OMAHA, Neb. and NORFOLK, Va. -- Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway announced yesterday (Jan. 22) that on Feb. 19, they will launch a new intermodal train service that will add train capacity and expand intermodal rail service between Los Angeles and the Southeast, according to this release jointly issued by tthe two carriers. This new sixth-morning product between Los Angeles and Atlanta will complement existing BlueStreak service, which offers the fastest fifth-morning intermodal delivery in this rapidly growing market. In conjunction with this service, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern will increase train capacity and improve service between Union Pacific's Los Angeles terminals and Norfolk Southern-served terminals in Atlanta, Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C., Jacksonville, Fla., Savannah, Ga., Charleston, S.C., and Miami. UP and NS also announced a significant reduction in transit time for their BlueStreak intermodal service between Los Angeles and Atlanta. Effective Feb. 19, availability in Atlanta will be fourth-evening instead of fifth-morning, a reduction of almost half a day. In addition, as part of their commitment to further improvements in capacity, service quality and speed, UP and NS will begin shifting domestic and international traffic to a new, shorter route over the Shreveport, La., gateway as early as third-quarter 2007. This shift will begin with the completion of the first phase of improvements on the Meridian Speedway. NS and UP ran successful test trains in this corridor in December. In establishing this new route, UP and NS will eliminate almost 150 route miles from the current route, and remove freight from the Memphis gateway. UP and NS expect to improve both BlueStreak and standard transit times and service consistency as this shift occurs. "These new services and product offerings will offer customers higher- quality shipping options in this rapidly growing corridor and build on the premier BlueStreak services that UP and NS have been running for more than five years," said Don Seale, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Norfolk Southern. "These new services leverage the significant investments being made along this route by both UP and NS and, ultimately, will result in the shortest, most efficient rail route between Southern California and the Southeast," said Jack Koraleski, Union Pacific's executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
Very shortly after this service starts up, BNSF will reroute its intermodal traffic over the ex-Frisco from Birmingham, AL to Springfield, MO, Tulsa, and Avard, OK, then onto the ex-ATSF to California (much as it was before they routed traffic over the Speedway). BNSF's decision to reroute its trains back onto its lines came before the above-mentioned agreement
It will be very interesting to see all the fallout of the NS decision last year to invest ~$300M upgrading Meridian Speedway with KCS. I'm sure the BNSF decision to remove their traffic from the Speedway is a reaction to the NS investment. I'm sure that we'll also see a reaction from CSX in the near future.....?
I just hope there's no negative impact upon KCS, as the "big boys" move their chess pieces around the board. mg: Boxcab E50
Am I correct that if the RI Choctaw line was still in place BNSF intermodal from Birmingham could go direct from Mem to Amarillo and bypass Springfield, Mo., assuming that BNSF had control. I know this probably has been discussed many times but I am an occasional reader, but pleased with the Forum, don't get me wrong. Walter Boatner (grew up at the RI Choctaw and Katy crossing in Okla.)
