STB denies CPKC request to give CN’s acquisition of Iowa Northern a more thorough review WASHINGTON – Federal regulators have rejected Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s contention that Canadian National’s proposed acquisition of 218-mile short line Iowa Northern should...

BNSF, CPKC say they won’t pay new Minnesota safety fee ST. PAUL, Minn. — BNSF Railway and CPKC, the two largest railroads in Minnesota, do not plan to make payments of approximately $1 million to the state required by a law passed last year, saying the state...

Activist investor group would put Norfolk Southern back on PSR path, reduce operating ratio to 57% CLEVELAND — An activist investor group says its proposed Norfolk Southern management team would improve the railroad’s operations, service, and profitability by...

Railroad Still Investigating 30 Tons Of Missing Dyno Nobel Explosive Nearly a year after 30 tons of ammonium nitrate went missing on a train ride from Cheyenne to an old salt mining town in California, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is still investigating...

Sen. Durbin sees community backing for Amtrak lines through Peoria NORMAL (25News Now) - U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) says key pieces are coming together for a possible Amtrak line between Peoria and Chicago and another line from the River City to the Quad Cities. One...

FTA Proposes Mandatory Minimum Standards to Protect Rail Transit Workers The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) on March 22 announced that, for the first time, it is proposing mandatory minimum standards to protect those who perform track work for rail transit...

Latest freight railroad layoffs and Wall Street pressure renew concerns about safety and service OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The latest rail layoffs this week, combined with an investment fund's ongoing campaign for control of Norfolk Southern, are renewing concerns among...

Preliminary report: NS engineer was killed when locomotive was hit by rolling railcars   A diagram shows the scene of a fatal accident involving a Norfolk Southern engineer on Jan. 31, 2024, in Decatur, Ala. National Transportation Safety Board     The...

BNSF to pay $75 million to settle biometric privacy suit CHICAGO — BNSF Railway will pay $75 million to settle a biometric privacy lawsuit in which it was originally assessed a $228 million penalty, only to have that award thrown out on appeal, Reuters reports. The...

“It’s been a long-term struggle to try to get these railroads to rebuild. It’s a never-ending tension,” said Oberman. “Wall Street will always be there — which is fine, it’s part of our capitalist structure. But the activist investors, such as the ones that have surfaced now at Norfolk Southern, have a very short-term goal and it’s not constructive.”

While such activist investors are free to practice their approach in other industries, the rail industry is different, he said.

“Railroads are a regulated monopoly, and they have a common carrier obligation to the public interest and to the nation’s economy,” said Oberman. “Railroad management and owners are not just free to manipulate the business for short-term gain to drain the resources out of the railroads in the form of enormous stock buybacks and dividends to the determent of the railroads, … labor, and ultimately to the economy and the consumers.”