Bill Stephens

Westfield

Correspondent at Trains Magazine

Correspondent for Trains Magazine.

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Articles

Regulators hit pause button on Watco’s acquisition of Great Lakes Central

1 week ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators want Watco to provide more information about its proposed acquisition of Michigan short line Great Lakes Central before they will allow the deal to proceed. Watco on March 6 sought to have the deal to acquire the 420-mile Great Lakes Central exempt from a Surface Transportation Board review, as is common when short lines change ownership.
Supreme Court rules in favor of Uinta Basin Railway backers

1 week ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board’s environmental review of the proposed Uinta Basin Railway was proper, the U.S. Supreme Court said today in an 8-0 decision that overturns a lower court’s order that blocked construction of the 88-mile Utah railroad. The STB in December 2021 approved the project, noting that the transportation merits of the rail line outweighed its potential environmental impacts.
OmniTRAX named operator of the Port Muskogee Railroad

1 week ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

MUSKOGEE, Okla. — OmniTRAX has added a 30th railroad to its stable, the 8.1-mile Port Muskogee Railroad in the Sooner State. The short line holding company and Port Muskogee today announced that they have signed a railroad facilities operating agreement covering the inland port’s rail network. “OmniTRAX is excited to expand our Oklahoma rail service to now include Port Muskogee,” OmniTRAX Co-CEO Dean Piacente said in a statement.
Union Pacific working to shift Ferromex crew swap to U.S. soil at Eagle Pass, Texas

2 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific is working to finalize agreements with Ferromex and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to shift cross-border crew changes from the International Railroad Bridge to UP’s yard in Eagle Pass, Texas. Currently, trains using the Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras, Mexico, gateway swap crews on the single-track bridge over the Rio Grande. It’s a time-consuming process as crews must walk to and from their trains from their respective sides of the border.
AAR seeks FRA permission to scale back visual track inspections where automated systems are used to find defects

2 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

WASHINGTON — The Association of American Railroads has asked the Federal Railroad Administration to allow less frequent visual track inspections in territory where automated track inspection systems are used. “The primary benefit of using automated inspection technologies is earlier detection of track defects enabling railroads to switch from reactive to preventative maintenance practices.
CPKC’s Creel says the rail industry is finally poised for growth

2 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

NEW YORK — What will it take for railroad stocks to outperform the broader market again? Is the industry stuck in a particularly long and challenging cyclical downturn — or has something fundamentally changed within the Class I railroads? Wolfe Research analyst Scott Group put these questions to CPKC CEO Keith Creel at the Wall Street firm’s conference this week, noting that the railroads have not been able to generate sustainable earnings growth over the past few years.
Union Pacific to open new Kansas City intermodal ramp in July

2 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific announced yesterday that it plans to open its new Kansas City Intermodal Terminal in mid-July as the railroad looks to strengthen its position in the Kansas City market. UP would not disclose the terminal’s annual lift capacity, but said the facility, located in Armourdale Yard, will have twice as much capacity as the current terminal in Neff Yard.
NS expands interchange improvement program to all short line connections

2 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern has expanded its interchange improvement program to all of its short line connections in a bid to boost carload volume growth. NS sought to improve interchange consistency and reliability when it launched its Short Line Performance Project with 40 short lines last year. “It led to just absolutely above normal growth for us,” says Stefan Loeb, the railroad’s vice president of business development and first and final mile markets.
What cliff? J.B. Hunt and Eastern and Canadian railways see steady intermodal volume

2 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

NEW YORK – The reduction in U.S.-bound shipments from China after steep tariffs were imposed in April has yet to show up in J.B. Hunt’s intermodal volumes. “Our volumes have been steady,” J.B. Hunt Intermodal President Darren Field told an investor conference on Tuesday.
Railroad executives question whether a transcontinental merger could clear regulatory hurdles

2 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

NEW YORK – Executives from Canadian National, CPKC, CSX, and Norfolk Southern poured cold water on talk about potential Class I railroad mergers during an investment conference this week. Mergers have become a hot topic in some railroad boardrooms in recent months amid stagnant rail volume, revenue, and stock prices. Some see a U.S. transcontinental merger as a way to jumpstart volume and earnings growth.