Need capacity? Try a Class I co-op (12/31/2004)
12/31/2023Last month, Canadian National Railway Co., Canadian Pacific Railway, Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad unveiled a flurry of pacts aimed at co-producing traffic and sharing routes to streamline interchanges, and reduce congestion and transit times.
"We'll see more agreements," says NS President Charles "Wick" Moorman.
Particularly from CN, which in recent months entered into a series of "protocol agreements" with other Class Is regarding U.S. traffic.
"We're looking at it this way: 'If we merged, what would it look like? How would we handle traffic?'" says President and CEO E. Hunter Harrison.
Earlier this year, CN reached a distribution agreement with CSX Transportation that's already improving traffic flows, Harrison says. This fall, CN put together protocol pacts with UP and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. And an agreement with NS is in the works.
"We're identifying the best routes with the least congestion," Harrison says. "These agreements allow us to say, 'Our customers' traffic is taking the optimum route.'"
— Pat Foran, Editor
Source: The December 2004 issue of Progressive Railroading