Industry Update

• Domestic intermodal shipments show steady recovery
  Intermodal traffic totaled an average of 206,585 trailers per week in October, down 11.2% from the same period in 2008, according to the Association of American Railroads. However, the October numbers rose 4% from the weekly average in September 2009, the group said. "For rail intermodal traffic, the highest volume weeks of the year are almost always in September and October as retailers stock their shelves for the upcoming holiday season," Holly Arthur, an AAR spokeswoman said. "That's the case this year too: so far in 2009, seven of the eight highest-volume intermodal weeks were in September and October." Fleet Owner (11/13)

• Shippers and carriers predict traffic surge
  The domestic transportation system should be able to cope with modest traffic increases over the next year or so, but shippers and carriers say that an expected spike in demand next summer could present challenges for some operators. With freight traffic expected to rebound in coming years, fuel-price volatility and driver shortages could lead to capacity constraints. "When this industry takes off, it will be challenged to handle the load," says Gary Palmer, transportation director at True Value. The Journal of Commerce (11/16)

• Berkshire sees BNSF buy as long-term investment
  The purchase of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. is a long-term investment for Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett said during a recent interview. "It was an opportunity to buy a business that's going to be around for 100 or 200 years that's interwoven with the American economy in a way that, if the American economy prospers, the business will prosper," Buffett said. Meanwhile, economists say the purchase also reaffirms the resurgence of the role rails play in the U.S. economy as well as the increased focus on reducing carbon emissions. Bloomberg (11/14), WBUR-FM (Boston) (11/14)

• Other News

• Freight shipments slip 22% in October at Genesee & Wyoming
  Forbes/The Associated Press (11/16)

AGILE • RESPONSIVE • INNOVATIVE American Railcar Industries, Inc. (ARI) provides these products and services: • railcar manufacturing • full-service repair • mobile repair • engineering services • railcar parts • consulting • fleet management. We Build and Service the Whole Car. www.americanrailcar.com

Infrastructure & Economic Spotlight

• States continue focus on high-speed rails, upgrade plans
  Officials from six Northeastern states recently met to coordinate a strategy that they hope will increase their chances of landing federal high-speed rail funds. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, planners recently learned that a 20-year rail upgrade program could cost up to $11.3 billion. The plan calls for spending $5.1 billion to upgrade freight lines. The Post-Bulletin (Rochester, Minn.) (11/14), Boston Herald (11/14)

• CSX project to raise tunnels for double-stack trains
  As part of the planned Heartland Corridor between the Virginia coast and Columbus, Ohio, 28 tunnels are to get higher ceilings, allowing trains to haul double-stacked containers along the entire route. The work will be done either by lowering tracks or by chipping away rock to raise the existing tunnels. The Herald-Dispatch (Huntington, W.Va.) (11/14), Herald & Review (Decatur, Ill.) (11/16)

• URS anticipates influx of rail projects from stimulus
  Engineering company URS is hiring engineers to meet projected demand for stimulus-funded rail projects. The company estimates 2010 will see $10 billion in federal-stimulus projects that URS could manage, compared with $2 billion for 2009. URS, based in San Francisco, has already secured a contract from Amtrak to improve its Northeast corridor. Reuters (11/13)

• Other News

• Focus on banks may delay rail projects, Bombardier CEO says
  Bloomberg (11/13)

Energy & Environmental Watch

• Senators may adjust EPA's emissions role to win votes for climate bill
  As the Senate works on climate-change legislation, lawmakers may let the Environmental Protection Agency retain its power to regulate greenhouse gases in order to win over critics who are concerned over the agency's role in the measure, writes Matthew Madia in this blog post. The House version of the bill modified the EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act to secure the votes of moderate lawmakers and representatives of the energy sector, and senators could do the same thing in their proposal, Madia added. OMB Watch (11/13)

• Other News

• Energy prices drop as inventories increase
  Oil & Gas Journal (11/13)

Safety & Security

• White House to push for federal oversight of subway, light rail
  Two fatal train accidents have prompted the White House to propose stricter oversight of subway and light-rail safety. The plan calls for federal Department of Transportation oversight of safety -- or the ability to guide states in their oversight. "Safety is our No. 1 priority when it comes to planes, trains and automobiles," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement Sunday. "It only makes sense that we should be looking out for passengers who ride subways, too." The proposal would require congressional approval. Forbes/Reuters (11/15), The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (11/15)

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by AAR SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Buffett, Gates talk about rails and keeping America strong (CNBC)

• RailAmerica could snap up underperforming railroads (Reuters)

• Will Buffett's buy start a trend? (Forbes)

• Parsing Buffett's bet on the rail industry (National Journal)

• Greener trains increasing market share, trucks feeling pressure (Reuters)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

AAR News

SmartQuote

Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm." --Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet, critic and philosopher