"One-stop" cyber shopping is goal - Brief Article

Railway Age, August, 2000

Six major railroads announced July 26 that they are taking steps to create "an open electronic exchange to link buyers and sellers with goods and services across the North American railroad industry." What they have in mind is "one-stop cyber shopping," with suppliers having "fast open access to an e-marketplace for their goods and services." The railroads--Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific--said they plan to form a new company to own and operate the exchange.

They believe suppliers will benefit from "an increased customer base as well as the opportunity to reduce costs of both sales and order management." So far, the initial phase of a development study has been completed. As plans progress, other companies will be invited to join the website marketplace.