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FRA, STB Ask Class 1s to Step It Up As Traffic Rebounds

Mount Hood is off in the distance as an early-morning eastbound BNSF freight heads toward the sun at Dallesport. Photo by Steve Barry. 

FRA, STB Ask Class 1s to Step It Up As Traffic Rebounds

By Railfan & Railroad Staff

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration and U.S. Surface Transportation Board sent a joint letter to the executives of North America’s seven Class One railroads telling them they need to improve their service in order to help the economy recover from the slowdown brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the letter that was sent to executives at Union Pacific, BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, Kansas City Southern, Canadian National, and Canadian Pacific, representatives of the FRA and STB said they have received numerous complaints from shippers.

“We have been made aware of service issues, including missed industrial switches and excessively late or annulled trains due to crew availability issues,” officials wrote. “As you know, with both increasing intermodal and carload volumes and a projected robust harvest fast approaching, railroad employee availability, together with sufficient equipment resourcing, is essential for safe, fluid rail service in support of the nation’s economic recovery. Given the challenges related to changing demand patterns and operating conditions, increased communication and transparency with rail shippers is especially important to ensure they have the information needed to plan their businesses and meet their own customers’ needs.”

The federal agencies went on to state that they expected the railroads to “quickly resolve service issues” before they got worse. 

When freight traffic plummeted earlier this year, a number of Class One railroads furloughed employees, however, it seems they have been slow to bring them back on board. According to the Association of American Railroads, traffic is still down from what it was last year but is slowly climbing again. Last week, total carload and intermodal traffic were down 6.9 percent compared with the same week last year.

This article was posted on: August 25, 2020