Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway Company announced they will launch a new double-stack intermodal container service between Los Angeles and Atlanta, with a guaranteed on-time delivery option, beginning Oct. 1.

"Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific have teamed up to offer an unprecedented service commitment that is price-competitive with trucks," said Michael R. McClellan, Norfolk Southern vice president Intermodal Marketing. "We are confident in our ability to provide on-time delivery that will meet the expectations of over-the-road shippers." Union Pacific Railroad, is the largest railroad in North America, covering 23 states across the western two-thirds of the United States, they has competitive long-haul routes between all West Coast ports and eastern gateways and is the only railroad to serve all six major gateways to Mexico.

Norfolk Southern Railway Company, is a freight railroad which operates approximately 21,800 route miles in 22 states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario. Norfolk Southern serves all major ports in the eastern United States, and has superior access to western rail carriers.

Norfolk Southern Corporation announced they will launch joint intermodal service with Canadian Pacific Railway between the Port of New York/New Jersey and Eastern Canada that slices one-third off the standard rail transit time. The service begins Oct. 1.

"For the first time, import-export shippers will have an expedited rail service option that is competitive with truck transit times between the Port and Montreal and Toronto," said Lawre Allen, Vice-President of Intermodal and Automotive, CPR.

Container traffic through the port, measured in 20-foot equivalent units, climbed more than 8 per cent during the first half of 2001, compared to the same period of 2000.

Canadian Pacific Railway is North America's first transcontinental railway. It's 14,000-mile network serves the principal centers of Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, as well as the U.S. Midwest and Northeast regions.

David R. Goode from Norfolk Southern Railway Company announced their group is trying to measure the impact the September 11 attacks will have on the railway business. Mr. Goode declares: "At this point, it is still too early to be definitive. The economy was soft even before September 11, and clearly the attacks have hurt the economy and our traffic levels. How deep and how sustained this will be is not yet known. We are supporting public policies that will encourage the economic recovery. But as always, our best response is what we can do ourselves: - Luring new traffic with new services, such as those announced recently with UP and CP. - Aggressive conversion of truck movements to rail. - Improving service and reducing costs by implementing our Thoroughbred Operating Plan - Continuing restructuring activities".