By Pat Foran, Editor-in-Chief
During a year framed by safety concerns, Class I service struggles and a lingering freight recession, RailPrime subscribers were most interested in reading articles about freight-rail growth, or hints of it, if their reading habits were any indication.
Notably, RailPrimers read (clicked on) stories involving growth-minded short lines, which have been a point of emphasis for us since we launched the subscription service in February 2021. They also zeroed in on articles featuring rail line sales, federal funding and technology.
Following are the 23 most-read pieces on RailPrime in 2023:
1. "Buckingham Branch set to acquire NS-owned lines in Virginia" (11/14/23)
2. "NS continues to pursue Cincinnati Southern Railway purchase" (7/31/23)
3. "Wyoming short line gains first-ever federal grant to climb aboard the sustainability train" (10/12/2023)
4. "Charlotte Pipe's new plants pose more carloads for North Carolina short line, Kansas regional" (11/10/2023)
5. "Regional Rail seeks to add two more railroads to its growing short-line roster" (11/7/2023)
6. "BNSF, UP temporarily booted from federal customs trade partnership program" (9/11/2023)
7. "Montana Rail Link to meld into BNSF come 2024" (8/18/2023)
8. "Rio Tinto finds success in its autonomous freight-train operation" (9/26/2023)
9. "CPKC aims to turn surplus land, existing facilities into growth-fostering assets" (11/20/2023)
10. "Battery-electric locomotive manufacturers weigh in on the rail network's backup grid potential" (7/21/2023)
11. "NS completes trackwork at big Illinois yard during short service outage" (10/6/2023)
12. "East Chicago Rail Terminal completes trackwork, couples with trucking firm" (9/7/2023)
13. "Genesee Wyoming Canada lands first locomotive western shop" (8/28/2023)
14. "Davenport Industrial Railroad's Berish follows in the footsteps of independent short-line owners" (9/15/2023)
15. "Rising Stars 2023: Young pros offer perspectives on railroading's greatest challenges" (8/2/2023)
16. "CSX, Tacoma Rail elicit funds to embrace groundbreaking battery-powered switchers" (10/31/2023)
17. "Lifelong railroader Ferryman in 'listening and learning mode' as Anacostia's first COO" (7/25/2023)
18. "Norfolk Southern organizes a 'team of teams' to solve shipper's dilemma" (11/21/2023)
19. "OmniTRAX preps for growth on its newest short line: West Virginia's South Branch Valley" (12/13/2023)
20. "Expansion elevates Illinois grain elevator to unit-train status" (8/22/2023)
21. "Partners continue to push CREATE program forward in Chicago" (9/28/2023)
22. "Short lines made big splash with federal CRISI grants" (10/2/2023)
23. "At 100, Alaska Railroad in good health despite its age" (8/4/2023)
