intermodal
rail traffic was down 3.9 percent, Canadian carload rail traffic was down 0.7
percent, Canadian intermodal rail traffic was up 6.3
percent, Mexico’s Kansas City Southern
de Mexico’s carload rail traffic was down 9.2 percent, and KCSM’s
intermodal rail traffic was up 10.9 percent.
For the period January 1
through May 12, 2007, U.S. rail volume grand
totaled 620.7 billion ton-miles, down 3.1 percent from the comparable week last
year. Also for this period, U.S. carload rail traffic
was down 4.4 percent, U.S. intermodal
rail traffic was down 1.1 percent, Canadian carload rail traffic was down 1.7
percent, Canadian intermodal rail traffic was up 1.9
percent, KCSM’s carload rail traffic was down 5.5
percent, and KCSM’s intermodal
rail traffic was up 11.2 percent. (ffd:
AAR)
MORE STATS – OPERATING
PERFORMANCE:
Not available this week.
EXPANSIONS, CONTRACTIONS
AND ALIKE:
(TUE) New Hampshire
Central filed to acquire, from the State of New Hampshire Department of
Transportation, and operate approximately 9 miles of line between Whitefish, NH
and Lunenburg, VT. (ffd:
STB)
(WED) Mercer Management
Consulting announced that it had consolidated its operations with two of its
other affiliated businesses, Mercer Oliver Wyman and Mercer Delta
Organizational Consulting. The consultancy will now collectively be know as the Oliver Wyman Group. (ffd: Railway Age, wire services)
(FRI) BNSF granted the
Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern and the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern
temporary overhead trackage rights over approximately
150 miles of BNSF line between Sioux Falls, SD and Wolsey, SD. The purpose of the
temporary rights is to allow DME and ICE to operate their business cars between
these points. (ffd: STB)
(FRI) Global Rail
Systems announced that they had agreed to purchase Signal Innovations
Incorporated, which provides train detection systems used in Global Rail’s
mainline and yard automation products. A spokesman said that Signal Innovations
would continue to be based in Vacaville, CA. (ffd: Progressive Railroading)
(FRI) Palouse River & Coulee City filed to abandon
approximately one-quarter mile of line in Moscow, ID. (ffd: STB)
(FRI) The State of Maine
Department of Transportation filed to acquire, from the St. Lawrence &
Atlantic, approximately 11 miles of line between Deering, ME and Yarmouth Jct., ME.
(ffd: STB)
APPOINTMENTS,
ACHIEVEMENTS AND MILESTONES:
(MON) Anacostia & Pacific’s New York & Atlantic Railway
appointed Mark Westerfield its Acting President. Mr. Westerfield, who was most recently NYA’s
General Superintendent, succeeds Fred Krebs, who recently retired. (ffd: Anacostia
& Pacific, wire services)
(TUE) Norfolk Southern appointed
Debbie Butler EVP-Planning & Chief Information Officer. Ms. Butler, who was
most recently NS’s VP-Customer Service, succeeds Kathryn McQuade,
who recently left NS to become Chief Operating Officer of Canadian Pacific
Railway. Succeeding Ms. Butler is Fredric Ehlers, who was most recently NS’s
AVP-Executive Matters. (ffd:
NS Corp., Railway Age)
(FRI) Kansas City Southern appointed Carl
Harrison its AVP-Information Technology & Business Solutions. Mr. Harrison
was most recently KCSR’s Senior Manager-Business
Solutions. (ffd: KCS Corp.)
* * *
Weekly Rail Review is
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BE SAFE AND PROSPER,
Dave Mears
Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA
Posted: 05/26/07