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BNSF Promotes Morehouse to Chief Operations Officer

BNSF Railway named Craig Morehouse executive vice president and chief operations officer, taking over from Matt Garland who departed after five months in the role. Garland, who joined BNSF in 2001 and assumed the top operations post in January, is pursuing an opportunity outside the railroad. Chief Executive Katie Farmer praised Garland's contributions while expressing confidence in Morehouse's ability to drive operational excellence.

Morehouse previously served as senior vice president of network operations and service design. He assumes oversight of transportation, engineering, mechanical, service design, safety, training, operations support, resource protection, and environmental functions.

Morehouse joined BNSF in 2006 as a management trainee and held several leadership roles in engineering before serving as general manager of the Northwest Division and vice president of North Region operations.

The leadership transition occurs as Berkshire Hathaway, BNSF's parent company, continues pressing the carrier to improve efficiency. This pressure intensified after Greg Abel succeeded Warren Buffett as Berkshire Hathaway's president and chief executive in January. Western rival Union Pacific is also pursuing a merger with Norfolk Southern, which would create the first transcontinental railroad if approved by federal regulators.

BNSF reported first-quarter revenue of $5.693 billion, up 1 percent, with operating income climbing 6 percent to $1.820 billion.