Railroad News

Rail News Home Kansas City Southern 12/20/2021 Rail News: Kansas City Southern
Kansas City Southern announced that its Holiday Express program has raised over $280,000 for The Salvation Army in 21 communities.The KCS Holiday Express, has raised $2.6 million since its founding 21 years ago. The donations provide warm clothing and other necessities for children in need.Pre-pandemic, the KCS Holiday Express train stopped in more than 20 communities every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, allowing visitors to board the train to meet Santa and tour the inside of the festive train. The train trip was canceled this year and last due to the pandemic, although the charitable fundraising aspect of the event has continued.Communities receiving donations this year include Kansas City and Slater, Missouri; East St. Louis, Illinois; Pittsburg, Kansas; Ashdown and Mena, Arkansas; Poteau and Stilwell, Oklahoma; Housteon, Laredo, Port Arthur, Victoria and Wylie, Texas; Baton Rouge, DeQuincy, Gonzalez and Shreveport, Louisiana; and Corinth, Jackson, Meridian and Vicksburg, Mississippi."As the pandemic continues, the fastest increasing area of need is for families who will be unable to pay their rent or mortgages and face eviction. The donations The Salvation Army will receive through the KCS Holiday Express will help keep families in their homes and keep hope marching on for them into 2022," said KCS President and CEO Patrick Ottensmeyer in a press release.

Rail News Home Canadian National Railway - CN 12/20/2021 Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
CN expects to announce in January the selection of a new chief executive officer to succeed President and CEO JJ Ruest.The CN board’s search committee, with the assistance of Korn Ferry, has identified and continues to interview a number of candidates. In October, Ruest announced his plans to retire in January 2022, or at a later time when a successor is named.As part of its search process, the committee conducted “multiple rounds of interviews” with former CN executive Jim Vena and conducted due diligence with respect to his candidacy.However, last night Vena notified the board that he’s no longer interested in pursuing the role and has withdrawn from the process, CN officials said in a press release.Vena had been the choice of major shareholder TCI Fund Management, which earlier this year challenged CN’s proposed acquisition of Kansas City Southern. KCS has since been acquired by Canadian Pacific, and KCS shares have been placed in a voting trust until the Surface Transportation Board decides whether to approve its merger with Canadian Pacific.

Rail News Home Norfolk Southern Railway 12/17/2021 Rail News: Norfolk Southern Railway
Norfolk Southern Railway has launched NSites, a GIS-based search engine to help businesses find rail-served industrial sites and transload facilities.The online portal provides comprehensive information about industrial sites near NS's transportation infrastructure, encouraging investment and job creation, NS officials said in a press release.The Class I’s network connects customers to every major container port in the eastern United States and reaches a majority of the country’s population and manufacturing base, they added.The search tool includes more than 800 available industrial locations across the railroad’s 22-state territory, all verified as rail accessible by NS or one of its short-line partners. Additionally, users can find nearly 250 rail-to-truck transload facilities in key markets across the eastern United States.Similar to online residential real-estate sites that let users search for homes based on their criteria, NSites enables a customized search of properties. By using targeted filters, companies can sift through results based on acreage, location, existing warehousing, and proximity to highways, intermodal terminals and port facilities."We developed NSites with the user in mind, to empower current and future customers during site selection decisions," said Ed Elkins, executive vice president and chief marketing officer. "Before NSites, there was no single destination to help large manufacturers, site-selection professionals and developers identify and compare rail-served industrial sites that offer the exact site characteristics they need."