The BNSF Railway Company is North America's largest freight tract, followed by Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in second place, its main competitor for US Goods West. BNSF is one of seven North American Class 1 railways and has 44,000 employees, 32,500 miles (52,300 km) of tracks in 28 states, and more than 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide rail connections between the western and eastern United States. The BNSF train traveled more than 169 million miles (272 million km) in 2010, more than any other North American railroad. BNSF and UP have a duopoly over all transcontinental railroads in the US West and share the rights of the trail for thousands of miles of lanes.
BNSF Railway Company is a major operating subsidiary of the parent company Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the railway company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
According to a company press release, BNSF Railway is one of the major carriers of intermodal shipments in North America. It also transports bulk cargoes, including enough coal to produce about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States.
The creation of BNSF began with the establishment of a holding company on September 22, 1995. The new parent company purchased the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railways (often called "Santa Fe") and Burlington Northern Railroad, and officially combined the train to Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway on December 31, 1996. On January 24, 2005, the name of the train was officially changed to "BNSF Railway," using initials of the original name.
In 1999, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and the Canadian National Railway announced their intention to join and form a new company entitled North American Railway to headquarter in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The US Surface Transport Council (STB) puts a 15-month moratorium on all merger railways, which put an end to this merger.
On November 3, 2009, Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett announced it would acquire the remaining 77.4 percent of an undisclosed BNSF for $ 100 per share in cash and stocks - a deal worth $ 44 billion. The company invested about $ 34 billion in BNSF and earned $ 10 billion in debt. On February 12, 2010, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation shareholders voted in favor of the acquisition.
Video BNSF Railway
History
The history of BNSF dates back to 1849, when the Aurora Branch Railway in Illinois and the Pacific Railroad of Missouri were formed. The Aurora branch eventually grew into Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, (CB & amp; Q), a major component of the predecessor of North Burlington. Some of the Pacific Railroad became St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (Frisco).
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) was inaugurated in 1859. It built one of North America's first continental railway lines, linking Chicago and Southern California; the main branches lead to Texas, Denver, and San Francisco. The Interstate Trade Commission rejected the proposed merger with the South Pacific Transportation Company in the 1980s.
Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) was established in 1970 through the consolidation of Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Great Northern Railway, the Northern Pacific Railway and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. It absorbed the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (Frisco) in 1980. Its main routes include Chicago-Seattle with branches to Texas (ex-Burlington) and Montgomery, Alabama (ex-Frisco), and access to low sulfur coars Basin River Powder in Wyoming.
Merger BN-ATSF
On June 30, 1994, BN and ATSF announced plans to join; they are the largest and the smallest (with mileage) of the "Super Seven", the seven largest of the 12 Class Class railways at the time. The old announcement is rumored to be delayed by disputes over the disposition of Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corporation, a gold mining subsidiary that ATSF agreed to sell to shareholders. This announcement started the next wave of mergers, because the "Super Seven" was combined into four in the next five years. The Illinois Central Railroad and Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS), two of the five "small" Classes, announced on July 19 that the first will buy the latter, but the plan was canceled on 25 October. The Union Pacific Railroad (UP), another major Western system, initiated a bidding war with BN to control SF on 5 October. The UP surrendered on 31 January 1995, paving the way for the merger of BN-ATSF. Furthermore, UP acquired the South Pacific Transportation Company (SP) in 1996, and the Eastern system of CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway divided Conrail in 1999.
On 7 February 1995, BN and ATSF led Gerald Grinstein and Robert D. Krebs both announced shareholders had approved the plan, which would save overhead costs and incorporate BN coal and ATSF intermodal forces. Although these two systems complement each other with little overlap, in contrast to the merger in Santa Fe-Southern Pacific, which failed because it would eliminate competition in many areas of the Southwest, BN and ATSF reached agreement with most other Classes to keep them against the merger. The UP is satisfied with one trace rights segment from Abilene, Kansas to Superior, Nebraska, served by BN and ATSF. KCS acquired the right of carriage to several locations in the Midwest, including Omaha, East St. Louis, and Memphis, in exchange for BNSF gaining equal access to New Orleans. SP, originally requested long-distance recording rights throughout the West, immediately approved a reduced plan, in which SP obtained trackage rights at ATSF for intermodal and automotive traffic to Chicago, and other tracking rights at ATSF in Kansas, south to Texas, and between Colorado and Texas. Instead, SP commissioned BNSF tracking rights on ex-Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad between El Paso and Topeka as well as freight rights to the Mexican border in Eagle Pass, Texas. The Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway regions also obtained trackage rights over BN from Peoria to Galesburg, Illinois, a BN hub where it can exchange with SP (which has rights to BN dating from 1990). The Interstate Trade Commission (ICC) approved the merger of BNSF on July 20, 1995 (with final approval on August 23), less than a month before the UP announced on 3 August that it would get SP. Burlington Northern Inc.'s parents and Santa Fe Pacific Corporation was acquired on September 22, 1995 by the new Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation. The merging of operating companies is hampered by problems with unions; ATSF joined on 31 December 1996 to BN, which was renamed Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company.
The merged effect of UP-SP
Merger Pacific Pacific South Pacific increasingly enlarge BNSF joint network. Unlike BN and ATSF, UP and SP have significant overlaps, where competition between the two will be a monopoly. The UP and BNSF announced at the end of September 1995 that, in exchange for BNSF not opposed to the merger, would acquire 335 miles (539 km) of the line and approximately 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of trackage rights to achieve "two- to-one". Significant additions include the right to SP SP Corridor from Denver via Moffat Tunnel and Salt Lake City, and over Donner Pass, to the San Francisco Bay Area, with alternative routes through Feather River Canyon along the UP. ATSF traces in California Central Valley are linked to the BN line to Oregon, via the right trackage on the UP between Stockton and Keddie and the acquisition of the UP section of "Inside Gateway" to the beginning of BN's trackage at Bieber. In Texas, the BNSF received rights in several directions from the Houston area: west over UP to San Antonio, with branches to Waco, and resumed SP to Eagle Pass (replacing the transport rights they had just acquired); south to Brownsville; east of SP to New Orleans (including the purchase of this eastern line from Lake Charles); and northeast over SP to Memphis with a branch in UP to Little Rock. The ownership of short connections between Waxahachie and Dallas also changed from UP to BNSF. The UP, in return, gets some short sections of the tracking rights over BNSF, mainly connecting SP in Chemult to UP in Bend, Oregon, and connecting SP in Mojave, California with UP rights in ATSF in Barstow, California. On April 18, 1996, the UP, BNSF, and Chemical Plant Association entered into an agreement granting BNSF rights on the UP line between Houston and St. East. Louis, aligns the Houston-Memphis SP line, and allows the BNSF to participate in the UP plan to run directed, in which each path will serve by train in only one direction. The Surface Transport Council, the successor of the ICC, approved the incorporation of UP-SP on 3 July, and the UP control of the SP entered into force on September 11, 1996. The BNSF tracking operation started in the Central Corridor on October 10, and soon thereafter on another line.
The BNSF advanced project was started by its predecessor, especially BN's work in reopening the Stampede Pass. BN had closed the Stampede Pass, the main North Pacific Railway line in Washington, in 1984, which supported the Stevens Pass train from the Great Northern Railway. BN never left that line and began rehabilitating in early 1996, and the route reopened in early December, freeing the crowded Stevens Pass. Ex-ATSF main line, now known as South Transcon, has also seen a steady job of adding tracks, giving more BNSF capacity on this large intermodal route.
Attempt experiment with CN
On December 20, 1999, the newly privatized BNSF and National Railway Company of Canada announced a (STB Finance Docket No. 33842) plan to be merged as a subsidiary of the new holding company, North American Railways, which will control about 50,000 miles (80,000 km) from the train. With the CN line located mainly in Canada and, through the Illinois Central Railroad subsidiary, in the north-south corridor near the eastern edge of BNSF, the two systems are slightly overlapping. This combination will benefit both companies by expanding the available cash for capacity building, and enabling the movement of a single, longer system. Surveyors and the Board of Transportation Survey expressed concerns and surprises about the timing, as the merger that produced BNSF was the only one in the 1990s that did not cause severe damage to the service. The STB was imposed on March 17, 2000, a 15-month (STB Ex Parte No. 582) moratorium on mergers involving two Class I railways, arguing that broad opposition is not merely for mergers but also its impact , most likely starting a merger final round into two major systems. BNSF and CN immediately turned to the US Court of Appeals, which on July 14 decided that the STB's right to regulate the merger allowed the moratorium, and both railways stopped the merger. STB released its final rule on June 11, 2001, requiring a new application to combine two Class I railroads, with the exception of the smaller Kansas City Southern Railway (STB Ex Parte No. 582 (Sub-No. 1))
On November 3, 2009, Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway would buy BNSF for $ 44 billion. The acquisition is approved by the two companies' boards and approved by BNSF shareholders on February 12, 2010.
Maps BNSF Railway
Operation
Markets and services
With its large BNSF system, it transports a variety of commodities, mainly coal and grains, as well as intermodal shipments.
Its predecessor Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) entered the sulfur-rich Powder River Basin River in Wyoming in the 1970s through the construction of the Joint Line Joint Powder River with the Union Pacific Railroad predecessors of Chicago and the North Western Transportation Company. Coal moves north in a railway unit on the Joint Line three to four lanes to Gillette or south to the Orin, where the older BN lines and other train lines take them in all directions to coal-fired power stations.
BNSF serves more than 1,500 grain elevators, most of which are located in the Midwest on former BN lines. Depending on where the market is located, these grains can move anywhere in the train unit, or wait in silos for increased demand. Most commonly, the grain may move west in the Northern Transcon to the Pacific Northwest and its export terminal, or south to the ports of Texas and the Gulf of Mexico.
The main contribution of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to BNSF is South Transcon, a fast intermodal corridor connecting Southern California and Chicago. Most of the traffic is trailers from trucking companies such as intermodal J. B. Hunt partners, or containers from the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The latter embarked on a triple trip to Alameda Corridor, along with Union Pacific Railroad, and then followed the BNSF rail from downtown Los Angeles. The route, South Transcon, is almost fully traced twice, and triple tracking has begun in areas such as the Cajon Pass.
BNSF transported Boeing 737 from Wichita, Kansas to Renton, Washington.
Financial
Trackage
BNSF Railway directly owns and operates tracks in 28 US states: Alabama, Florida, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico , North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The railway also operates a small number of lines in Canada, including about 30 miles (48 kilometers) of section stretching from the US-Canada border to Vancouver, British Columbia, multiple tracks and one yard in Winnipeg, Manitoba, about 70 miles (110 km) along with the Canadian National Railway, which runs south to the US border at Emerson, Manitoba, and less than a kilometer from tracking on the border at Northgate, Saskatchewan.
For administrative purposes, the BNSF is divided into two regions and ten operating divisions. The Northern Region includes the Montana, Northwest, Twin Cities, Heartland and Powder River divisions. The Southern Region includes the divisions of the Red River, California, Chicago, Kansas and Southwest. Each division is subdivided into subdivisions, representing line segments ranging from 300 miles (482 km) of mainline to 10-mile (16 km) lines. Former Texas and Gulf divisions are incorporated into the Red River Division, and the Springfield and Nebraska divisions are incorporated into the Heartland Division, in spring 2016.
Excluding tracking of the second, third and fourth line tracks, the page path, and the crossing path, BNSF directly owns and operates over 24,000 miles (38,624 km) of lines. When this additional track is calculated, the length of the track directly controlled by the train increases to more than 50,000 miles (80,467 kilometers).
In addition, BNSF Railway has gained trackage rights in more than 8,000 miles (12,875 kilometers) of pathways across the United States and Canada. These rights allow BNSF to operate its own carriage with its own crew on the main railroad tracks. BNSF locomotives also occasionally appear on competitor tracks across the United States and Canada by hiring, equalization of mileage, and other contractual arrangements.
Meters and facilities
BNSF operates facilities across the United States, including one yard in Winnipeg, to support its transport system. Facilities operated by railroads include yards and terminals across the railway network, locomotive shop systems for locomotive and maintenance services, centralized operations center for rail shipping and monitoring network operations in Fort Worth, and regional dispatch centers.
BNSF Railway also operates many transfer facilities throughout the western United States to facilitate the transfer of intermodal containers, trailers and other goods traffic. BNSF Railway has direct control over a total of 33 intermodal hubs and 23 automotive distribution facilities.
BNSF mechanical division operates 13 locomotive maintenance facilities that perform preventive maintenance, repair and servicing equipment. The largest of these facilities are located in Alliance, Nebraska and Topeka, Kansas. The mechanical division also controls 46 additional facilities that are responsible for car maintenance and daily walking improvements.
BNSF's mechanical systems division, part of the mechanical division, operates two maintenance equipment stores, which are responsible for carrying out preventive maintenance and repairs to BNSF tracks and equipment, in Brainerd, Minnesota and Galesburg, Illinois. The mechanical systems division also operates a Western Fruit Express Company refrigeration workshop in Spokane, Washington.
In 2006, BNSF teamed up with Vancouver, WA-based Tri Star to run the new BNSF transload facility in Fontana, CA, near California Speedway.
Large hump car hump yard is located throughout the BNSF system.
- Barstow, California - Barstow Yard
- Galesburg, Illinois - Galesburg Yard
- Kansas City, Kansas - Argentine Yard
- Memphis, Tennessee - Tennessee Yard
- Minneapolis, Minnesota - Northtown Yard
- Pasco, Washington - Pasco Yard
- Seattle, Washington - Balmer Yard
- Tulsa, Oklahoma - Cherokee Yard
- Lincoln, Nebraska - Hobson Yard
Main intermodal courtyard location:
- Edgerton, Kansas - Kansas City Logistics Park (LPKC)
- Joliet, Illinois - Chicago Park Logistics
- Los Angeles, California - Los Angeles intermodal facility
Route
- Northern Transcon runs from Seattle to Chicago. This route is a combination of the old Northern Northern, North Pacific, and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway sections.
- The Southern Transcon operates from Los Angeles to Chicago. The BNSF Annual Report 2006 states: "We also added about 33 miles from the second major line on our main line between Chicago and Los Angeles All except 82 kilometers of this high volume of 2,200- [3,540 km] double track, by the end of 2006. Last year, we ran 100 trains per day on this expanded mainline, compared to 60 per day in 2000. "Technically, it's not double tracked in mid-Kansas where two routes are used: Mulvane to Wichita to Newton to Emporia for traffic to the east; Emporia to El Dorado to Augusta to Mulvane for traffic to the west. In 2008, the BNSF completed nearly sixteen miles (26 km) from the third major line through Cajon Pass in Southern California, increasing capacity on major cross-continental routes between Chicago and Los Angeles from 100 to 150 trains per day. BNSF began adding a second major line in Abo Canyon (east Belen, New Mexico) the largest congestion in Transcon with an assessment in 2008-2009, a bridge in 2010 and signals working in late 2010 or early 2011. About 1.7 million cubic meters [1.23 million mÃ,²] rocks need to be extracted, mostly by blasting. 2008 BNSF Annual Report states: "Upon completion of the Abo Canyon project scheduled for 2011, our 2,350 km Transcontinental Transcontinental Corridor between Southern California and Chicago will only have approximately 48 kilometers [48 km]] of single track. "
- The Powder River Basin supplies forty percent of the coal in the United States. The 2008 Annual Report of BNSF states that the quadruple line project is complete.
Sharing operations
The BNSF system is divided into 13 divisions that are grouped into three regions. Each division includes many subdivisions, usually consisting of one main line and branch. The fourteenth division, Colorado, has been consolidated with the Powder River Division, except for the Casper and Cody Divisions, which were transferred to the Montana Division.
Passenger train service
BNSF train hosts commuter train: BNSF Railways for Metra (Chicago), Metrolink (Southern California), Northstar Commuter Rail, and Sounder (Puget Sound).
The line used by the New Mexico Rail Runner Express is sold to the state of New Mexico, but the BNSF retains all the freight rights on the line and operates the freight train if necessary.
Metra cars originally purchased by BNSF predecessor Chicago Burlington & amp; Quincy has a letter above the door. In about 2011, about 15 cars left have original "BURLINGTON" restored writing, while the rest is now read "BNSF RAILWAY". Another Metra car assigned to BNSF has the BNSF "swoosh" logo next to the door.
Banyak rute Amtrak menggunakan rel BNSF: Amtrak Cascades , California Zephyr , Carl Sandburg , Pantai Starlight , Empire Builder , Heartland Flyer , Illinois Zephyr , Lincoln Service , Pacific Surfliner , San Joaquin , Kepala Southwest , Sunset Limited , dan Texas Eagle .
Although it does not have steam programs like Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific, BNSF has made it possible for Southern Pacific 4449 steam locomotives, SLSF 1522, Santa Fe 3751, SPS 700 and Milwaukee Road 261 to operate trips on their rails.
Security
Overall, BNSF is a safely operated train that is proven by accepting E.H. Harriman's award for security several times. But a number of accidents and incidents have occurred on the railroad from the start.
As one of the main supporters of the Operation Lifesaver program to improve safety at railway crossings and road rights, BNSF Railway, in 2000, established a classroom intersection closure program. This program, in which BNSF works with communities and landowners to identify unnecessary or excessive crossings, has helped close more than 2,900 BNSF railway crossings across the United States. Because of this program, BNSF has become the industry leader in reducing the number of class crossing collisions.
BNSF contract with News Link, a small business in Lincoln, Nebraska, to publish safety-focused employee bulletins for several railroad divisions and shops. This bulletin varies from four to 28 pages, published from monthly to quarterly.
In 2014, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration commissioned BNSF to pay more than $ 526,000 to workers who had been dismissed in 2010 and 2011 after disclosing workplace injuries at terminals in Havre, Montana, as opposed to the Federal Railroad Safety Act protects whistleblower.
Tools
By 2007 BNSF Annual Report , by the end of 2007, the railway had more than 40,000 employees; 6,400 locomotives; and 85,338 freight cars.
- Split by special car type, BNSF has:
- 36439 closed carriage
- 13,690 gondolas
- 11,428 open hopper
- 10,470 trains
- 7,948 hopper
- 4,196 "refrigerated" reefer "cars
- 427 tankers
- 416 car carrier
- 324 "other" car type
- In addition, trains are also owned:
- 3.253 domestic containers
- 11,714 domestic chassis
- 4,070 corporate vehicles
- 1,200 snippets
- 163 commuter passenger cars
By the end of 2007, the average age (from the date of manufacture) was 15 years for the BNSF locomotive fleet and 14 years for the freight car fleet.
On January 24, 2006, BNSF announced a $ 2.4 billion infrastructure upgrade program for 2006. The upgrade program includes: tracking of double tracks and thirty 40 miles (64 km) and the second main line through New Mexico's Abo Canyon on the former ATSF transcontinental line ; expanding Lincoln, Nebraska, yard classification and double tracking and thirty 50 miles (80 km) off the track in the Powder River Basin Wyoming area; expansions in eight larger rail intermodal facilities, and expanded many sides and expanded and improved refueling facilities. In making the announcement, BNSF chairman Matthew K. Rose cited an increase in corporate profits on invested capital, and expressed hope for continuous improvement. In March, 2008, the train completed a three-track tracking of the Cajon Pass in California, creating four lanes through the three-lane BNSF (formerly Santa Fe and newly installed) and one Union Pacific (former South Pacific).
Paint scheme
The wide range of colors used on BNSF Railway make it one of the most colorful Class I railroads in North America. Most of BNSF high-horsepower road locomotives are painted in the "Heritage" scheme - primarily based on the color of its predecessor, Great Northern Railway, Omaha Orange and Pullman Green, with yellow stripes and silver bottom frames. Since 2005, BNSF locomotives featured black paint instead of dark green paint, reminiscent of the original Burlington Burlington 1970 scheme.
Most of BNSF's BN-ordered SD70MAC still bear the green Executive color and Grinstein cream. Some ex ATSF C44-9W still retain their red and silver "Warbonnet" colors, and most of the EMD and GE yard power is still in the original Green or Yellow Blue-yellow Santa Fe green scheme.
The first locomotive to contain the BNSF letter is BN SD70MAC No. 9647, introduced in late August 1995, just when the Interstate Trade Commission approved the merger. VMV Enterprises in Paducah, Kentucky painted it in its only "warning" scheme, combining "Warbonnet" Santa Fe with "Executive" colors from dark "Grinstein green" and cream (instead of SF's red and silver). "BNSF" replaces "SANTA FE" on the front of the unit, and "Burlington Northern Santa Fe" painted on the side. Dubbed the "Premium Inheritance," the paint scheme is widely rejected by the public, and is often called "Vomit Bonnet" and "Barfbonnet." In spring 2013, the unit is shipped to Relco in Albia, Iowa, to be repainted to the current BNSF Heritage III scheme.
In January 1996, BNSF had begun painting locomotives in old BN and ATSF schemes by adding "BNSF" on both sides. Then, at the end of May, the company introduced a new design on BN SD60M 9297 (later 8197 and now 1474), painted mainly on pre-1967 color colors of its predecessor Great Northern Railway Orange and dark "green Pullman," but also incorporating red and silver, and is said to represent all major predecessors and Santa Fe. At the front there is a new logo, putting "Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway" in Santa Fe cross. Some striping details are different on each side, and employees choose a simpler right-sided design, which, with some minor changes, becomes a new scheme, replacing the BN color. However, President and CEO Robert Krebs said that the railroad is large enough for two designs, and Santa Fe's "Warbonnet" (with "BNSF" instead of "Santa Fe" on the front) remains beside the "Inheritance I " the new one.
On January 24, 2005, as part of its tenth anniversary celebration, Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway were renamed BNSF Railway, which adopted a new logo. In March, the logo has been applied to the sides and fronts of six ES44DCs, depicted in the "Heritage II" scheme, except with black replacing dark green. A slight difference occurred in six locomotives, and on 11 April BNSF formally selected the design that was applied to No. 7701. The "New Image" scheme is also referred to as "Heritage III", the "Nike Swoosh" scheme or simply the "Swoosh" Scheme. Some railfans also refer to the logo as the "The Wedge" scheme.
Since 2006, BNSF locomotives designed for local yard or train work have been painted in the "Inheritance IV" scheme. Somewhat of the simplified form of the "Heritage III" scheme, "Heritage IV" is almost identical to the original "IV" scheme, albeit with black, not dark green, and the current Nike Swoosh BNSF logo. Locomotives like SD40-2, GP38, GP60M, and SD60M have been painted in this scheme. In October 2017, the nine GE B40-8W locomotives rebuilt by GE were depicted in this scheme.
See also
- BNSF Railway Police, the law enforcement agency responsible for overseeing BNSF tracking and property
- Burlington Northern Santa Fe Manitoba, a subsidiary of BNSF, is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Note
References
- BNSF Railway (January 24, 2005), BNSF Adopts Company's Logo and New Subsidiaries and Changes in the Name of the Railway Subsidiary as Part of the Tenth Anniversary Celebration. Retrieved 25 January 2005.
- BNSF Railway (February 9, 2005), Port of Los Angeles began discussions with BNSF Railway Company about the new intermodal facility. Retrieved February 10, 2005.
External links
- Official website
- Official Twitter account
- Submission of BNSF Railway SEC
- Citizens for Security Rail
- List and Family Tree from North America Train
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