Professor John Strong explores the financial forces shaping U.S. Railroads in recent podcast
John S. Strong, CSX Professor of Finance and Economics at William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business, was recently featured on the Reconnect America podcast, where he discussed the financial and regulatory forces that have reshaped rail transportation in the United States over the past four decades.
Hosted by Bill Moyer, the conversation examines the origins and impact of Precision Scheduled Railroading, an operating model that has transformed how freight railroads manage costs, schedules, and assets. Strong’s research has been widely recognized for connecting operational changes in the rail industry to broader shifts in financial markets and investor behavior.
During the episode, Strong explains how deregulation in both the railroad and financial sectors created the conditions for major structural change. Railroads gained the flexibility to abandon less profitable routes, consolidate operations, and focus on high-volume, long-distance shipping. At the same time, the rise of large institutional investors, particularly index funds, altered corporate oversight, opening the door to more activist forms of shareholder influence.
That combination helped pave the way for Precision Scheduled Railroading, which emphasizes efficiency through running fewer, longer trains and tightly managing resources. As Strong notes, the model has been driven as much by financial incentives as by operational strategy, with activist investors playing a key role in pushing its adoption across North America.
“The way I think about this is that we’ve created an efficiency-focused model that doesn’t leave much room for resilience or slack in the system,” Strong said during the interview.
The conversation also looks at the broader implications of these shifts. As financial priorities increasingly shape decision-making in the rail industry, questions have emerged about competition, safety, service reliability, and the long-term role of rail as critical national infrastructure.
Strong’s perspective draws on decades of research in transportation finance, infrastructure, and global markets. In addition to his work on rail, his scholarship spans the airline industry, air traffic control, and retail finance, reflecting a career focused on how large systems evolve under changing regulatory and financial conditions.
Strong has received widespread recognition for his teaching over four decades, including twenty William & Mary Outstanding Professor awards, the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award, and the Graves Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching. Strong’s global experience is reflected in having worked in 48 countries on six continents during his career. He has worked advising organizations such as the National Academy of Sciences, the World Bank and the U.S. Department of Transportation on infrastructure and regulatory issues.
The Reconnect America podcast is part of a broader series exploring the future of U.S. rail and its role in economic and environmental sustainability. Strong’s episode offers a deeper look at how past policy decisions and financial trends continue to shape the industry today.