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rail & intermodal

Practices

Rail & Intermodal

We have extensive experience in rail and intermodal transportation matters, both with individual companies and at the level of national policy. We have participated in virtually every major rulemaking at the Interstate Commerce Commission and its successor, the Surface Transportation Board, in the last 40 years. In addition, we have represented both national associations and individual clients in every major rail merger since 1990.

The services that we provide our clients include the following:

  • Develop and execute strategies for efficient and cost-effective transportation of raw materials, components, and finished products, in close cooperation with our clients.
  • Negotiate and interpret rail and intermodal transportation contracts between and among shippers, carriers, and intermediaries.
  • Advise clients in rail contract and service disputes, and if necessary, litigate or arbitrate such disputes.
  • Represent client interests in proceedings involving the merger and consolidation of Class I railroads.
  • Advise and represent clients in railroad construction, crossing and abandonment proceedings.
  • Represent clients in administrative agency rulemakings and proceedings related to rail transportation.
  • Advise and represent clients in the pursuit of competitive rail transportation options.
  • Represent clients in regulatory proceedings to challenge rail rates as unreasonably high.
  • Advise and represent clients on rail safety and compliance issues, including hazardous materials transportation.
  • Monitor and advise clients about relevant legislation.
  • Record rail car financing transactions and file liens with the STB.
  • Advise clients in rail car leasing disputes.
  • Counsel clients on the application of the antitrust laws to transportation arrangements and disputes.

Thompson Hine has been named by Best Law Firms® as a Tier 1 national firm in Railroad Law in 2025.

Chambers USA First-Tier Rankings
Best Lawyers Law Firms United States 2025
Legal500 Leading Firm 2024
  • Assisted a major plastics company to develop a rail transportation contract for the shipment of plastics resins from a newly competitive rail origin, resulting in substantial reductions in its transportation charges.
  • Represented a major rail shipper in an arbitration proceeding involving the pricing provision of a rail transportation contract, resulting in millions of dollars in savings annually.
  • Represented a major steel company in a rail merger proceeding, in which the shipper successfully challenged an anticompetitive arrangement between the merging carriers and a competitor.
  • Prepared an offer of financial assistance for a shipper to preserve rail service by acquiring a rail line slated for abandonment.
  • Obtained authority for a rail shipper to construct a line of rail that would cross the track of the incumbent and create rail-to-rail competition, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in rate reductions from the incumbent over just a few years.
  • Prepared and litigated claims for cargo loss and damage and service delays.
  • Preserved rail build-out options in rail merger proceedings for two major chemical manufacturers and an electric utility.
  • Prepared comments to the STB in major rulemakings on policies and procedures to govern future rail mergers and future rail rate reasonableness disputes.
  • Represented a rail shipper in the “bottleneck” cases, in which the STB set national policy regarding shippers’ rights to challenge unreasonable rates over monopoly rail line segments.
  • Advised a rail shipper on the purchase of a rail line and the establishment of operations over the line.
  • Advised a hazardous materials shipper on safety regulations and liability issues after a major train derailment, resulting in the release of the shipper’s hazardous materials.
  • Advised a rail shipper on its rail car repair obligation at the end of a long-term rail car lease.
  • Prepared FRA drug & alcohol testing policy for a short-line railroad.