NS Intermodals becoming inconsistent, even hot ones.

[Tier4GEVO]

I'm catching 20K, 21Z, 205, 206, 20E, 24M all different times near South Bend. One day a 24M will be by S.B by around 1030am, sometimes 9am, sometimes 1pm. Anybody else noticing these trends in some of NS's usually on-time high priority trains?

[AARR]

I read in Trains Magazine that overall Class 1 railroad service performance is down. Even the high-priority trains are behind schedule. I'd only guess why it's happening because overall traffic levels are considered slightly down so mainlines in theory should be more fluid.

I'm catching 20K, 21Z, 205, 206, 20E, 24M all different times near South Bend. One day a 24M will be by S.B by around 1030am, sometimes 9am, sometimes 1pm. Anybody else noticing these trends in some of NS's usually on-time high priority trains?

[Saturnalia]

You can only cut so much before it begins to show up in operations...

[Doktor No]

Remember the CSX motto..."How Tomorrow Moves." Add the caveat..."Cause it ain't goin nowhere today."

[CSX_CO]

You can only cut so much before it begins to show up in operations...

NS hasn't cut though, that's why CP sees them as the best takeover option. Also why their operating ratio went up, not down, despite decreased traffic. CP will Quickly cut the fat, and reap the rewards.

[bdconrail29]

I'm catching 20K, 21Z, 205, 206, 20E, 24M all different times near South Bend. One day a 24M will be by S.B by around 1030am, sometimes 9am, sometimes 1pm. Anybody else noticing these trends in some of NS's usually on-time high priority trains?

Tough to jump to any conclusions from such a vague observation. In 2014 I saw 20E 36 times at the same location. There were 2 times it was 3.5+ hours later than the "normal" time and 1 time over an hour earlier. The other 33 times there was only a deviation of 33 minutes among all the passing times. That's about as good as you can get.

Had I only seen 20E three times, and saw it at 12:30, 2:00, and 4:15, I would think dang, that's inconsistent. But when the sample size gets larger and larger, i.e. my example, you see how it works.

[AARR]

I agree with you that you can't get any reasonable data from a small sample size. However, both freight and long-distance Amtrak trains on time performance has dropped the last year or so. To the point where some of the business they gained from trucks is now returning to trucks or switching railroads. It's an issue among all railroads although CN and CP seem to "not be as bad" as the American Class 1's.

Unfortunately, the American Class 1's first action was to make financial moves to maintain their financial positions rather than address the cause of the service issues. I'm sure in time they'll do so but in them meantime they have a lot of unhappy customers and that is never a good thing.

If you get Trains Mag read Fred Frailey's October or November column about the matter. He says it far better than I can.

Tough to jump to any conclusions from such a vague observation. In 2014 I saw 20E 36 times at the same location. There were 2 times it was 3.5+ hours later than the "normal" time and 1 time over an hour earlier. The other 33 times there was only a deviation of 33 minutes among all the passing times. That's about as good as you can get.

Had I only seen 20E three times, and saw it at 12:30, 2:00, and 4:15, I would think dang, that's inconsistent. But when the sample size gets larger and larger, i.e. my example, you see how it works.