From the editor: Foote to receive 2020 Railroad Innovator Award

Progressive Railroading and RailTrends® have named CSX President and Chief Executive Officer James Foote the 2020 recipient of the Railroad Innovator Award, which recognizes an individual’s outstanding achievement in the rail industry.

A longtime railroader, Foote joined CSX in October 2017 as the railroad’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. As COO, he aligned the Class I’s operations and sales and marketing departments to advance the precision scheduled railroading (PSR) model introduced at CSX by the late E. Hunter Harrison. Since taking the railroad’s reins in late December 2017, Foote has focused on safety and service, transitioning CSX into the next PSR phase.

“In doing many of the things Jim said he would do, he has led CSX past PSR 1.0 into 2.0, what I call the Post-Hunter Railroad, or PHR,” says independent transportation analyst Tony Hatch, who is program consultant for the annual RailTrends conference. “While he follows some great rail leaders, it is Jim who has finally taken CSX to industry leadership.”

Foote began his railroad career in the mechanical department at the Soo Line Railroad. Later, he joined the Chicago and North Western Railroad, where he held senior positions in finance, law, labor relations and corporate communications, eventually becoming VP of corporate development, investor relations and tax. In 1995, Foote joined CN and ascended through roles of increasing responsibility, eventually being named EVP of sales and marketing in 1999. He was serving in that capacity in 2003, when CN named Harrison CEO and began implementing PSR. 

Foote will receive the award during RailTrends 2020, which will be held Nov. 19-20 at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York City. For more information, log onto RailTrends.com.

LRW seeks ‘Railway Woman of the Year’ nominations 

There’s still time to nominate someone for the League of Railway Women’s (LRW) 2020 Railway Woman of the Year award, which is co-sponsored by Progressive Railroading.

For more than two decades, the award has been “a conduit for acknowledging the invaluable contributions of North American female rail industry leaders, who can be best described as confident trailblazers, influential luminaries and thoughtful visionaries,” LRW officials said in a press release.

LRW is seeking nominations for an outstanding woman in rail who demonstrates vision and creativity; takes initiative; provides guidance in a leadership role; overcomes challenges with innovative solutions; brings excellence to her organization and community; and cultivates safety, encouraging and demonstrating safe rail practices. 

Nomination criteria and the online nomination form are available on the LRW website. Nominations are open until Aug. 21.

LRW’s Railway Woman of the Year Advisory Committee will review the nominations and recommend a winner. The five-member committee comprises previous Woman of the Year honorees. LRW will announce this year’s recipient in the fall during a live virtual event.