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On Friday, Union Pacific Railroad Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Young and Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman announced the Class I plans to spend $1 billion over the next several years to improve its infrastructure in the state.

Among the capital investments, the railroad would spend $220 million on new rail, ties, and other materials and work to increase capacity and fluidity on its busy corridor through Nebraska, which averages about 125 trains daily. UP also would spend $206 million on a multi-year project calling for new crew change buildings, a bridge over the Elkhorn River, and new technology and track between Fremont and Missouri Valley; and $70 million to expand capacity at Bailey Yard in North Platte via track additions and technology upgrades.

“We’re proud that Union Pacific has been part of Nebraska for 150 years,” said Young in a prepared statement, adding that the investment renews the railroad’s commitment to helping stimulate business and job growth in the state.

UP also announced on Friday that it achieved a perfect peak season in 2011 for United Parcel Service by delivering 100 percent of the company’s fall-peak freight without a service failure.

UPS’ peak season runs from the Tuesday following Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. During the peak, UP delivered thousands of UPS containers and trailers carrying hundreds of packages each.
 
"Our goal is to always provide UPS with flawless service, and that is especially important during the peak season," said John Kaiser, UP’s vice president and general manager of intermodal, in a prepared statement.

In addition, UP announced that Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranked the Class I No. 5 on its 2012 list of the top 50 performing companies. The rankings are based on a company’s one- and five-year risk-adjusted returns, consensus analyst recommendations and projected earnings growth.

“Our employees’ focus on safety, service and efficiency, along with our record levels of capital investment, are creating excellent value for our customers, increasing profitability for Union Pacific and generating greater rewards for our shareholders,” said Young.