"With record crop production levels, we knew this would be a busy year.  Every area, from operating to engineering to our dispatch center, was ready for the challenge and provided peak service levels for our customers," said Paul Hammes, Union Pacific vice president and general manager - Agricultural.

Union Pacific also announced the following agriculture loading records:

• During November, Union Pacific moved 35,588 carloads of grain and soybeans.  This was the best November since 2007 when the railroad moved 33,797 cars.  The previous best November was in 2002 with 32,897 carloads.
• Union Pacific moved 12,399 carloads of soybeans in November, the second largest month ever behind October 2009 when the company moved 16,490 carloads of soybeans.

Pipeline Express serves the steel pipeline industry for oil and gas producers with truck-competitive transit times and a rail network that aligns well geographically with new pipeline projects.  Union Pacific's site selection support for customers is unmatched in the industry.

"By offering the best value proposition to the natural gas industry, Union Pacific has emerged as the clear transportation choice," said Greg Shimonek, senior business director for the railroad's Pipeline Express service. "Our carloads tell the story."

Natural gas reserves are expected to grow 39 percent from 2007 levels by the end of 2009, according to the Energy Information Administration. Having invested nearly $17 billion in its rail network since 2005, Union Pacific is ready to serve that growth.

"We have the industry's largest fleet of 89-foot flat cars capable of hauling 100 tons of pipe," Shimonek said.  "That's greater than 40 percent more capacity in terms of weight than most of the cars our competitors offer."

Union Pacific provides additional values to customers including:

• The ability to carry 9 to 11 pipes on a single rail car compared 7 to 8 for other rail carriers and just two per truck.
• Unit trains that increase delivery speed and reduce delivery variability to hours instead of days compared to regular trains.
• Daily logistics reports that can pinpoint product location along the delivery route, starting when the pipe leaves the mill.
• Single point of customer contact for the total transportation cycle.

Combined with its rail network investments, services such as Pipeline Express have helped Union Pacific achieve all-time highs in customer satisfaction and record network velocity.

“Our goal is to develop a national high-speed rail network, create good jobs here in America and help reinvigorate our manufacturing base,” said Secretary LaHood. “We know these are tough economic times for many folks and we believe that U.S. rail manufacturers and suppliers will benefit greatly from this new program. We also look forward to establishing joint ventures with foreign firms who can provide expertise and establish or expand their operations here in the U.S.”

LaHood made his announcement at a discussion with more than 100 business leaders, union representatives, industry groups and experts on President Obama’s vision for the development of high-speed rail and intercity passenger rail in Washington, DC.

In April, President Obama released a strategic plan outlining his vision for high speed rail in America. The plan identifies $8 billion provided in the Recovery Act and $1 billion a year for five years requested in the federal budget as a down payment to jump-start the program.

“We believe that the President’s plan for high-speed rail will provide a real transportation alternative for millions of Americans, while also creating jobs in many communities throughout the country,” said Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Joe Szabo.

Support for the program has been strong nationwide. The Federal Railroad Administration has received numerous grant applications from states and groups of states. This includes 45 applications from 24 states totaling approximately $50 billion to advance large high-speed rail corridor programs and 214 applications from 34 states totaling $7 billion for corridor planning and smaller projects. Award announcements will be made this winter.

These proposals aim to spur economic development while providing Americans with clean, energy-efficient transportation choices in the decades to come.

A live webcast of the event, as well as an archived version, can be viewed at: www.tvworldwide.com/events/dot/091204.

Each side in each case will have 20 minutes to argue its position and to take questions from Board members, similar to proceedings in federal appellate courts. The oral argument is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. in the hearing room at STB headquarters, 395 E Street SW in Washington, D.C. Though the proceedings are open to the public, only counsel for the parties to the cases will be permitted to speak. Photo identification is necessary to enter the building.

A live video broadcast of the oral argument will be available via the Board's Web site at http://www.stb.dot.gov, under "Information Center"/"Webcast"/"Live Video" on the home page.

E. Hunter Harrison, president and chief executive officer, said: “CN is pleased that an agreement has been reached to end the strike by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) immediately and to move forward with a process that gives the parties flexibility to negotiate issues further, but also ensures finality through binding arbitration of issues that remain in dispute. We have always sought, since starting negotiations 14 months ago, to achieve a settlement with the TCRC through negotiations or binding arbitration.

“I also thank the many CN employees who have stepped forward during the unfortunate labour dispute to keep the company's freight operations going. Keeping our trains running has been important to our customers and indeed the entire Canadian economy.”

CN and the TCRC have agreed to continue negotiations to resolve all issues related to wages, benefits and work rules. If there is no agreement, the parties' wages and benefits offers will be subject to final, binding arbitration.

The parties can also agree to submit work-rule issues to binding arbitration but only if they mutually agree on the ones that should be subject to arbitration. If there is no agreement, the issues in dispute will not be subject to arbitration.

As part of this process, CN will roll back the monthly mileage cap for locomotive engineers to the previous 3,800 miles from the 4,300-mile cap initiated Nov. 28, and withdraw its plan to apply a 1.5 per cent wage increase to TCRC members. The union's current contract expired on Dec. 31, 2008.

Additional information and improvements to navigation make it easier to access news releases, earnings presentations, analyst coverage, transcripts, webcasts, podcasts, and other materials pertaining to the financial performance of Norfolk Southern.

A new financial “tear sheet” provides an at-a-glance overview of key facts and figures, including stock performance, headlines and events, and SEC filings. The site now also includes ownership information, e-proxy voting capability, dividend history, an interactive event calendar, and RSS feeds relating to quarterly earnings presentations.

NS launched www.nscorp.com, including its investors section, in 1996. Today, www.nscorp.com hosts more than 14,000 visitors daily.

"Canadian Pacific remains committed to reducing indebtedness, extending debt maturities and enhancing near-term liquidity," said Kathryn McQuade, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.  "The voluntary pension prepayment will reduce volatility in future pension funding requirements and provides greater predictability in our cash flow."

"The actions we have taken this year in the capital markets, our asset monetization programs and effective cost management initiatives have increased our financial flexibility in a difficult economic climate,"  added Ms. McQuade.

CP now estimates its 2010 pension contributions to be between $150 and $200 million after application of a portion of the prepayment.  This range replaces the previous estimate of $250 to $300 million provided in Management's Discussion and Analysis for Third Quarter 2009, using the same assumptions.