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October 5, 2012

Randall Brassell, Director of Communications Telephone: 615-521-4097 (Fax) 615-824-2164 Email: [email protected]

STB Orders Berkshire Hathaway to Divest Two Railroads Posted By The Journal of Commerce On October 1, 2012 @ 9:31 am In More News | No Comments

Berkshire Hathaway must explain to the federal government how it will divest itself of two railroads, after the company revealed it owns two carriers other than BNSF Railway.

Warren Buffett’s company isn’t allowed “to own or control multiple carriers” without the approval of the Surface Transportation Board, the railroad regulatory agency wrote to Berkshire Hathaway on Sept. 18. BNSF wrote the STB on Sept. 13 that it didn’t think that Berkshire Hathaway’s $43 billion purchase of the railroad [1] in 2010 would be subject to STB oversight because the parent company isn’t a rail carrier and it didn’t “believe it owned or controlled any rail carriers.”

BNSF and Berkshire Hatwhaway “have recently become aware that two of Berkshire’s more than 75 operating business groups with nearly 2,000 subsidiaries do in fact have entities within their organization structure that own or control an interest in a total of two rail common carriers,” Roger Nober, BNSF executive vice president, law and secretary, wrote the STB.

At the time of the purchase of BNSF, Berkshire owned about 90 percent of MidAmerican Energy Holding Company, which owns a majority stake in CBEC Railway, he wrote. The six-mile common carrier in Iowa mainly hauls coal to power plants. Berkshire also had a controlling interest in Marmon Group, which includes RailServe as one of its 150 business. The rail services company holds White City Terminal Union Railway, a short-line railroad in Oregon.

“Berkshire recognizes that not only was its purchase of BNSF subject to STB jurisdiction, but when it purchased its initial 60 percent ownership stake in Marmon in 2008, then by extension its ownership and control over the WCTU was also a transaction that was likely subject to STB jurisdiction,” Nober wrote.

The STB said it would determine whether further action would need after reviewing Berkshire’s plan [2] “to remedy its failure to comply with” the regulation.

U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Porcari Announces $120 Million for Connecticut to Increase Train Service and Improve Travel Times

Federal Government and Connecticut Partnering to Invest more than $365 Million on the ew Haven to Springfield Corridor

MERIDEN, Conn. – U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary John Porcari today announced that the state of Connecticut will receive $120 million in High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to complete construction on the Hartford segment of the New Haven to Springfield, Mass. passenger rail corridor. Once the project is complete in 2016, 11 additional round- trip trains will travel between Hartford and New Haven, for a total of 17 trains traveling the line, compared to six today. Deputy Secretary Porcari was joined in making the announcement by Governor Dannel Malloy, members of the Connecticut congressional delegation and other officials.

“This investment will mean increased speeds, reduced delays and added capacity along the New Haven to Springfield corridor,” said Deputy Secretary Porcari. “It’s good news for rail travelers and for the regional economy, and it’s one more sign of President Obama’s support for rail projects in New England and across America.”

Improvements to the corridor will reduce travel time between St. Albans Vt. and New Haven, Conn., by more than one hour. The project involves installing 10 miles of double track, upgrading a signal system on a portion of the line, and making improvements at 28 road crossings. Thirteen bridges and culverts will be repaired or replaced, and four Amtrak stations will receive new, high-level, Americans with Disabilities Act compliant platforms with overhead pedestrian walkways and newly expanded parking areas for rail customers.

“No economy can grow faster than its transportation network allows,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C. Szabo. “These investments will bring new jobs, along with commercial and residential development, to Connecticut.”

The improved corridor between Springfield and New Haven is part of an extensive plan developed by Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Amtrak to dramatically transform passenger rail service in New England over the next 20 years. The improved service will provide a convenient and reliable connection to the Northeast Corridor in New Haven, providing New England families and businesses with better access to New York City and Washington, D.C.

Today’s announcement follows two additional High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) grants totaling $70 million for the New Haven to Springfield line, awarded in 2011: http://www.fra.dot.gov/roa/press_releases/fp_FRA%2024-11.shtml .

In total, the federal government has invested $191 million in the line. Collectively, the state and federal government are partnering to invest a total of $365 million, including $141.9 million from the State of Connecticut, along the line to reduce trip times, improve reliability, add capacity, improve safety, and renovate four Amtrak stations in Wallingford, Meriden, Berlin, and Hartford.

The state’s long-term vision for the New Haven to Springfield line calls for operating up to 25 daily round ‐trips and train speeds are expected to increase from 79 mph to 90 mph.

Since 2009, the Obama Administration has awarded over $3.7 billion to passenger rail projects across the Northeast region stretching from Maine to Washington, D.C. Nationwide, the Obama Administration has invested over $12 billion in passenger rail. Federal funding for today’s grant was awarded through FY 2010 appropriations under the Federal Railroad Administration’s High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program.

Scabs can't replace good union workers

By Bill Press, Tribune Media Services, Bill Press Posted 09/27/2012 at 2:30 pm EST

Politics is a lot of things. But, as we learned this week, it's not everything. President Obama addressed the UN General Assembly. Both Obama and Mitt Romney spoke before the Clinton Global Initiative. But all America was talking about -- was football.

No wonder. Football is America's national sport. And with professional officials locked out by NFL owners and rent-a-refs taking the field, this season started off a total disaster: a series of missed calls, bad calls, and dangerous calls that slowed play, confused fans and players, and put players at risk. As The Nation sports editor Dave Zirin observed, it couldn't have been any worse if owners had dressed Sacha Baron Cohen in black and white and put him in charge.

Still, owners might have gotten away with it, turning the tough business of knowing the rules and making the calls over to a bunch of "replacement refs," most of whom had never worked anything more complicated than a junior college game, and some of whom were actually fired for incompetence by the Lingerie League. In fact, they did get away with it for four weeks. Until the farcical end to last week's Green Bay Packers v. Seattle Seahawks game.

By now, we've all seen the tape countless times. With time running out, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson's Hail Mary pass came down in the end zone among a tangle of players. Seahawks receiver Golden Tate made a grab for it, after pushing another player out of the way, but the ball was clearly caught by Packers safety M.D. Jennings. At which point, two confused replacement refs arrived on the scene. Standing side by side, one immediately declared "Incomplete Pass," while the other signaled "Touchdown!" Ten minutes later, officials nevertheless awarded Tate the touchdown reception and the Seahawks won the game.

When public outrage erupted the next day, the NFL put out a statement confirming the Seahawk's win, while declaring that officials should have charged Golden Tate with offensive pass interference -- which would, of course, have invalidated the touchdown and the Seahawks' win. Confused yet?

Never has one football play generated so much outrage or unanimous condemnation. From all sides. From high and low. Walking into the White House the next morning, the nation's number one sports fan Barack Obama told reporters: "I've been saying for months we've gotta get our refs back." Former President Bill Clinton also piled on. As did, most surprisingly, anti-union Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker and Congressman Paul Ryan. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers led a posse of players who took to Twitter to blast NFL owners, himself tweeting: "The game is being tarnished by an NFL that obviously cares more about saving some money than having the integrity of the game diminished a little bit."

With pressure like that, NFL owners had to act, and they did. They sat down with leaders of the NFL Referees Association and within 48 hours hammered out a deal. NFL owners were granted a "bench" of new recruits from which they could pick replacements for underperforming refs. And referees were allowed to maintain their defined benefit pensions, rather than switching to a 401K plan, for at least eight years.

By the time you read this, the NFL lockout will be over and "real" refs will be back in charge, leaving many to ask: If this was so easy to resolve, why didn't it happen a lot sooner? The answer is easy: This dispute could have been resolved sooner, and would have been resolved sooner -- indeed, it would never have happened in the first place -- were it not for the arrogance and obstinacy of billionaire NFL owners, Mitt Romney's friends, who care only about the bottom line and don't give a fig about fans, players, or the integrity of the game itself. The NFL pulls in more than $9 billion annually, but owners were still willing to destroy the game in their zeal to destroy the referees union.

Yet in so doing, the owners may have inadvertently taught the entire nation an important lesson. It's a lesson even Wisconsin's union-busting politicians Scott Walker and Paul Ryan learned the hard way. And it's this: Whether it's a case of autoworkers, ironworkers, steelworkers, cops, firefighters, teachers, air traffic controllers, or NFL referees: scabs can never do the job a good union worker can do.

The Tawdry Tycoon Who Hosted that ‘47 Percent’ Party

By Joe Conason

Amid the ongoing uproar over Mitt Romney's snooty remarks at a Florida fundraiser concerning the "47 percent" who pay no federal income taxes , the party's high-rolling host hasn't drawn quite as much attention as he deserves. As the head of private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, Marc Leder is a longtime associate of the Republican nominee — and a practitioner of the same dubious behavior that has smudged Romney's reputation.

Leder has been dogged by tabloid headlines recounting his nasty divorce and wild partying (replete with reported nudity and public sex around the pool at a summer house he rented on Long Island's East End — for $500,000 a month). What he has in common with Romney, however, isn't a taste for bacchanalian revels but a record of business and taxation practices that working Americans might find troubling.

At the moment, Leder is under investigation by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who subpoenaed internal records from Sun Capital, Bain Capital, and several other private equity giants last July.

Issued by the Attorney General's taxpayer protection bureau, the subpoenas were evidently designed to probe whether Leder and other executives had misused "carried interest," a method of reducing tax liability by converting management fees into investment income — which is taxed at the lower capital gains rate of 15 percent that keeps Romney's taxes lower than the rate paid by many middle-income families. (Tax analysts say that Bain Capital records released last August indicate that the firm may have saved more than $200 million in federal taxes thanks to the carried-interest maneuver.) If Leder did benefit from such aggressive practices, he would merely be typical of executives in an industry where tax manipulations are not just widespread, but fundamental.

Equally common in private equity is profiting from bankrupted companies in which other stakeholders — especially workers and government — are left to cope with the loss.

During the Republican primaries, Romney's rivals helped to make Bain notorious for such practices — and his fundraiser Leder seems no different.

Although roughly 25 firms held by Sun have gone bankrupt, perhaps the best known example involves Friendly's, the family restaurant and ice cream chain that went under at the hands of Sun Capital in 2010 after more than 70 years in business. After acquiring Friendly's in 2007 for a premium price, Sun took the company into bankruptcy only three years later, supposedly due to rising milk prices .

But the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation — the federal agency that insures benefits to workers victimized by failed corporate pension plans — accused Sun of sinking Friendly's to dump pension costs onto the government. By pushing the company's pension burden onto federal taxpayers, who fund the PBGC, Sun could then reorganize Friendly's in bankruptcy, get rid of laid-off workers and less profitable restaurants, and, as Romney likes to say, give the company a "turnaround." So far, that is precisely what Sun appears to doing, and getting away with it.

So there on the videotape shot in Leder's huge Boca mansion stood Romney, complaining about the income taxes that the working poor don't pay and their dependence on government assistance, while the host surely nodded in agreement. At $50,000 a plate, the lobster was garnished with a nice helping of irony.

10/1/2012 10:30:00 AM

USDOT awards grants for rail service study, electric locomotive research and safety system development

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently provided $3.5 million in grants to improve freight- and passenger-rail service in Massachusetts, and help develop electric locomotive technology and a track safety system.

The Federal Railroad Administration provided the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDot) with $2.7 million in planning grants to study improvements in freight- and passenger- rail service. A $2 million grant, with a $1 million match from Pan Am Southern Railways , will be used to study the feasibility of adding double-stack trains on the Patriot freight corridor from Pownal, Vt., to Ayer, Mass., to increase the line's capacity.

MassDOT also received a $694,000 grant to study upgrades and improvements needed for a new inland corridor that would accommodate higher-speed passenger-rail service between Boston, Worcester and Springfield, Mass., and Hartford and New Haven, Conn. The study will be integrated with an effort led by Vermont state officials to study intercity passenger-rail service between Boston and Montreal via the Inland Route.

Meanwhile, the USDOT also awarded a $400,000 grant to Norfolk Southern Railway to help develop an energy-saving battery-operated electric locomotive that could be charged from a charging station. The locomotive could be used as a stand-alone for yard switching operations or combined with conventional diesel-electric locomotives to create a "hybrid train," USDOT officials said in a prepared statement.

In addition, the department awarded a $400,000 grant to the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign to develop an improved system designed to assess and evaluate track conditions and safety. The system would be used to provide improved engineering assessments of track, ballast, and other materials or conditions that could lead to a derailment.

10/2/2012 10:00:00 AM

Obama's 'We Can't Wait' initiative expedites Minneapolis, Cleveland transit projects

Yesterday, the Obama administration announced the Southwest Light-Rail Transit (LRT) project in Minneapolis and University Circle-Little Italy rapid transit station in Cleveland will be expedited as part of the "We Can't Wait" initiative.

Per a presidential executive order issued in March, the Office of Management and Budget was charged with overseeing an effort to make the permitting and review process for certain infrastructure projects more efficient to shave time off the projects' schedules.

"Investments in infrastructure are putting people back to work in Minneapolis and Ohio, building and modernizing our transit systems," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a prepared statement.

The Southwest LRT project calls for constructing a light-rail line between downtown Minneapolis and the southwestern suburbs out to Eden Prairie, Minn. Funded in part by Federal Transit Administration dollars, the project includes more than 15 miles of new track, as well as several new stations and park-and-ride lots.

"The announcement affirms the status of the Southwest LRT project as a high-ranking and viable project, and the work we are doing with all the involved and committed partners to create a 21st century transit system," said Susan Haigh, who chairs the Metropolitan Council , which is overseeing the LRT project.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority 's University-LIttle Italy project involves the relocation of an existing station and construction of a new rail-transit station along with the rehabilitation of two rail bridges. The project is designed to integrate the station with the dense, high employment areas of the LIttle Italy neighborhood and University Hospitals. The project is being funded in part by a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant.

Pa. Judge Puts Voter ID Law on Hold

A judge on Tuesday blocked Pennsylvania from requiring voters to show identification in the November election, a decision that could influence turnout in a top electoral prize in the presidential race.

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson issued a partial preliminary injunction that halts the requirement that people show either a state driver's license, government employee ID or a state non-driver ID card in order to vote on Nov. 6.

The ruling comes exactly five weeks before the presidential election pitting President Barack Obama, a Democrat, against Republican contender Mitt Romney.

Simpson, on orders from the state's highest court to revisit his August ruling upholding the law, indicated the law could be implemented for future elections. He set a hearing for Dec. 13 to schedule further proceedings in the case.

"This is a victory for the petitioners and people who will be able to vote on Election Day," said Marian Schneider, one of the attorneys for the groups challenging the law.

National attention has been focused on the court fight over the law requiring voters to show a photo ID. The Republican-led Pennsylvania legislature passed it in March without a single Democratic vote.

Supporters say it is aimed at ensuring only those legally eligible to vote cast ballots. Critics say it is designed to keep minority voters, who typically vote Democratic, away from the polls. Similar laws have generated controversy in other states.

The state of Pennsylvania has acknowledged that there has never been a case of in-person voter fraud, according to court testimony.

Simpson upheld the law in a ruling issued in mid-August. Last month, following an appeal of that decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered him to re-hear arguments about whether the administration of Gov. Tom Corbett was doing enough to ensure voters had "liberal access" to obtain picture ID cards needed to vote in November.

Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, League of Women Voters, Latino Justice, and SeniorLAW Center have argued that Pennsylvania's voter ID requirements make it impractical or nearly impossible for senior citizens, minorities and the poor to get the special voting card.

Simpson heard testimony last week from a dozen people who recalled the hurdles they had to overcome to get state-issued ID, including hours-long waits, multiple trips and misinformation.

One of the witnesses, who included a person who walked with a cane and another in a wheelchair, described her experience as maddening and said she nearly gave up after several days' quest for the card.

Thursday, October 04, 2012

DHS, DOT and Amtrak Announce ew Partnership to Combat Human Trafficking

WASHINGTON— Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman today announced a new partnership among the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Transportation (DOT) and Amtrak to combat human trafficking. Under this partnership, DHS and DOT will work with Amtrak to train over 8,000 frontline transportation employees and Amtrak Police Department officers to identify and recognize indicators of human trafficking, as well as how to report suspected cases of human trafficking.

In March of this year, President Obama directed his Administration to redouble efforts to eliminate human trafficking. In an address to the Clinton Global Initiative last week, the President reaffirmed America’s commitment to leading the global movement against human trafficking, calling it one of the great human rights causes of our time, and announced a number of new initiatives. The U.S. Government’s efforts augment the work of business, non-profits, educational institutions and foundations to combat trafficking. We welcome partnerships like the one we’re announcing today, that can build a whole-of-nation approach to eliminating this scourge.

“We cannot let the American transportation system be an enabler in these criminal acts,” said Secretary LaHood. “In addition to today’s partnership with the Department of Homeland Security and Amtrak, we are working with all modes of transportation to help stop the flow of human trafficking. Raising awareness can save lives, and we all have a responsibility to keep an eye out for these activities.”

In partnership with DHS and DOT, Amtrak will use training and awareness materials developed by DHS and DOT as part of the DHS Blue Campaign to educate its employees on potential indicators of human trafficking and how to identify potential victims. DHS also developed human trafficking awareness training for its own workforce, which is mandatory for all DHS employees who are likely to come in contact with victims of human trafficking. In 2010, DHS launched the Blue Campaign, unifying the DHS components to more effectively combat human trafficking through enhanced public awareness, training, victim assistance, and law enforcement investigations.

“Today, we pledge to do more to combat human trafficking by broadening our network of partners to help us identify and rescue victims and help bring the perpetrators to justice,” said Secretary Napolitano. “We’re grateful to have the participation of Amtrak and the Department of Transportation in this important effort, which will help save lives, protect innocent victims, and prevent this form of modern day slavery.”

This partnership is also part of DOT efforts to raise awareness about the issue and ensure that the U.S. transportation system is not being exploited for human trafficking. DOT is currently training its more than 55,000 employees to identify and report human trafficking, and is working with representatives from all modes of transportation to secure industry support in stopping this crime. “Amtrak is supportive of the DHS and DOT initiative to improve human trafficking awareness in the transportation industry and is proud to be the first partner in a program that will expand across the transportation sector," said Mr. Boardman.

Will be downsized? C.com By Dean Obeidallah , Special to C updated 3:20 PM EDT, Thu October 4, 2012 CNN.com

Will Big Bird be downsized?

Romney: I love Big Bird but...

Editor's note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is a political comedian and frequent commentator on various TV networks including CNN. He is the editor of the politics blog "The Dean's Report" and co-director of the upcoming documentary "The Muslims Are Coming!" Follow him on Twitter: @deanofcomedy.

(CNN) -- What has Big Bird ever done to Mitt Romney?! Did a young Mitt try to meet Big Bird and Big Bird snubbed him? Did Big Bird in essence give Mitt "the bird'? Or was Romney just channeling his inner ?

For those who may have missed it, during last night's presidential debate, Mitt Romney said that if elected president he would cut funding to PBS. He even mentioned Big Bird by name. (This is even more shocking because Mitt offered very few specifics on how he would cut the deficit other than slashing support for PBS.)

So what happens to Big Bird if Romney has his way? Will Big Bird be laid off? What jobs are out there for an 8-foot-2-inch yellow bird who sings slightly off-key? Will Big Bird become part of the 47% that Romney talked about who believe they are victims and are entitled to government funding?

And what about the other Muppets? What will come of them? How will they survive in these tough economic climate?

Entertainment: Celebs defend Big Bird

To be honest, out of all of them, I think and and Guy Smiley (who reminds me of Romney) will probably fare the best. I always suspected they were financially astute. They probably have stocks, mutual funds and maybe even some off-shore investments in places like The Cayman Islands.

But what about the rest of ? Is there any doubt that is living paycheck to paycheck? Will Cookie Monster turn to crime to support his habit? Will we see standing on the side of the road holding up a big sign that reads: "Will Count for Food"?

I don't even want to think what will happen to Mr. Snuffleupagus. What hope does a slow moving, wooly brown mammoth have in Romney's America?

Can't Mitt sit with the Count and try to figure out a way to cut the deficit without cutting out Big Bird?

Maybe Mitt Romney and the rest us simply had a different childhood. To be brutally honest, when I was a child, my family couldn't afford day care and often TV was a substitute for that. The neighbor upstairs would be around for emergencies, but my sister and I would be plopped in front of the TV -- and particularly "."

Political Ticker: Big Bird mentions explode on Facebook

Big Bird and the Muppets were not just a TV show to us -- they were, on some level, our friends. And more important, they taught us things before we ever stepped foot in school. I'm pretty sure I learned about the letter "C" from Cookie Monster. And there was the classic "Three of These Things Belong Together," teaching us about organization. And of course, Big Bird sang about the alphabet so that we understood that the ABCs were individual letters and not one long word.

Apart from learning, Big Bird and his crew made us laugh -- from Ernie singing about his rubber ducky to singing about the struggles of being green.

But Mitt Romney -- like the Grinch -- would take that all away from the children of America. OK, to be fair, PBS could exist without federal funding which amounts to about 15% of its total budget. But funding has already been cut, and PBS has said this would eliminate programming in its smaller markets.

Romney is not just after Big Bird -- in addition to PBS, he wants to cut all federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Cutting all funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund PBS, would save only $450 million -- not much in the face of trillions of dollars.

Is this really the place Mitt Romney should be targeting? Romney said last night he would not raise taxes, would cut corporate taxes, not cut Medicare, not cut the defense budget and still reduce the deficit. Even a Muppet would call this fuzzy math.

My hope is that Mitt will take a few minutes off the campaign trail and sit with children who are watching Big Bird, and the Cookie Monster. Watch the kids' eyes light up as they see their favorite Muppet on the screen. Hear them giggle to the jokes or sing along in learning about the alphabet. Perhaps then, Mitt Romney's heart will grow three sizes and he will give a reprieve to our 8-foot yellow friend.

Breaking News Alert The New York Times Friday, October 5, 2012 -- 8:37 AM EDT -----

U.S. Added 114,000 Jobs in September; Unemployment Rate Fell to 7.8%

The nation’s employers added 114,000 jobs in September, a modest showing, the Labor Department reported Friday. But the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent, the lowest since President Obama’s first month in office.

In a positive sign, the job growth for August was revised upward to 142,000 from the previously reported 96,000.

Coming a month before the presidential election, the jobs report offered ammunition for both sides as the candidates vie to convince voters that each is better equipped to steer the economy. Mr. Obama can point to the 24th straight month of job growth after a severe financial crisis, while Republicans continue to criticize the glacial pace of the improvement.

10/5/2012 10:00:00 AM

U.S. intermodal gains stretched to 34th straight month in September, AAR says

In September, U.S. carloads totaled 1,152,174, down 3.7 percent, while intermodal volume totaled 973,715 units, up 2.5 percent compared with September 2011 levels, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) . Intermodal traffic posted a gain for the 34th straight month.

On the upside in the carload sector, petroleum and petroleum products volume soared 55.7 percent, crushed stone, sand and gravel carloads climbed 12.3 percent, and motor vehicles and parts shipments rose 5.3 percent year over year. But metallic ores volume plunged 21.7 percent, waste and nonferrous scrap shipments fell 13.3 percent, and coal carloads dipped 12.1 percent. Excluding coal, U.S. carloads increased 3.4 percent.

"September rail traffic is again a mix of good news and bad news," said AAR Senior Vice President John Gray in a prepared statement. "The primary bad news is that coal carloads continue to struggle, due to the various economic and regulatory constraints faced by coal-fired power plants. The good news is that many other key rail traffic categories are offsetting coal's decline, including petroleum and petroleum products, motor vehicles, crushed stone and sand, and lumber."

In the third quarter, U.S. agricultural products volume was flat year over year after registering four consecutive quarters of contraction, according to Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.'s latest "Rail Flash" report. Solid growth posted by BNSF Railway Co. (plus 5 percent), CN (plus 7 percent) and Norfolk Southern Railway (plus 4 percent) offset declines registered by other railroads, Baird analysts said in the report.

For the week ending Sept. 29, U.S. railroads originated 295,243 carloads, down 5.3 percent, and 257,225 containers and trailers, up 2.5 percent compared with volumes from the same week last year, according to the AAR.

Canadian railroads reported 82,983 carloads for the week, up 1.3 percent, as well as 54,995 containers and trailers, up 6.4 percent. Mexican railroads' weekly carloads inched up 1.7 percent to 14,675 units and intermodal volume jumped 16 percent to 12,115 units.

Through 2012's first 39 weeks, 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads originated 14,606,519 carloads, down 1.4 percent, and 11,592,345 containers and trailers, up 4.6 percent compared with volumes from the same 2011 period, according to the AAR.

10/5/2012 12:00:00 PM

Amtrak to start speeding up trains on Norfolk Southern track in preparation for Norfolk-Richmond service

Starting today, Amtrak will begin operating trains at 79 mph on Norfolk Southern Railway track in preparation for the start of Amtrak service between Norfolk and Richmond, Va., in December.

The trains, which will not be carrying passengers, will be running on NS tracks between Portlock Yard in Chesapeake and downtown Suffolk, and between downtown Suffolk and Petersburg. Train speeds through downtown Suffolk will increase from 40 mph to 60 mph in summer 2013, NS officials said in a prepared statement, adding that freight trains will continue to operate at the current maximum speed of 60 mph.

The operation will serve as a training exercise for locomotive engineers and conductors to learn the track and territory, Amtrak officials said. The trains will operate twice daily, Monday through Saturday.

Track and warning signals have been improved to accommodate the higher train speeds.

10/5/2012 12:30:00 PM Union Pacific advances trackwork in two states, appoints Hess to head national customer center

Union Pacific Railroad announced it's spending about $19 million to upgrade track in Kansas and Wyoming.

To be completed by year's end, a $10 million project calls for improving a 134-mile between Rawlins and Green River, Wyo. The work involves replacing more than 75,000 ties and about two miles of rail in curves, spreading 34,600 tons of ballast and renewing surfaces at 11 grade crossings.

To be completed by mid-December, a more than $9 million project targets work on a line between Menoken and Junction City, Kan. Crews will replace 68,000 ties, spread 29,600 tons of ballast and renew surfaces at 114 crossings.

Both projects are part of UP's $3.6 billion capital spending budget for 2012.

Meanwhile, UP also announced it named Jason Hess vice president-national customer service center to succeed Beth Whited, who was promoted to VP and general manager of chemicals.

Most recently assistant VP of agricultural products, Hess has held various positions during his 18-year UP career.

10/5/2012 1:00:00 PM

RTA: Tie production way up, purchases way down in August

Crosstie production jumped 19 percent in August to 2.5 million units, but purchases plummeted 34 percent to 1.5 million units versus July levels, according to the Railway Tie Association 's latest monthly market report. Inventories rose 6 percent in August to 17.9 million ties.

Through the year's first eight months, production (at 17.3 million units) climbed 16.7 percent and purchases (at 16.6 million units) increased 13 percent year over year.

Meanwhile, 12-month rolling data showed production (25.2 million ties) and purchases (23.6 million ties) were growing at annual rates of 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively. The inventory-to-sales ratio rose from July's 0.69 to 0.76, but remained below the 0.79 reading registered through 2011's first eight months.

Obama Administration Focus on Middle-Class Job Creation Moving Country Forward WASHINGTON, DC, October 5, 2012 - Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement in response to the September jobs report released today:

“Transportation workers are seeing their ranks grow steadily under job-creating policies put forth by President Obama. The latest jobs report, in which 114,000 jobs were added last month pushing the unemployment rate below 8% for the first time since January 2009, included a 17.1% increase in transportation and warehousing jobs from August.

“President Obama’s efforts to steadily improve the economy and create jobs are coming to fruition. For the transit and ground passenger transportation sector alone, 9,200 jobs were created just in the last month, a 9.2% increase over August. The rail sector saw an increase of 1,400 jobs. While more needs to be done to create and sustain employment across all modes of transportation, we know the president’s focus on middle-class job creation is working, and is putting our economy on the right trajectory.

“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the auto industry rescue, and other transportation investments pushed by the president contributed to 31 consecutive months of job growth and 5.2 million new private sector jobs.

“We are also encouraged that highway, street and bridge construction jobs continue to show growth, adding 3,100 jobs in September to an already impressive quarter. It is unfortunate that congressional Republicans blocked the president’s American Jobs Act, which Moody’s predicted would have created 1.9 million additional jobs and strengthened our economy.

“It is peculiar that presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who by his own admission is a boss who ‘likes firing people,’ called adding 114,000 jobs in September a ‘disappointing unemployment report.’

“This jobs report is another clear reminder of the choice in this election for our members. It is a choice between a president who has made modernizing and expanding our transportation system a centerpiece of his economic agenda, and his opponent whose plan for America would cut ½ a million transportation jobs in his first year in office through reckless budget-slashing.”