By Justin Franz

As the year draws to a close, the editors of Railfan & Railroad Magazine are looking at some of the biggest stories in railroading in 2024. Be sure to check Railfan.com every weekday all year long for all your (free) railroad news and if you like what you see, consider subscribing. 

The last 12 months were far from perfect for North America’s six Class I railroads; there was still labor drama, natural disasters and executives brought down by personal shortcomings. But when compared to the previous two years, 2024 was pretty calm. 

In 2022, the headline that ended the year was “Class Is in Crisis.” Service issues had brought the nation’s rail network to its knees and as a result, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board led by Martin J. Obermann brought the CEOs of some of the biggest railroads to Washington D.C. for a contentious and at-times heated series of meetings. “We are in absolute gridlock,” said one railroader. 

The following year, in 2023, service was improving but now safety was the concern, following a series of high-profile derailments that made national news. None was more dramatic than the wreck of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, in February that resulted in congressional hearings about the state of the nation’s rail system. 

In between all of that was also a series of major mergers and acquisitions that would dramatically alter the map, including CSX’s acquisition of Pan Am Railways, BNSF retaking Montana Rail Link, and the granddaddy of them all, Canadian Pacific’s deal to acquire Kansas City Southern to create a new railroad: CPKC. 

This year, there were considerably fewer transactions and none of them dramatically altered the map. Canadian National is still awaiting approval from the STB to take control of Iowa Northern (it’s unclear what the delay is). And CSX and CPKC took over a short line in Alabama to create a more direct link to Mexico (in return, Genesee & Wyoming got a new railroad in Alberta). 

Regulators in Washington D.C. were busy this year, although mostly in response to the drama of 2022 and 2023. On the service side, the STB streamlined the process for which a shipper can request emergency service and approved new rules regarding reciprocal switching. Meanwhile, the Federal Railroad Administration released a long-awaited rule requiring at least two crew members aboard most freight trains. 

Elsewhere in Washington D.C., Congress considered giving Amtrak the ability to sue Class I railroads when they needlessly delay passenger trains. And the FRA did just that in July when it alleged that Norfolk Southern was violating federal laws when it gave its trains priority over Amtrak. 

Perhaps no one had a more memorable year among the Class I executives than NS’ Alan Shaw. In May, he survived a proxy fight from a group of shareholders who said he wasn’t doing enough to make the railroad profitable and safe. But in September, he was forced to step down after it was revealed he had violated company policy when he engaged in a consensual relationship with the railroad’s chief legal officer. He was replaced by Mark R. George, who was previously the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. 

In Canada, both CN and CPKC had their own personnel challenges during a contentious round of labor talks that broke down and resulted in a 17-hour lockout in August. The Canadian government later forced arbitration. 

No year in railroading is complete without its share of mishaps and disasters. Some occurred off the property, such as when CSX and NS had to divert traffic around Baltimore when a ship ran into a bridge there. Others were acts of God, like a wildfire in Alberta and a hurricane that ravaged the southeast. And others were just plain bizarre, like when a teenager wrecked a train for YouTube views. 

What the new year will hold is anyone’s guess. Overall, freight traffic is up 3.3 percent over the previous year, according to the Association of American Railroads. But that growth is due primarily to intermodal (up 9.2 percent) and carload numbers remain sluggish (down 3.2 percent). With the threat of tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China in the new year — countries that account for a sizeable percentage of rail traffic here in the U.S. — it’s unclear how that will impact the industry. And when one looks at the wider picture — stagnant volumes and revenues over the last decade — it’s even less clear what the future holds. In the end, 2024 could go down as a brief reprieve during a turbulent era.