News / North American rail freight stays on track, despite heavy increases in diesel

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The main North American rail freight carriers are reporting record revenue growth and strong profits, even with diesel prices surging.

In the nine months to September, Union Pacific (UP) revenue grew 8% to $15.9bn, with its premium intermodal business volumes growing 6% year on year to three million carloads.

Even with profit growth of 28% to $4.4bn as “efficiencies were implemented”, chief executive Lance Fritz lamented the carrier’s failure to achieve the third-quarter productivity targets it had set itself.

“While we reported solid financials, ...