By Kristin Wilson, Paul LeBlanc and Clare Foran, CNN amp.cnn.com Washington(CNN)The House on Wednesday approved legislation to avert a rail shutdown following a grave warning from President Joe Biden about the economic danger posed by congressional inaction. By a 290 to 137 vote, the House passed the tentative rail agreement that will prevent a rail strike. The vote […]
Months of talks have failed to end the impasse between unions and freight railroads. And a GOP-led House looms in January. By BEN WHITE for politico.com President Joe Biden knew he would be risking a backlash from his labor allies if he stepped in to head off a holiday-season rail strike. But the dangers a strike […]
President Joe Biden seemed to have secured a last-minute deal between railroad unions and train companies. But now a rail strike is once again looming. By Scott Bixby for thedailybeast.com A tentative agreement brokered by President Joe Biden between railroad unions and freight train companies is at risk of going off the rails—once again raising […]
U.S. Chamber urges Presidential Emergency Board to resolve stalemate By John Gallagher for freightwaves.com The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling on President Joe Biden to help resolve a dispute between the country’s Class 1 railroads and 12 rail unions to avert a possible rail strike beginning July 18. In a letter sent to the […]
Reciprocal switching could help with system efficiency, Daniel Elliott says By Joanna Marsh for freightwaves.com Reciprocal switching occurs when a shipper has access to one freight railroad but wants access to a nearby competing freight railroad in order to cultivate a competitive pricing environment. President Joe Biden via a July executive ordercharged Surface Transportation Board Chairman […]
BY STEVE POCIASK, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR for thehill.com The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill Over the last four decades, the railroad industry’s productivity has increased 159 percent and real prices of ship goods have plummeted 44 percent. Why? In large part thanks to reforms passed by a […]
Reciprocal switching can be a win for both railroads and shippers. By wsj.com “Regulator Tackles Competition on Rails” (U.S. News, Sept. 3) provides a solid account of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board’s efforts to tackle freight-rail issues and employ a remedy called reciprocal switching. As a former chairman of the STB, I learned the depth […]
Canadian National’s prickly relationship with Amtrak could lead regulators to block its plan to acquire Kansas City Southern. By Brooke Sutherland for bloomberg.com Kansas City Southern investors are right to worry that the Biden administration’s tougher stance on antitrust enforcement may signal trouble for the company’s $34 billion plan to sell itself to Canadian National Railway Co. […]
By Ted O’Neil | The Center Square contributor for themercury.com (The Center Square) – An executive order signed by President Joe Biden that could force railroads to allow other operators to use their tracks could reduce competition and increase costs, according to industry experts. Biden’s order last week in part called on the independent Surface […]
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief for railwayage.com The Biden Administration will shortly issue an Executive Order directing federal regulators to “confront consolidation and perceived anticompetitive pricing” in the railroad and ocean shipping and industries “as part of a broad effort to blunt the power of big business to dominate industries,” according to a July 8 Wall Street […]