Year: 2009

No Picture
BNSF

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Reports Second Quarter 2009 Results

July 28, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
FORT WORTH, Taxas — Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. reported quarterly earnings of $1.18 per diluted share, compared to second-quarter 2008 earnings of $1.00 per diluted share, which included a $0.31 per share charge related to environmental matters in Montana.“BNSF had another strong quarter of cost control in an extremely difficult economic environment,” said Matthew K. Rose, BNSF Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are beginning to see BNSF’s volumes stabilize in our more economic sensitive businesses, and because of our continued focus on productivity combined with our long-term market opportunities, we are well positioned to benefit when the
No Picture
STB

STB Orders Rate Relief for Oklahoma Utility Plant

July 27, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — The Surface Transportation Board issued a decision today granting an estimated $100 million in reparations and rate reductions over the next decade from Union Pacific Railroad to Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company (OG&E). The utility serves more than 750,000 customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas. UP has hauled roughly 6 million tons of coal per year from Wyoming’s southern Powder River Basin to OG&E’s Muskogee Station power plant in Fort Gibson, Okla. under contracts between the parties. But after the latest contract expired on Dec. 31, 2008, UP and OG&E could not agree on a new contractual rate.
No Picture
Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern’s ‘Train Your Brain’ Public Safety Campaign Fills Summer Calendar in Indiana

July 24, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
NORFOLK, Va. — A giant pink eyes-wide-open walking brain has been spotted among summer crowds in Indiana, drawing attention to Norfolk Southern’s “Train Your Brain” safety campaign. Without saying a word, Brainy wows audiences with a hapless, almost human nature that reminds people to be safe around highway-rail grade crossings and to avoid trespassing on railroad property. In the third year of Norfolk Southern’s unconventional safety campaign, Brainy seems to have reached new heights of popularity in northern Indiana. Brainy has appeared at the Potato Creek Festival in North Liberty, the St. Joseph County 4-H Fair in South Bend, the
No Picture
Legislation

Norfolk Southern CEO: Tax Incentives for Rail Capacity Will Generate Economic Benefits, Create Jobs

July 23, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
NORFOLK, Va. — Tax incentives to expand freight rail capacity would “make sense for America,” generating $1 billion in economic benefits and 20,000 green jobs, Norfolk Southern Corp. CEO Wick Moorman said on Capitol Hill. “America needs more transportation capacity and needs it now,” Moorman said on behalf of the Association of American Railroads during testimony to a U.S. House subcommittee. Noting that today’s transportation network is not designed to handle the doubling in freight demand projected by 2035, Moorman said, “Railroads are the most affordable and environmentally responsible way to meet this demand, and that is why tax incentives
No Picture
Commuter Rail

NTSB: WMATA Track Tircuit’s Train Occupancy Signal Fluctuating Since 2007

July 23, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board continues to make progress in its investigation of the June 22, 2009, collision of two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) trains on the Red Line in Washington, D.C. The Board has developed the following factual information: Two signal companies, Ansaldo STS USA (US&S) and Alstom Signaling Inc. (GRS), that designed and manufactured the automatic train control components for the WMATA system, are providing technical assistance to the NTSB investigation. As previously reported, an impedance bond (No. 15) for the track circuit where the accident occurred was replaced on June 17, five days
No Picture
Commuter Rail

NTSB: Driver Blacked Out in San Fran Wreck; Cell Phone Not an Issue

July 22, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
SAN FRANCISCO — In its continuing investigation of the collision between two San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) light rail trains on Saturday, injuring more than 40 people, NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker has announced the following factual information: At about 2:50 p.m. PDT on Saturday, July 18, 2009, an L Line train struck the rear of a K Line train at the West Portal Station in San Francisco. Data captured by recorders in the train control center indicated that the L Line train was switched from automatic to manual mode while stopped in the tunnel at the same
No Picture
Canadian National

CN Grows Jet-Fuel Traffic at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport

July 21, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
MONTREAL is developing a fast-growing business supplying jet fuel to airlines serving Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport. The effectiveness of CN’s rail pipeline for jet fuel to Pearson prompted the construction of a new Jet Fuel Rail Offloading, Storage and Distribution Facility near the airport, adjacent to CN’s Malport rail yard in northwest Toronto. “The changing dynamics of jet-fuel supply for airlines serving Pearson airport now require the carriers to strategically source fuel across the globe, and this has opened the door to rail to play an increasingly important role in these longer supply chains,” said James Foote, executive
No Picture
NTSB

Rosenker Departs From NTSB

July 21, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
WASHINGTON — After leading the National Transportation Safety Board for four and a half years, Mark V. Rosenker has announced that he will resign his position as Acting Chairman and Member. He submitted his letter of resignation to President Obama July 21. Rosenker said he will delay his departure until a new chairman and an additional Board Member are confirmed to ensure a quorum remains at the Board. In his letter to the President, Rosenker said that the opportunity to serve in and lead the NTSB “has been the highlight of my entire 40-year professional life. It is an agency
No Picture
Canadian National

CN Declares Third-Quarter 2009 Dividend

July 20, 2009 Railfanning.org News Wire
MONTREAL — CN announced that its Board of Directors has approved a third-quarter 2009 dividend on the Company’s common shares outstanding. A quarterly dividend of 25.25 cents per common share will be paid on Sept. 30, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Sept. 9. — PRNewswire-FirstCall