GLG News by Powder River Basin Coal Experts

The AAR reported on Nov. 20th that the carload shipments for the previous week were 9.1% lower than the same period in 2007. This was the sixth straight week of decreasing carload totals, with traffic volumes falling to levels not seen in many years for non-holiday periods. What makes these numbers...

An EPA Appeals Board has reversed an earlier EPA ruling permitting the construction of a new coal fired power plant in Vernal Utah. The latter had been issued without regard for the additional CO2 emissions the plant would added to the environment. The ruling was hailed as a victory by...

Greenbrier reported that their backlog for production in 2009 is less than half the number of cars they delivered in 2008 and that they may not make a profit on some of those cars due to higher than expected material costs. And that was the good news. The bad news is that much of their backlog is to...

    The most recent Surface Transportation Board Rate Case filed by Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) against the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) for coal transportation from the Powder River Basin to the Muskogee coal plant actually shows the attractiveness of this move to the...

    Another coal-transporting utility has filed a Rate Case at the Surface Transportation Board (STB) alleging excessive rates for coal transportation.  This most recent case was filed by Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) against the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) for coal...

    The suit alleges four of the Class I Railroads violated Federal antitrust laws with respect to fuel surcharge.  The four Class I Railroads in the suit are CSX, Norfolk Southern, BNSF Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad.  The time period is July 2003 through June 20...

As lobbyists go, the American Association of Railroads (AAR) has to get the award for chutzpah in giving such a warm welcome to the new president. Like all bureaucrats and most elected officials, Mr. Obama seems to think of rail transportation primarily as a passenger service, although he has noted...

    The Dakota Minnesota & Eastern (DM&E) Railroad was recently acquired by the Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway.  The DM&E has for years been proposing an extension to the Wyoming Powder River Basin coal reserves.  This project, if commenced, would upgrade an...

CSX Chairman Michael Ward recently remarked on the growing opposition to coal fired utilities in the country, saying that limiting coal’s use for electricity "is probably one of the stupidest things you could do." For CSX and the other railroads, it would be a bad thing if the electric utilities turned...

BNSF railroad recently announced that the company would install Positive Train Control (PTC) technology across its entire system by Dec. 31, 2015 and in the Los Angeles basin by 2012. BNSF had been given approval by the Federal Railroad Administration to install the Electronic Train Management System...