Overview
Maryclare Kenney provided a broad update on CSX's network, market outlook, operating priorities and growth strategy. Her central message was that CSX is preparing for growth across every major business segment while keeping safety and dependable service at the center of its investment decisions. She described an economy that remains uneven but is showing enough improvement to support cautious optimism for the balance of 2026 and into 2027.
CSX's network and business mix
CSX operates approximately 20,000 miles of track across the eastern United States, connecting East Coast ports with markets as far west as the Mississippi River and reaching roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population. Its traffic base is deliberately diversified. Using 2025 as a representative year, Kenney said intermodal accounted for just under half of total volume, merchandise traffic represented about 40% and coal represented approximately 11%. CSX does not view any one category as its sole growth engine; the goal is to support customers and create opportunities across all three.
Economic and freight-market outlook
Kenney contrasted the rapid post-pandemic demand rebound of late 2020 through 2022 with the softer conditions of the past several years. Industrial production had been weak before showing improvement in 2026, while GDP growth was positive but not especially robust. Housing and automotive production are particularly important to rail because so many related inputs move by train, and both sectors have remained below stronger historical levels. North American light-vehicle production was expected to decline by just under 2% year over year, and housing remained relatively soft, although customers were hopeful that conditions could improve as 2026 turns into 2027.
Recent indicators, including an improving ISM trend, gave CSX reason for cautious optimism. Kenney also identified a meaningful shift in trucking. After an unusually deep and prolonged down-cycle, driver and equipment capacity had tightened during the preceding several months. She attributed much of that change to stronger enforcement of existing requirements—including non-domiciled CDL rules and driver-training standards—which was reducing available supply even before a major demand rebound. CSX was already seeing some freight move toward rail, particularly in domestic intermodal and merchandise categories where customers can choose between truck and rail.
The implication for shippers was practical: organizations that rely heavily on trucks should evaluate rail alternatives before truck capacity becomes still harder to secure. In the Q&A, Kenney said spot trucking rates had reacted faster than contract rates, but she expected both the cost and reliability of truck capacity to become more challenging later in 2026 and into early 2027. Rail can add capacity more quickly in some circumstances, but CSX still needs advance notice to position cars, infrastructure and crews.
Performance by commodity and business segment
CSX entered 2026 without assuming significant overall rail-volume growth, but several markets performed better than anticipated.
- Metals and minerals: These categories remained strong, supported by infrastructure work and demand associated with data-center construction.
- Agriculture and food: Performance varied across a broad portfolio that includes grain, feed ingredients, ethanol, beverages and other products. Some categories were performing well while others continued to face headwinds.
- Forest products and automotive: These were the two major segments running below the prior year. Forest-products demand was still soft, although it was better than CSX had initially expected; automotive was affected by lower production and the temporary retooling of a large plant on the network.
- Fertilizer: Volumes were up year over year, but farmer affordability remained a concern. Higher costs and constrained availability for inputs such as sulfur were pushing fertilizer prices higher.
- Coal: Export coal, much of it moving to India, was relatively stable. Domestic coal had become increasingly important as data centers and other loads raised electricity demand. Utilities wanted to keep coal-fired generation available longer, although maintenance and plant capability could constrain how much coal they could burn.
- Intermodal: Kenney sees substantial long-term opportunity to convert highway freight to rail. CSX has invested in connecting more network nodes and believes improving rail service can make intermodal a viable option for shippers whose freight traditionally moved entirely by truck.
Safety, service and network investment
Kenney described safety as CSX's non-negotiable first priority. Immediately behind it is consistent, reliable service: customers may value speed, but predictability is what allows them to run their supply chains. CSX therefore evaluates capital projects by how well they improve safety, reliability, fluidity, resilience and the ability to support customer growth.
CSX invested more than $2.4 billion in its network in 2025. Two unusually large projects were completed or substantially advanced during the same period:
- The Howard Street Tunnel project removed a longstanding single-stack bottleneck on the I-95 intermodal corridor through Baltimore. CSX closed the line for roughly nine months and worked around the clock to achieve double-stack clearance in just under nine months—a schedule Kenney said would otherwise have taken three to four years under shorter, recurring work windows. She placed the total project cost at more than $450 million.
- The Blue Ridge Subdivision rebuild restored roughly 60 miles of track damaged by a major storm. Although it was not CSX's highest-volume route, rebuilding it was important because the line provides network resilience when other corridors are disrupted. The work took a little more than a year.
CSX also invested in the 75th Street flyover in Chicago and other network improvements. The current program is less concentrated in headline projects and more focused on terminal and yard fluidity, including new sidings, powered switches and other changes that allow trains to meet, pass and move through facilities more reliably.
Creating more ways for customers to use rail
Kenney outlined three complementary growth channels beyond the traditional model of serving an existing rail-connected plant:
- Industrial development. CSX helps customers evaluate sites, design rail infrastructure, coordinate with economic-development organizations and navigate projects from early planning through contracting. Its site-selection program generally includes about 80 certified sites, while its broader industrial-development pipeline contains more than 500 projects spanning a wide range of commodities and facility types.
- Short-line partnerships. CSX connects with approximately 240 short-line railroads, which extend its reach and are critical to many customers' growth. The company is placing greater leadership attention on these relationships and wants feedback from both short lines and the shippers they serve.
- Transloading. CSX's Transflo network has 46 locations and can connect non-rail-served origins or destinations to the railroad. The company had opened three new terminals during the previous 12 months and expanded other sites. Kenney said CSX would continue to add capacity and locations in response to customer demand.
Audience Q&A
Railcar and crew availability. Kenney said railcar availability was generally in a good position, although covered-coil equipment for metals was tighter and receiving additional investment. Long-range customer forecasts help CSX plan system cars, facility work and staffing. A frontline conductor generally takes about six months—and sometimes longer—to train, making early notice of new projects or volume increases especially valuable.
First- and last-mile service. CSX tracks customer-switch performance and was achieving above 90% across much of its network, though results varied by location. Kenney and the commercial leadership team review the data with operating leaders every Friday. Summer vacations and higher employee leave around the July 4 period had tightened crew availability in some locations, with conditions expected to ease through August and September.
Chicago operating changes. Asked about a recent Chicago yard change and its potential winter impact, Kenney acknowledged that the first several weeks required coordination and adjustment. CSX had since refined the operating plan and believed the remaining transition issues were largely behind it. The company expected the revised design to support a more fluid operation through the end of the year and into winter.
Proposed transcontinental merger. Kenney reiterated CSX's publicly stated concern that the proposed transaction could disturb the current competitive balance among the major U.S. and Canadian railroads and reduce customer options. CSX's objective, she said, is not special treatment but the ability to continue competing for shippers that value its services. The company planned to participate fully in the Surface Transportation Board's review process.
Key takeaway
CSX sees an uneven but improving freight environment and is positioning rail as a practical answer to tightening truck capacity, renewed U.S. industrial investment and rising power and infrastructure demand. Its strategy combines reliable core operations with targeted network investment, industrial-development support, stronger short-line relationships and expanded transloading options. Kenney repeatedly invited customers to share forecasts and potential projects early so CSX can prepare the equipment, crews and infrastructure needed to grow with them.