Bill Stephens

Westfield

Correspondent at Trains Magazine

Correspondent for Trains Magazine.

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Articles

CSX completes rebuilding of Blue Ridge Subdivision bridge

2 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX today said it has reached a major milestone in its rebuilding of the hurricane-damaged Blue Ridge Subdivision with the completion of a new bridge over the Nolichucky River at Poplar, N.C.The 375-foot span on the former Clinchfield Railroad was destroyed by floodwaters after Hurricane Helene ravaged the area in September 2024.
Report: Railroads must gain volume to remain relevant

2 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

Class I railroad earnings growth will slow and their stock prices will slump if they can’t maintain improved service levels and win back volume lost to trucks, a Wall Street firm warns in a new report. TD Cowen analysts note that rate-driven revenue growth, cost-cutting, and rising profit margins have sustained railroad earnings and stock prices despite continued market share losses to trucks and an overall 11% decline in U.S. rail traffic between 2014 and 2024. The decline isn’t just due to coal.
CPKC system cutover triggers service woes in some former KCS locations

2 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

CHICAGO — The Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger has gone smoothly over the past two years — until a long-planned computer system cutover last month in former Kansas City Southern territory in the U.S.CPKC Chief Operating Officer Mark Redd says the cutover — during which CP’s operations system replaced the old KCS system and processes — led to localized service problems in Louisiana, eastern Texas, and parts of Mississippi.
Norfolk Southern shows off new Delaware & Hudson heritage locomotive

3 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

ATLANTA – Norfolk Southern today unveiled its latest heritage locomotive, an SD70ACe honoring the Delaware & Hudson Railway. Locomotive No. 1080, built for NS in 2013, was painted in the D&H’s classic lightning stripe scheme in Norfolk Southern’s Juniata Shop in Altoona, Pa.“We know many have asked about plans for a Delaware & Hudson Heritage Locomotive and we’re thrilled to unveil this latest unit.
Parallel Systems begins testing autonomous car on G&W short line

3 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

Parallel Systems and Genesee & Wyoming short line Heart of Georgia Railroad this week began the first phase of testing of Parallel’s autonomous, battery-electric flat car. The initial round of testing of Parallel’s container car is being conducted near Glenwood, Ga., in conjunction with the Federal Railroad Administration. The equipment has already been put through extensive testing at the MxV Rail test facility in Pueblo, Colo.
CSX rebounds from service problems and sluggish operations

3 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX has fully bounced back from a bout of operational challenges that began with hurricanes last fall and worsened after the Feb. 1 closure of the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore, CEO Joe Hinrichs tells Trains. The railroad’s on-time performance in May, measured by trip plan compliance for intermodal and carload shipments, has returned to December levels. “I’ve learned enough from Mother Nature to never call the all clear.
Predicting the unpredictable for intermodal

3 weeks ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens

Intermodal analyst Larry Gross says that normally he’d be able to draw on his 45 years of transportation experience to make predictions about freight volume in the months ahead. “Theoretically, it would mean that I would be bringing some long-term insight to the situation that we find ourselves in today: You know, a sense that, well, the last time that this happened, here’s how it went,” Gross said Tuesday, June 3, during an Intermodal Association of North America webcast.
Regulators hit pause button on Watco’s acquisition of Great Lakes Central

4 weeks 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.
BNSF, J.B. Hunt, and GMXT announce cross-border Quantum de Mexico service

1 month ago | trains.com | Bill Stephens |J.B. Hunt

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — BNSF Railway and intermodal partner J.B. Hunt have launched cross-border Quantum de Mexico premium service in conjunction with GMXT’s Ferromex. Like domestic Quantum service in the U.S., Quantum de Mexico takes aim at highly service-sensitive freight that has never moved on rails before, the companies announced this morning at the Mexican Intermodal Transport Association conference.
Supreme Court rules in favor of Uinta Basin Railway backers

1 month 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.