WASHINGTON — As part of Congress’ bailout bill, Amtrak could receive $1 billion.
The bill is still in the discussion phase. Opponents point to the fact that Amtrak hasn’t made a profit since its inception 35 years ago.

OMAHA, Neb. — Motorists will spend less time at crossings waiting for trains to pass as a result of more than $6 million in track improvements made by Union Pacific Railroad to its Kansas City to Jefferson City line. The track improvements will allow trains to operate more efficiently on the route.
When the project is [...]

ATLANTA — RMI, the market leader and largest independent provider of accurate, reliable, comprehensive, and secure rail information services to the transportation industry, has announced its 2009 Fast Track Award winners.
Now in its fourth year, the Fast Track Award program honors RMI customers who exemplify RMI’s goal to streamline processes and improve procedures in the [...]

FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway Co. announced a planned 2009 capital commitment program of $2.7 billion, which is expected to be approximately $150 million lower than 2008.
BNSF currently expects to spend $1.9 billion to refresh track, signal systems, structures, and freight cars, and to upgrade technologies. The Company also anticipates acquiring approximately 350 locomotives [...]

OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Corp. reported 2008 fourth quarter net income of $661 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, a 35 percent increase compared to $491 million, or $0.93 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2007. The company posted quarterly operating revenues of $4.3 billion in 2008 versus $4.2 billion in the [...]

FORT WORTH, Texas — Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. reported quarterly earnings of $1.79 per diluted share, an increase of 23 percent compared with fourth-quarter 2007 earnings of $1.46 per share.
“During 2008, BNSF earned $6.08 per share, an increase of 19 percent compared with 2007, and had its best on-time performance in more than five [...]

NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern Corp. will host an investor day on Wednesday, June 3, 2009, in Atlanta for active, sell-side analysts and the company’s largest shareholders of record.
The day-long meeting will provide Norfolk Southern an opportunity to present a comprehensive overview of marketing strategies and business growth opportunities, operating efficiency initiatives, service delivery enhancements, [...]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The public has spoken: Missouri River Runner is the new name for the state-supported Amtrak trains between St. Louis and Kansas City.
The name evokes the river that parallels much of the route, plus the Mississippi River at the eastern terminus and the Kansas River at the western end, Amtrak said. It [...]

NORFOLK, Va. — Michael J. Wheeler has been named vice president transportation for Norfolk Southern Corporation, effective Feb. 1, with headquarters in Norfolk. He will report to Mark D. Manion, executive vice president operations.
Wheeler joined Norfolk Southern in 1985 as a research engineer. He served in positions of increasing responsibility in operations before being named [...]

WASHINGTON — the Surface Transportation Board issued its final decision revising its method for calculating the railroad industry’s cost of capital.
The Board adopts a simple average of a Capital Asset Pricing model (CAPM) and a multi-stage Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model to calculate the cost of equity—one component of the cost of capital. The Board [...]