SMART-TD must negotiate with Class I railroads on train crew size; Rail Customer Coalition calls on STB to take up reciprocal switching; ASLRRA praises progress on infrastructure bill; and Canadian Pacific urges KCS shareholders to vote against the proposed CN-KCS merger.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., doesn’t want federal regulators to approve a voting trust that Canadian railway CN would establish as part of the process to acquire Kansas City Southern.
Customers’ push to manage inventories will support rail volumes in the second half of the year, even though potential headwinds in the form of wildfires, supply chain congestion and COVID-19 loom.
Higher revenues propelled CN’s adjusted net income for the second quarter to grow by 16.5% to CA$1.06 billion.
The reduction in train speeds between Kamloops and Boston Bar is designed to lessen the chances that sparks from a freight train could start a fire amid extreme heat and dry conditions.
Canadian Pacific and CN note the end of the public comment period for CN’s proposed voting trust, which would be used to acquire Kansas City Southern. But in order for regulators to review the voting trust application, the Surface Transportation Board may need to clarify further the parameters for gauging whether a rail merger is in the public interest, some stakeholders say.
Monday is the last day that stakeholders can express their views to the Surface Transportation Board over CN’s proposed voting trust that will be used to acquire KCS. Canadian Pacific says it has the support of North Dakota congressional leaders, while CN touts support from Gulf Coast and southern Plains leaders.
Canadian Pacific and CN each say they have the backing of Upper Midwest grain shippers as both seek to merge with Kansas City Southern.
CN and Canadian Pacific are rounding up support for their respective plans to acquire Kansas City Southern. Regulators are accepting public comments on CN’s voting trust through next Monday. CN would use the voting trust as part of the process to acquire KCS.
About CA$95 million of the CA$3 billion 2021 capital investment budget will go toward projects in Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick.
CN continues to insist that it has widespread support for its plans to acquire Kansas City Southern. That support includes the voting trust proposal that CN would use as part of the merger process.
The Surface Transportation Board is accepting public comments on CN’s and Kansas City Southern’s voting trust proposal. KCS asserts its financial strength while Canadian Pacific circulates a union’s negative feedback on the CN-KCS merger.
Former Surface Transportation Board Vice Chairman William Clyburn Jr. recommends that STB approve the voting trust proposed by CN and Kansas City Southern.
A trio of shippers groups, CN, Kansas City Southern and Canadian Pacific offer their takes on whether the voting trust associated with the proposed CN-KCS merger is or isn’t in the public interest.
The American Chemistry Council, which represents chemicals shippers, wants the Surface Transportation Board to scrutinize proposed Class I rail mergers to ensure that shippers don’t encounter reduced offerings.
To sweeten the voting trust application before regulators, CN and Kansas City Southern are offering to divest 70 miles of a KCS line in an area of Louisiana where both railroads have competing lines in order to create an “end-to-end” network.
Kansas City Southern has opted for CN’s merger offer. It is terminating an existing merger agreement it has with Canadian Pacific.
Four rail labor groups have banded together to warn regulators about potential post-merger efforts to trim labor costs, while investment banking firm Cowen says regulators’ denial of CN’s voting trust signals that CN will have to make a strong case for its proposed merger.
Canadian Pacific wants Kansas City Southern to reject CN’s competing merger offer. The railway also said it won’t engage in a bidding war.
Following the Surface Transportation Board’s decision on Monday regarding CN’s proposed merger with Kansas City Southern, both CN and Canadian Pacific remained confident that each is the better suitor for KCS.
The Surface Transportation Board has decided that it would review a proposed merger between CN and Kansas City Southern under newer, stricter merger rules. The board also denied for now CN’s request to form a voting trust, saying CN’s application is incomplete.
FreightWaves looks at five themes that ran throughout the earnings discussions of the Class I railroads.
CN revised its bid to acquire KCS; CP said it will not seek to counterbid.
Rivals Canadian Pacific and CN separately submit more statements of support to the Surface Transportation Board in a bid to show which Canadian railway is best suited to merge with Kansas City Southern.
The Surface Transportation Board has approved the voting trust that Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern plan to make as part of the merger process between the two companies.
Billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the largest shareholder of Canadian railway CN, is giving 14.1 million shares of the company to soon-to-be ex-wife Melinda Gates.
CN and Canadian Pacific continue to campaign for the hearts and votes of Kansas City Southern stakeholders and the Surface Transportation Board.
Executives with parent company Berkshire Hathaway expect BNSF to take steps to protect the railroad’s franchise as the merger between Kansas City Southern and one of the Canadian railways makes its way through regulatory review.
CN outlined some scenarios in which a merged railway can compete with long-haul trucking.
Canadian railway CN reported net profit of CA$974 million in the first quarter of 2021, a 3.7% decline from the first quarter of 2020.
The Canadian railway CN and Kansas City Southern have agreed to talk about CN’s acquisition bid. Canadian Pacific, which has a competing offer, acknowledges the meeting. CN also submits letters of support from stakeholders to regulators.
The Surface Transportation Board has determined that a waiver that exempted Kansas City Southern from post-2001 merger rules governing rail mergers applies in the proposed merger between KCS and Canadian Pacific.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, chair of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is concerned that efforts by rival Canadian railways to acquire Kansas City Southern could usher in more consolidations in the freight rail sector.
The Surface Transportation Board will need to scrutinize a proposed merger between Kansas City Southern and either Canadian Pacific or CN to ensure it doesn’t hurt the operations of competing railroads, Union Pacific’s head said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call.
For now, Canadian Pacific is not planning to take part in a bidding war with rival CN to acquire Kansas City Southern, saying that its offer is more likely to meet regulators’ litmus test for mergers.
Canadian Pacific and CN both filed letters to the Surface Transportation Board asking the panel to consider the merits of their competing requests to acquire Kansas City Southern.
CP, which is also seeking to acquire KCS, describes rival CN’s bid to acquire KCS as “massively complex and likely to fail” because it decreases competition.
A merged CN and Kansas City Southern would compete against long-haul trucking for north-south intermodal opportunities, CN said Tuesday.
Not to be outdone by rival Canadian Pacific, CN offers to acquire Kansas City Southern for $33.7 billion.
TuSimple, the first autonomous vehicle software developer to go public, raised $1.1B at $40 per share, above the high-end of its estimated price..
CN beat its previous March record of 2.74 million metric tons set in 2020, moving 2.95 million metric tons last month.
CN is selling its noncore assets in southern Ontario, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin to Watco.
The publicly traded Class I railroads expect rail volumes to improve this year despite severe winter weather curtailing operations in February.
For the 12th consecutive month, CN hauled a record amount of Canadian grain.
The AAR released climate policy proposals encouraging partnerships and market solutions that promote competition and carbon capture, utilization and storage technology.
A Canadian National freight train derailed at an intersection with a West Chicago commuter line. Service remained disrupted early Monday afternoon.
Plans to halt construction of the Keystone XL pipeline will likely mean more crude oil volumes being shipped by rail. But how much more will depend on a variety of factors, including oil price spreads, other pipelines, oil storage options and the railroads’ ability to juggle volumes.
U.S. rail volumes rose 5.3% in January as gains for intermodal, chemicals and grain were enough to offset losses for coal and petroleum products, according to AAR data.
CN expressed confidence that it has the network capacity available to handle more volumes in the second half of 2021. But pandemic uncertainties loom in the first quarter.
CN’s fourth-quarter net income was C$1.02 billion amid a 2% increase in revenue and a 5% decrease in operating expenses.
Acquisitions and record Canadian grain loadings round out rail news
CN has partnered with other organizations to develop a plastics resins export facility in Alabama near the Port of Mobile. The facility will open in late 2021.
CN joins other Class I railroads in courting automotive and container shippers in the Upper Midwest through this latest offering.
Major railways are classified as leaders among thousands of companies that disclosed climate information to the CDP this year.
November was a bright spot for U.S. and Canadian grain carloads.
U.S. carload traffic on a weekly basis was 3.1% lower last week on a year-over-year basis and 1.7% higher sequentially.
Exports drive Canada grain volumes higher.
Higher rail volumes continue to be a trend in the fourth quarter, but the pace of volume growth could depend on how the COVID-19 pandemic plays out this winter.
The COVID-19 pandemic continued to put pressure on CN’s volumes in the third quarter.
Two Class I railroads select members for their respective boards of directors.
CN and Canadian Pacific say they’ll use communication and technology to grapple with winter’s operational challenges.
Canadian Pacific and CN say the deepwater ports are key to gaining market share.
Wabtec’s former chief technology officer departs for CN; Wabtec appoints a new leader to the role.
The campaign is part of a broader effort to prevent the spillage of the tiny pellets during their transport.
Some volumes have been diverted to the Port of Halifax and other East Coast ports.
Canadian Pacific’s and CN’s estimates of grain they expect to haul in 2020-2021 is in line with past projections.
The funding will be for capital and maintenance projects in eight states.
The expectation that North American consumers will help drive intermodal traffic comes as the railway’s second-quarter volumes were hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Unadjusted net income for the second quarter falls nearly 60% from the same period in 2019.
The C$230 million it will spend on the three provinces are on top of C$1.3 billion previously announced for five other provinces.
June grain volumes and second-quarter movements were records for both CN and CP.
CN lays out 2020 capex plans for Nova Scotia, railroad supply group’s head to depart, and Norfolk Southern makes changes to its demurrage and accessorial charges tariffs.
The funding is part of CN’s capex budget for 2020.
The railway is working on infrastructure improvements amid lower market demand because of the coronavirus.
Class 1 railroads reiterate that some measures they took to cut costs because of the coronavirus could become permanent.
British Columbia seeks to ramp up its export capacity of propane at Canadian west coast ports, and CN is the only Class I railway serving the Port of Prince Rupert.
Investments in recent years to expand capacity along their western Canadian grain networks have paid off for Canadian Pacific and CN.
The coronavirus pandemic didn’t slow grain movement.
The effect that the coronavirus pandemic is having on rail volumes could get worse in the coming weeks before things get better, according to executives.
The railway managed to boost its first-quarter net income despite the February rail blockades and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board are urging Transport Canada to consider revising track maintenance regulations since broken rail is appearing as a possible cause for two recent crude train derailments.
The new orders require “higher-risk key trains” to slow down their speed in the wintertime.
The Canadian railways will have the network capacity to accommodate any sudden surges in demand once the coronavirus pandemic subsides, their executives said.
The three Class I railroads have set or will set targets as part of their involvement in a global initiative.
The modifications include extra precautions that follow CDC guidance.
Industry group estimates farmers will face rail blockade-related costs of over C$300 million.
Canadian National CEO JJ Ruest still expects the company will meet 2020 targets despite a significant hit from rail blockades.
With the possibility of rail blockades fading, the railway is seeking to ramp up its eastern operations again after it had shut them down for roughly two weeks because of protests.
The tentative agreement could help bring an end to protests on the country’s freight transportation network.
Law enforcement may have broken up protesters’ rail blockade near Belleville, Ontario, but it’s uncertain when freight rail operations will return to normal. Stakeholders along Canada’s supply chain are also still jittery over the potential for additional blockades.
Uncertainty is still an underlying theme facing North American freight railroads.
Reported deal to let Canadian National quietly route some freight around protests gets high marks from director of trucking company hit hard by the disruptions.
Authorities have cleared a key route between Toronto and Montreal after protesters blocked the rail route for over two weeks.
Ontario Provincial Police move to end blockades on a key stretch of CN’s rail network linking Toronto and Montreal after more than two weeks of protests that have disrupted Canada’s supply chain.
Montreal-based Energy Transportation Group moving on loads of bulk commodities as nervous shippers lose patience with two-week disruption of Canada’s rail services from pipeline protests.
Incident captured on video on Manitoba highway underscores high stakes and worsening tensions across the country as anti-pipeline protests severely disrupt Canadian supply chains.
Canadian National lays off employees, industry groups warn of significant supply chain disruptions and government and First Nations leaders continue to discuss the multi-day protests that have blocked portions of Canada’s rail network.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance calls for an end to disruptions to Canadian National’s network as it warns of effect on intermodal carriers and the broader industry.
Freight trains carrying dangerous goods in Canada can now travel at faster speeds, according to a revised government order. Transport Canada had restricted how fast those trains could go following a fiery Feb. 6 derailment of a crude train.
Canadian National warns protesters they’re jeopardizing their safety, while passenger rail service on VIA Rail remains cancelled.
