Archive for June 11, 2020
U.S. freight-rail traffic down 15.6 percent in Week 23
(Source: Progressive Railroading 06/11/2020) U.S. railroads logged a 15.6 percent decrease in carload and intermodal volumes during the week ending June 6 compared with the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data. Railroads posted 192,494 carloads for the week, down 22 percent, and 240,677 intermodal containers and trailers, down 9.6 percent.…
Read MoreInside a Wall Street tycoon’s plan to get Americans off the highway and onto his trains
(Source: Forbes, June 11, 2020) NEW YORK — Shouting over the noise of diners at a Mexican restaurant on the floor of a casino, buyout billionaire Wes Edens has come to Las Vegas, one of the cities least friendly to mass transit, to talk about passenger rail. “It’s not like I had Lionel train sets…
Read MoreOpinion: For railroads, there may be no new “normal”
(Source: Railway Age opinion column by Nicholas Little, June 11, 2020) NEW YORK — In response to Jim Blaze’s interesting “Railroad Mega-mergers” article from earlier this week, I’m not sure that the historical perspective will apply in a developing “new normal” business economy in the United States. I believe COVID-19 impacts will massively change behaviors.…
Read MoreHave rail volumes bottomed out?
(Source: Freight Waves, June 11, 2020) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Rail volumes could rebound in the second half of the year, but the pace of a rebound will depend largely on consumer confidence, executives from several Class I railroads cautioned at recent investor conferences. North American weekly rail traffic totaled 598,301 carloads and intermodal units for…
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