Railroad News

Union Pacific Railroad today posted first-quarter net income of $1.5 billion, or $2.15 per diluted share, compared to $1.4 billion, or $1.93 per diluted share, a year ago. 

Operating revenue during the quarter declined 3 percent to $5.2 billion compared with the same quarter last year. Business volumes as measured by total revenue carloads fell 7 percent during the period versus a year ago, UP officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific Railroad announced last week that it has launched a developer portal that allows shippers to access relevant railroad data within their own business platforms.

Driving the service are application program interfaces (APIs), which allow computer applications to interact with each other to pass data or perform actions, UP officials said in an announcement on the company website.

Union Pacific Railroad reported today that fourth-quarter 2019 net income fell to $1.4 billion, or $2.02 per diluted share, from $1.6 billion, or $2.12 per diluted share, in fourth-quarter 2018.

Operating revenue dipped 9 percent to $5.2 billion during the quarter compared to the same period a year ago. Fourth-quarter business volume — measured by total revenue carloads — decreased 11 percent.

The U.S. Department of Labor HIRE Vets Medallion Program named Union Pacific Railroad a 2019 Gold Medallion recipient for its support of military veterans.

The department recognized the railroad’s operations management training program, employee benefits and the UP VETS employee resource group that connects service members to provide camaraderie and mentorship, UP officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific Chief Financial Officer Rob Knight will retire on Dec. 31, the Class I announced yesterday. Jennifer Hamann will succeed him effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Knight joined UP in 1980 and held numerous leadership positions prior to being named CFO in 2004. During his tenure as CFO, he led many initiatives that helped the company earn the highest market capitalization of any North American transportation company, UP officials said in a press release.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Associate Editor

Chicago commuter railroad Metra and Union Pacific Railroad have agreed to cancel a previously announced schedule change on the UP West line, which would have adjusted departure times of some trains on the line by Sept. 3. 

UP determined that the proposed changes on UP West could result in conflicts between commuter and freight trains along the busy rail corridor, Metra officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific Railroad yesterday announced that it has implemented positive train control (PTC) on 1,081 route miles in the second quarter, bringing its PTC-operated route miles to 14,678, or 86 percent. 

UP now is running PTC operations in 22 states, and is working with freight and passenger railroads to implement PTC on its remaining 2,384 route miles by 2020, UP officials said in a press release. 

Union Pacific Railroad reported today that 2019 second-quarter net income rose 4 percent to $1.6 billion, or $2.22 per diluted share, compared with $1.5 billion, or $1.98 per diluted share, in the same quarter a year ago.

UP's operating income rose 8 percent to $2.3 billion and the company's operating ratio (OR) improved to 59.6 percent from 63.0 percent compared with second-quarter 2018.