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On Jan. 6, Burlington Northern Santa Fe moved its first westbound train out of American Honda Motors' Lincoln, Ala., automotive plant.

Early last year, BNSF officials began working with Honda and Norfolk Southern Railway executives to gain access to the automaker's two Lincoln plants: a new facility that produces the Honda Odyssey and a plant scheduled to open by June that will produce the Honda Pilot.

Honda selected BNSF and NS to move vehicles to western and eastern destinations, respectively, but BNSF needed to reach a haulage agreement with NS to access the plant, according to a prepared statement. Under the agreement, BNSF will provide Honda daily westbound service for automobiles originating at the plant.

"Honda is BNSF's single biggest automotive customer and they trust [us] to handle all of their rail needs in the West," said Marc Allen, BNSF assistant vice president of automotive, in a prepared statement.