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Rail News Home Kansas City Southern 5/3/2021 Rail News: Kansas City Southern
Canadian Pacific late last week filed a formal objection with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) stating that CN does not qualify for a waiver of the STB's rules for major transactions with respect to CN's proposal to acquire Kansas City Southern.In its letter, CP states that the CN-KCS transaction does not satisfy the criteria that the STB relied upon in finding that the waiver should apply to a CP-KCS transaction, which the STB granted on April 23.Meanwhile, in other developments:
• CN today issued an open letter to the KCS community regarding CN’s proposal to combine with KCS. The letter outlines why CN believes a combined CN-KCS represents the best solution for all stakeholders and sets the record straight on the merits of the proposal.
• CP today announced that more than 110 customers and other stakeholders have filed letters with the STB to express concerns about and/or opposition to CN’s proposal for KCS. The letters from customers and other stakeholders highlight growing concerns that the CN-KCS combination would reduce competition in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico corridor, CP officials said in a press release.
• CN late last week announced that more than 200 additional letters in favor of its proposed KCS combination have been filed with the STB, bringing the total number of support letters CN has received to more than 600 in just over a week since its proposal was made public. That number exceeds the number of letters that CP has received in over five weeks, CN officials said in a press release.

Rail News Home BNSF Railway 5/3/2021 Rail News: BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway Co. posted first-quarter 2021 net income of $1.25 billion, up 5%, and operating income of $1.9 billion, up 4%, compared with the same period a year ago.The Class I posted an operating ratio of 63.7% in the quarter compared to 65.2% in Q1 2020, according to a financial report on bnsf.com.Total revenue for the quarter decreased 0.3% compared with the same period in 2020. The decrease was primarily due to a 5% increase in unit volume offset by a 5% decrease in average revenue per unit.The change in Q1 2021 revenue also resulted from the following:
• Average revenue per unit decreased as a result of business mix changes and lower fuel surcharge revenue due to lower fuel prices.
• Consumer products volumes increased 15%. Growth in both international and domestic intermodal shipments was driven by increased retail sales and inventory replenishments by retailers, along with increased e-commerce activity. Automotive volumes declined due to production impacts from a global microchip shortage.
• Agricultural products volumes increased 12% due to higher grain exports.
• Industrial products volumes decreased 13%. These changes were primarily due to reduced production and demand in the energy sector, which drove lower petroleum products and sand volume. In addition, shipments of chemicals, plastics and aggregates were lower due to winter storm related impacts to Texas and the U.S. Gulf Coast regions.
• Coal volumes decreased 12%. These changes were primarily due to lower utility demand in the early part of the quarter, along with severe winter weather which impacted deliveries.Operating expenses for the quarter fell 2%, which reflected increased volume-related costs and inflation, offset by productivity improvements and lower average fuel prices.

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 4/30/2021 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad is building a state-of-the-art grain transload facility within its Global IV intermodal terminal in Joliet, Illinois.The UP Global IV Transload facility will be managed by JCT, a 50-50 joint venture between Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. and Gavilon Grain LLC.Construction began this month and completion is anticipated by fourth-quarter 2021. Once fully operational, the terminal will have the capacity to process 50,000 containers per year, UP officials said in a press release.UP Global IV Transload will be open to all Midwest agricultural producers and processors, expanding connection opportunities to both empty containers and UPs extensive West Coast port terminal network. Regional producers and processors will be able to transport their product by truck to Global IV, where it will be transloaded into containers for shipment by rail to West Coast ports, then loaded onto ocean carriers and shipped to overseas markets.The program will offer greater access to containers for exporters and faster turnaround times for ocean carriers, UP officials said."This facility will support the regional agriculture economy by providing reduced supply-chain costs and efficient loading support for exporting grain products, whole grains and oilseeds," said Kari Kirchhoefer, UP's vice president of marketing and sales premium. "By co-locating on site at G4, we create greater efficiencies within the supply chain."

Rail News Home CSX Transportation 4/29/2021 Rail News: CSX Transportation
CSX Corp. on Monday filed with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) an amended application for its proposed acquisition of Pan Am Railways Inc. and related rail carriers.April 26 was the first weekday CSX could file the amended application in response to an STB ruling that determined the Class I’s proposed transaction was “significant,” meaning it will require closer regulatory scrutiny by the board.The STB has four categories for considering railroad merger transactions: “major,” “significant,” “minor” and “exempt.” The categories involve different levels of procedural and substantive requirements for the board’s review. Because CSX’s proposal involves Class I and II carriers, the transaction could be considered significant or minor, but not major, which applies only to transactions involving Class Is, STB officials said in a prepared statement issued after its ruling last month.In finding the CSX proposal as a significant transaction, the STB focused on the potential outcome the merger could have on shippers’ competitive access to rail.