Railroad News

Union Pacific Railroad last week announced plans to assemble the world’s largest battery electric freight locomotive fleet.

UP will purchase 20 battery-electric locomotives from Progress Rail and Wabtec Corp. for testing in yard operations. The combined purchases and upgrades to yard infrastructure are expected to exceed $100 million, representing the largest investment in battery-electric technology by a U.S. railroad, UP officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific Railroad subsidiary Loup Logistics Co. has acquired Precision Components Inc.'s (PCI) transload facility in Phoenix.

Finalized last month, the acquisition will enable UP to expand transloading and storage services for shippers in the Phoenix market, Loup officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific Corp. today reported fourth-quarter 2021 net income of $1.7 billion, or $2.66 per diluted share, up from net income of $1.6 billion, or $2.36 per diluted share, in the same quarter in 2020.

The 2020 adjusted results exclude a $278 million pre-tax, non-cash impairment charge.

The Savage Gulf Rail Facility, which will be served by Union Pacific Railroad, has opened in San Patricio County, Texas.

The rail yard — which was the site of a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony — was built to support the multibillion-dollar Gulf Coast Growth Ventures plastics plant, a new joint venture between ExxonMobil and chemical manufacturer SABIC.

Union Pacific Railroad has launched a new employee-led business resource group focused on environmental sustainability.

Called "Planet Tracks," the new group is dedicated to "helping employees champion and promote environmental stewardship and sustainability initiatives," UP officials reported in the Class I's Inside Track newsletter.

Union Pacific Railroad was named a 2021 Gold Medallion recipient by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (USDOL) HIRE Vets Medallion Program, which advocates for the hiring and support of veterans.

UP has accomplished “exceptional achievement” in recruiting and hiring veterans, USDOL officials said in a press release. UP has hired former military service members since its beginning in the 1860s when it hired Civil War veterans. More than 17% of UP employees have military experience with some still active in the National Guard or Reserves. Veterans represent 24% of new hires within the last five years.

Union Pacific Railroad is awarding $5.5 million in grants to 576 nonprofit organizations part of the Class I's Community Ties Giving Program.

Eighty-three percent of the money is going to “local organizations that align with UP’s civersity, equity and inclusion (DEI) values," UP officials said in a press release. An estimated 16 million people across the railroad's 23-state network will benefit from the grants, which were awarded based on the company's three top philanthropic priorities: safety, workforce development and community spaces. The grants range from $2,500 to $25,000 each.

Union Pacific Corp. today reported third-quarter 2021 net income of $1.7 billion, or $2.57 per diluted share, compared with $1.4 billion, or $2.01 per diluted share, in the third quarter 2020.

Operating revenue for the quarter rose 13% to $5.6 billion, while operating income climbed 20% to $2.4 billon compared with the same period a year ago.

Union Pacific Railroad recently shipped the military vehicle that pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to an article posted on the Class I's Inside Track website.

UP subsidiary Loup Logistics provided a first and final mile transportation solution for the 140,000-pound M88A2 Hercules.

Union Pacific Railroad on Oct. 15  filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court after receiving communications from three unions protesting the Class I's vaccination mandate.

The unions involved are the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD), the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWED).

Each member of the supply chain must focus on optimizing their part of it and keep communicating with other players both upstream and downstream to address challenges, according to Union Pacific Railroad's Inside Track newsletter.

Changes in consumer spending habits during the pandemic, labor shortages in the trucking and warehousing industries, and final-mile delivery delays are contributing to industry-wide supply-chain shortages in the United States, wrote Elise Gosch, UP's assistant vice president of marketing and sales-premium intermodal.