• TPM25
  • March 2-5, 2025 | Long Beach Convention Center

Katie Farmer

BNSF Railway

President and CEO

Katie Farmer was named President and Chief Executive Officer of BNSF in 2021, and she also leads BNSF’s Board of Directors. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Texas Christian University. Katie has over 30 years of railroading experience, having joined Burlington Northern in 1992 as a management trainee. During that time, she has held a variety of positions and leadership roles in sales, marketing, finance, customer solutions, and network operations.

Sessions With Katie Farmer

Monday, 3 March

  • 11:45am - 12:30pm (PST) / 03/mar/2025 07:45 pm - 03/mar/2025 08:30 pm

    TPM25 CEO Series: A Conversation with BNSF Railway's Katie Farmer

    BNSF Railway’s Barstow International Gateway represents a $1.5 billion investment into a 4,500-acre rail and logistics hub in Southern California — the first of its kind for a Class 1 railroad. It will streamline container movement by eliminating multiple drays on the highway, moving ocean containers directly by rail to Barstow for on-site transloading and transfer to outbound trains. If successful, Barstow could bring smoother operations for ocean carriers, faster turnarounds for shippers using 53-foot containers and chassis, and less reliance on owner-operators. It also could ease the pressure on the international intermodal network and marine chassis providers to handle volume that grew by double digits in 2024. In this session, Ari Ashe, senior editor for intermodal at the Journal of Commerce, will sit down with BNSF CEO Katie Farmer to discuss Barstow’s future and the larger picture of moving cargo out of West Coast ports and delivering a reliable service product to cargo owners.

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