Rail Group On Air

How can Class I scheduled railroad operations translate into volume growth? What are the opportunities for industrial development? Why are short line and regional partnerships key to overall rail industry success? Is more culture change needed at the Class I’s? Farrukh A. Bezar offers his perspectives during this discussion with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. Bezar has more than 30 years of consulting, investment and industry experience in the transportation, logistics, financial services and supply chain industries. His areas of expertise include strategic planning and growth strategy, operations improvement, sales effectiveness and mergers and acquisitions support. A Founding Partner of Miami-based Lynwood Partners, he is a strategic advisor, board member and investor across the transportation and logistics sector. Bezar spent five years at CSX as Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer and Senior Vice President, Marketing. Launching his career as a Senior Analyst, Intermodal Marketing & Sales at the Santa Fe Railway, he has also held senior-level positions at The Clarendon Group, Oliver Wyman, A.T. Kearney and Booz Allen & Hamilton.

Norfolk Southern on June 17 released its 2024 Midyear Report on Safety Accomplishments, which summarizes the railroad’s organizational actions, safety improvements and partnerships enacted in the past 16 months. “When we make a promise, we deliver on that promise,” NS President and CEO Alan Shaw noted. “That started with our Six-Point Safety Plan announced last spring. While the initiatives in the plan are based on the preliminary findings following the [Feb. 3, 2023] East Palestine, Ohio, derailment, our focus is on increasing safety across all our operations —in every facility and every community where we operate.” In this Rail Group On Air Podcast, Shaw discusses all these safety initiatives with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. He also talks about strategy and opportunities following the proxy battle with Ancora Holdings. “I’m encouraged that we preserved the right and the ability to implement our groundbreaking strategy,” he said. “I also know that shareholders were very clear: They expect results—and we’ve delivered lots of results.”

Danielle Smith, Premier of Canada’s Alberta Province, discusses freight and passenger rail in the Province from economic, social and environmental standpoints with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City are essential to Canada’s economy and the nation’s growing role as an exporter, as well as Alberta’s overall prosperity, Smith believes. A former columnist and media personality who has been serving as the 19th Premier of Alberta and leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) since October 2022, Smith also strongly supports passenger rail—and is a bit of an enthusiast. The Alberta government on April 29 announced a Passenger Rail Plan aimed at increasing passenger rail service in the province. It will assess the feasibility of passenger rail in the province, including regional (intercity), commuter and high-speed services, “will look forward decades and identify concrete actions that can be taken now, as well as in the future, to build the optimal passenger rail system for the province.” Alberta’s government has released a Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI) to “seek world-class knowledge and consultant services as a first step toward the development of the Passenger Rail Master Plan for Alberta.” Following this process, a Request for Proposal (RFP) will be issued to select a consultant to develop the Passenger Rail Master Plan, which is expected to be completed by summer 2025.

Norfolk Southern Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Ed Elkins began his railroad career at Norfolk Southern in 1988 as a Road Brakeman after serving in the United States Marine Corps. Appointed CMO in 2021, he leads the company’s Intermodal, Automotive and Industrial Products business divisions, and also manages the Real Estate, Industrial Development, Short Line Marketing, Field Sales, and Customer Logistics business groups. In this Rail Group On Air Podcast, Elkins and Railway Age Editor-in Chief William C. Vantuono discuss NS’s accomplishments in 2023 attracting new business and growing existing business, as well as expectations going forward. What markets and commodities offer the most growth potential? In 2023, NS invested $1 billion in infrastructure improvements. Elkins talks about the role marketing plays in the Class I’s capital investment strategy and funding allocation. He also touches upon the tools, financial or other, that can be leveraged to incentivize businesses to locate on the railroad. Beginning as brakeman in 1988, Elkins served as a a conductor, locomotive engineer and relief yardmaster. Following time in Operations, he spent two decades in Intermodal Marketing. In 2016, he was named Group Vice President of Chemicals Marketing, and in 2018 promoted to Vice President Industrial Products. Currently, Elkins serves as the Vice Chair of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and sits on the boards of directors of the National Association of Manufacturers and TTX Company. He also serves on the Georgia State University Marketing RoundTable and is a member of The Conference Board, Inc. on the Council for CMOs. Elkins is a native of Southwest Virginia. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Virginia’s College at Wise and an MBA from Old Dominion University with a concentration in Port & Maritime Economics.

As Norfolk Southern Vice President Transportation, Joe Gioe is responsible for leading a culture of safe, predictable and consistent service by empowering transportation team members to meet the needs of NS customers. He also leads the Performance Excellence (PE) group, which is responsible for establishing operating processes and measuring performance. The group partners closely with Operations leaders and their teams, including Transportation, Advanced Train Control, Engineering and Safety. PE’s mission is standardizing NS’s needs to achieve its performance mission. The PE team does this through standardizing process. At the ballast line, the PE team works to integrate processes, regardless of craft, from multiple disciplines so NS can provide the best service and grow. PE is housed in the Operations department but touches many different teams throughout NS. The team is focused on safety first, followed by supporting operational excellence. The team cascades best practices throughout the network to increase information delivery speed. PE also provides daily tactical support to departments throughout Operations. The team is working on standardizing best practices and getting standard operating procedures embedded throughout Operations, laying the bedrock for safety. The team is also focused on enhancing and refining technology to deliver reliable, resilient service. PE’s long-term goal are to position Norfolk Southern as the leader in continuous improvement, to standardize and then optimize, to be a constant learning organization, and to be proactive with adapting. Appointed Vice President Transportation in 2023, Joe Gioe has 19 years of experience in the rail industry. He joined Norfolk Southern in 2021 as Assistant Vice President Network Optimization. Previously, he was at BNSF Railway, where he held roles of increasing responsibility in Transportation and Service Design. A third-generation railroader whose family roots go back to the Central Railroad of New Jersey and Conrail, Gioe began his career as a conductor and locomotive engineer. He earned a Bachelor of Applied Science from Colorado State University Global.

In Part 2 of this two-part series on railroad safety and technology, Steven R. Ditmeyer takes a deep dive into ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems), specifically, highway/rail grade crossing warning devices that interface with motor vehicles, with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. Ditmeyer has had an extensive career in railroading that started in 1960 on the St. Louis Terminal Railroad. He received a B.S. in Industrial Management from MIT and an M.A. in Economics from Yale. In the private sector, he worked for six railroads and a railroad equipment manufacturer. In the public sector, he served as an Army Transportation Corps officer on active duty in the Logistics Directorate of the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in the Reserves in the 3rd Railway Brigade, as Associate Administrator for Policy and for R&D at the Federal Railroad Administration, as acting general manager of The Alaska Railroad, as associate professor of economics and transportation at National Defense University, and as economist and rail technology expert at the World Bank. His career has cut across multiple disciplines, including freight and passenger railroading, engineering, economics, research and development, policy, marketing, management, operations, information technology, systems analysis, command and control systems and education. In his early days at FRA, Ditmeyer was involved in the creation of Amtrak, the preliminary engineering and economic studies for the Northeast Corridor Project, and the establishment of the Transportation Technology Center. As head of policy at FRA, he initiated the sale of The Alaska Railroad by the Federal Government to the State of Alaska and was involved in developing the legislation for the deregulation of the freight railroad industry. At Burlington Northern, he was intimately involved in development and testing of the first PTC system (ARES) and the first natural gas locomotives. Following retirement, he helped structure and teach in railway management programs as an adjunct faculty member at Michigan State University and the University of Delaware, and HEC and EML Business Schools, both in France.

Railway Age’s 2024 Railroader of the Year Award, the 61st annual, goes to an experienced and highly respected North American rail industry leader: CN President and Chief Executive Officer Tracy Robinson. She “continues the sweeping leadership evolution the railroad industry has been undergoing for the past few years,” said Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. “She continues to break new ground, bringing fresh ideas and a perspective based on change, growth and service. Tracy is leading CN during challenging times, strengthening and transforming the company and solidifying its position in the North American and global supply chains. While she brought many years of experience to CN, including leadership positions at Canadian Pacific and in Canada’s energy sector, she is dedicated to developing a new generation of railroaders from diverse backgrounds.” Vantuono in December 2023 interviewed Robinson at CN’s Montreal headquarters. She will be presented with the Railroader of the Year award March 12, 2024 at the traditional dinner held at the Union League Club of Chicago, hosted by the Western Railway Club.

In Part 1 of this two-part series on railroad safety and technology, Steven R. Ditmeyer discusses the fundamentals of signaling and train control and takes a deep dive into PTC (Positive Train Control) and its potential for evolving beyond a safety overlay system with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. Ditmeyer has had an extensive career in railroading that started in 1960 on the St. Louis Terminal Railroad. He received a B.S. in Industrial Management from MIT and an M.A. in Economics from Yale. In the private sector, he worked for six railroads and a railroad equipment manufacturer. In the public sector, he served as an Army Transportation Corps officer on active duty in the Logistics Directorate of the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in the Reserves in the 3rd Railway Brigade, as Associate Administrator for Policy and for R&D at the Federal Railroad Administration, as acting general manager of The Alaska Railroad, as associate professor of economics and transportation at National Defense University, and as economist and rail technology expert at the World Bank. His career has cut across multiple disciplines, including freight and passenger railroading, engineering, economics, research and development, policy, marketing, management, operations, information technology, systems analysis, command and control systems and education. In his early days at FRA, Ditmeyer was involved in the creation of Amtrak, the preliminary engineering and economic studies for the Northeast Corridor Project, and the establishment of the Transportation Technology Center. As head of policy at FRA, he initiated the sale of The Alaska Railroad by the Federal Government to the State of Alaska and was involved in developing the legislation for the deregulation of the freight railroad industry. At Burlington Northern Railroad, he was intimately involved in development and testing of the first PTC system (ARES) and the development and testing of the first natural gas locomotives. Following retirement, he helped structure and teach in railway management programs as an adjunct faculty member at Michigan State University and the University of Delaware, and HEC and EML Business Schools, both in France.

Norfolk Southern is justifiably proud of the partnership it has forged with its craft unions. Executive Vice President and Chief Operatiing Officer Paul Duncan discusses the improvements and special programs that have been instituted at Norfolk Southern with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. Among these are START (System Teamwork and Responsibility Training), and a training and mentoring program for new conductors that matches experienced railroaders with trainees. “We’ve got conductors that are more than willing to help train new folks and are very good at it. We work with our local chairman at the various locations where we’re bringing on conductor trainees to ensure that we’re matching them up with folks that match in personality traits as well as leadership,” Duncan says. Podcast sponsored by The Greenbrier Companies, which has teamed with Norfolk Southern to develop sustainable, high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel gondolas constructed of a lighter-weight steel that reduces unloaded weight by up to 15,000 pounds.

IRJ Editor-in-Chief Kevin Smith sits down with KFW-IPEX Bank Global Head of Aviation, Mobility & Transport Dr. Carsten Wiebers to discuss the future of railway asset finance and the challenges and opportunities posed by green financing for the railway sector. Wiebers makes some interesting observations on the tools available to railways and asset owners looking to get ahead of the competition. Sponsored by KFW-IPEX Bank.