Railroad News

Union Pacific Railroad, the Federal Railroad Administration and Port of Tucson officials last week marked the completion of a $5 million expansion of the port's rail infrastructure and container export facility.

Funded with a $5 million grant funded in 2013 through the federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, the project covered several infrastructure upgrades including the installation of siding extensions, high-speed power switches and a new main line switch to increase flexible operations at the site, according to a post on UP's Inside Track blog.

Union Pacific Railroad will spend $70.9 million this year to improve rail track and bridges in Colorado, the Class I announced yesterday.

The announcement is one of a series of state-by-state plans that UP has been rolling out as part of its list of $3.7 billion worth of infrastructure projects it has planned for its rail network this year.

Union Pacific Railroad and international logistics service provider Katoen Natie announced today a new service that transports plastic pellets from the Gulf region to Dallas.

The Dallas-to-Dock Service will transport the pellets in hopper cars to Dallas, where they will be packaged and transferred to intermodal containers. From there, the containers will travel to ocean ports via the railroad's intermodal service, according to a UP press release.

Union Pacific Railroad announced this week that it would spend more than $228 million this year to improve railroad infrastructure in Kansas, Nebraska and Illinois.

The projects are part of UP's plans to spend a total $3.7 billion across its network this year, the Class I said in a press release.

Union Pacific Railroad will spend $83 million this year to improve railroad infrastructure in Arkansas, the Class I announced late last week in the latest of its state-by-state capital expenditure reports.

The investment will cover a range of projects, including $73 million to maintain track and $9 million to maintain bridges, according to a UP press release.

Union Pacific Railroad will spend $121.6 million this year to upgrade its infrastructure in California.

The Class I's capital expenditure plan for the state includes $104 million to maintain railroad track and $17.3 million to maintain bridges, according to a UP press release.

Union Pacific Railroad will spend $513 million this year to improve transportation infrastructure in Texas, the Class I announced Monday.

The projects will include $429 million to maintain track and $79 million to maintain bridges, according to a UP press release.

Union Pacific Railroad has honored 65 companies with its Pinnacle Award for their commitment to safely transport chemical products, the Class I announced yesterday.

The award recognizes UP customers for implementing release prevention, corrective plans and having zero non-accident releases (NARs) of regulated hazardous materials shipments, UP officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific Railroad logged first-quarter net income of $979 million, or $1.16 per diluted share, compared with $1.15 billion, or $1.30 per diluted share, in the previous year's quarter, the Class I reported this morning.

Operating revenue of $4.8 billion was down 14 percent compared with first-quarter 2015, as the railroad faced declining carloads in many of its business lines, UP officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific Corp.'s board has elected Jane Holl Lute as its newest member, the Class I announced yesterday.

Lute is former deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, having served the agency from 2009 to 2013.

Union Pacific Railroad's Twin Cities Service Unit reported 21 percent fewer railroad crossing incidents in 2015 versus 2014, the Class I announced last week.

The change in incidents reflects progress in educating the driving public about rail safety, UP officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific Railroad has appointed Peter Decher president of subsidiary ShipCarsNow Inc.

Decher, who joined the Class I in 2005, succeeds Martin Coalson, who recently retired after a 37-year career with UP, according to a company press release.

Starting today, Union Pacific Railroad will increase train speed on 7.5 miles of rail line in Clark County, Nev., following recent track upgrades in the Las Vegas area, the Class I announced late last week.

Track improvements that meet or exceed Federal Railroad Administration standards will enable UP to speed up trains from 40 mph to 60 mph on rail line between Bonanza Road and Maule Avenue, UP officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific Railroad employees set an all-time reportable personal injury rate record in 2015, improving 11 percent from 2014 to 0.87, UP announced today.

The injury rate makes UP the safest Class I in the United States based on Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) data, according to a UP press release.

Union Pacific Railroad was named the most admired company in the trucking, transportation and logistics industry by Fortune for the sixth consecutive year, UP announced last week.

The recognition is the 13th time in 17 years that the Class I has been named No. 1. The magazine's annual "World's Most Admired" list is published in the March 1 edition, according to a UP press release.

Cross–border traffic into and out of Mexico currently generates about 10 percent of UP's annual volume.

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Union Pacific Railroad reduced highway-rail crossing accidents by 3 percent in 2015, the Class I announced on Friday.

UP reduced the total number of Federal Railroad Administration reportable grade crossing accidents to 2.28 per million train miles.

The Arizona Corporation Commission has approved a $120 million project that includes a major upgrade to a Union Pacific Railroad crossing in Tucson, the commission announced this week.

Designed to improve safety and traffic flow, the project will remove a grade crossing at Interstate 10 and Ina Road in Tucson. I-10 will be lowered to ground level and widened to eight lanes, with Ina Road raised to cross over Camino de Oeste, the tracks, and I-10, commission officials said in a press release.

Pricing gains weren't enough to offset the decline in traffic volume in fourth-quarter 2015 at Union Pacific Railroad. As a result, UP posted net income of $1.1 billion, or $1.31 per diluted share for the period, compared with $1.4 billion, or $1.61 per diluted share, in fourth-quarter 2014, the railroad announced this morning.

Operating revenue for the quarter fell 15 percent to $5.2 billion compared with Q4 2014. Fourth-quarter business volumes — measured by total revenue carloads — declined 9 percent in 2015 compared with a year ago. Volumes fell in each business group except for automotive. Coal led the decline; freight revenue for that category fell 31 percent, according to the company's press release.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that Union Pacific Railroad's failure to conduct a risk assessment of a new control point (CP) signal installation contributed to a collision of two UP trains in 2014, the agency announced in a report last month.

The incident occurred in September 2014 near Galva, Kan., when an eastbound UP train collided with the side of a westbound UP train, according to the NTSB's executive summary of its investigative report.