The Railroad Environmental Conference (RREC) celebrated its 26th annual event this year on 29-30 October 2024. This two-day conference, held at the I-Hotel and Illinois Conference Center in Champaign, IL, had approximately 400 registrants who had the opportunity to hear over 60 different spoken and poster presentations. Many attendees were heard discussing the high-quality program and presentations as well as the networking opportunities among railroad professionals.
RREC featured two women keynote speakers. The conference speaker was Dr. Lee Kindberg, Maersk (retired). The title of her address was “Agility and Decarbonization – Nothing is Certain Except Change”. Janet Drysdale, CN Railway Senior Vice President and Chief Stakeholder Relations Officer, was keynote speaker for the AREMA Committee 13 Banquet.
During the conference the Association of American Railroads (AAR) honored four railroaders for their commitment to sustainability and advancing the industry’s environmental efforts. The 2024 John H. Chafee Award for Environmental Excellence went to Union Pacific’s Jason Fox, the Environmental Excellence Award to Canadian National’s Reid Bodley, and the Career Achievement Award to both Canadian National’s Seble Afework and CPKC’s LeeAnn Thomas. These are the highest honors for environmental professionals in the railroad industry and are presented annually at RREC. Detailed information on these awards and their winners were featured in Railway Age, Progressive Railroading, and on the AAR website.
Please join us on 12 – 13 November 2025 in Champaign, IL for the 27th RREC.