A “lifelong rail activist” and thought leader in freight and passenger rail, Posner was honored for more than four decades of service and innovation. His leadership has supported IAIS’s success and culture, helping it grow into one of the nation’s most connected and service-driven regional railroads.

To celebrate the occasion, IAIS brought its historic business car, the Hawkeye, to Union Station in Denver, where it hosted friends, family, and industry colleagues during the weeklong conference. The fully restored, Amtrak-certified heavyweight car is a symbol of the company’s commitment to honoring rail heritage while advancing modern operations.

“While it is hard to cram a lifetime of experience-OK, a partial lifetime, as I am far from retired-into eight minutes, this was a great opportunity to raise the consciousness of our industry peers on many subjects: safety, policy, education, and also about the willingness to fail, doing the right thing, and attracting the next generation. 

But most importantly, it was about family. IAIS is a family in its own way and is part of the RDC family of companies,” said Posner during his acceptance speech at the Short Line Railroad Hall of Fame induction, where he was introduced by his daughter and fellow IAIS board member, Ida Posner.

“And of course, my first railroad lifetime achievement was having Ida follow me into the industry eight years ago!”

In addition to honoring Posner’s contributions, IAIS was named 2025 Regional Railroad of the Year by Railway Age. The award highlights IAIS’s unique network position as the only Class II railroad in the U.S. with direct connections to all six Class I carriers, enabling broad market access from a single Midwest corridor. It also reflects the railroad’s safety culture, operational performance, infrastructure investments, and dedication to customer-first service.

Iowa Interstate Railroad also received the 2025 Environmental Award for its work developing the Newton Energy Rail Park, a facility built to support the wind energy sector. Located in one of the most active wind corridors in North America, the Newton site enables efficient rail movement of turbine blades and tower sections — reducing emissions and supporting clean energy supply chains across Iowa and the Upper Midwest.Together, these recognitions reflect IAIS’s ongoing investment in infrastructure, innovation, and environmental leadership — all made possible by the people who power the railroad each day.

About Iowa Interstate Railroad

Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) operates nearly 600 miles of track between Omaha, Nebraska, and Chicago, Illinois, with intermodal terminals on both ends. Owned by Railroad Development Corporation (RDC) and iCON Infrastructure, IAIS provides freight service to agricultural, energy, and manufacturing customers while combining Class I connectivity with the service and flexibility of a regional carrier.

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Transloading of commodities between transportation modes is a growing segment of the national supply chain; IAIS is proud to provide another option in the Iowa City / Cedar Rapids corridor to shippers lacking direct access to rail service. Shippers can utilize this additional optionality to leverage multiple modes and connecting rail gateways to drive value to the end user.

“As part of our continuing growth strategy, Iowa Interstate Railroad is excited to have successfully acquired this parcel from our friends and neighbors at the City of Iowa City for the development of this new transloading facility. As we have seen with the numerous other transloading sites existing along our network, these facilities provide significant value to our customers and open the door for many other companies to become rail shippers,” said Joe Parsons, IAIS President and CEO.

Rail transportation is the most fuel-efficient way to move freight over land. The City, by partnering with IAIS to develop this facility, recognizes this increased fuel-efficiency both reduces shippers’ long haul freight costs and provides public environmental benefits. According to the EPA, moving freight by rail versus truck lowers greenhouse gas emissions by up to 75%. In 2021, IAIS joined the EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership, demonstrating its strong environmental leadership and corporate responsibility.

“The City is proud to partner with Iowa Interstate Railroad on this project, which will both support existing industry and help attract new business to the Iowa City area. The transportation sector accounts for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions nationally and a quarter of our emissions locally. Projects like this are an excellent example of how actions on the local level contribute to solutions at a larger scale. As we look for ways to continue to bolster our economy while making significant progress towards achieving our climate action goals, this partnership reflects the values and collaborative spirit of Iowa City,” said City Manager Geoff Fruin.

Founded in 1984, Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Cedar Rapids, IA, based Class-II regional railroad company operating in the Midwest region between Chicago, Peoria, and the Omaha areas. It is one of the only regional railroads in the country with direct connections to all 7 Class-I railroads.

For more information about IAIS, please visit www.iaisrr.com.
For information about the City of Iowa City, please visit www.icgov.org.

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IAIS & RDC Chairman Henry Posner III commented, “While Bob has retired from his job as President of RDC, he remains a board member of IAIS. He set the tone for the trajectory of the company with his focus on investing in both our people and facilities, and this is reflected in Silvis, which as our eastern gateway also represents growth and connectivity.”

IAIS President Joe Parsons added, “We have continued to add tracks on the footprint of what was at one time the Rock Island’s most important hump yard and eastern gateway. We do blocking for both the Chicago and Peoria gateways at Silvis, and it was also our first major new-build facility with our combination car repair shop and yard office. With that significance to the IAIS system in mind,

naming this key facility after Bob is only natural due to his many contributions over the years that allowed IAIS to not only survive, but thrive.”

IAIS director and iCON Partner Rory Hunter concluded, “Bob’s involvement was critical to getting the IAIS to where it is today, and a key element of our investment in the company. We are proud to be part of the recognition of his contributions through the dedication of Pietrandrea Yard. We look forward to having Bob on the IAIS Board for many years to
come.”

For these reasons the IAIS board at its October 19 meeting formerly affirmed the naming of Silvis yard as Pietrandrea Yard.

RDC (www.rrdc.com) is a family-owned railway investment and management company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Its business model is based on partnerships, including interests in the Iowa Interstate Railroad; Peru’s Ferrocarril Central Andino; UK Battery train manufacturer Vivarail; German passenger & freight rail operator RDC Deutschland; French first/last mile freight operator RegioRail; and Belgium-based multimodal logistics integrator Eurorail. In addition, RDC is now launching Pop-Up Metro in North America, an innovative approach to fast-start transit deploying battery trains on existing light-density freight rail lines. For further information, please contact: Henry Posner III, Chairman t: +1 (412) 928-7704 RDC e: hposneriii@rrdc.com.

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IAIS Chairman, Henry Posner III, was present at Union Station in Washington, D.C. on January 12, 2022 to witness the unveiling of the Operation Lifesaver commemorative Amtrak Locomotive. Operation Lifesaver is celebrating its 50th anniversary in a yearlong celebration in 2022. The Locomotive is painted in a custom paint scheme with the organization’s slogan on the side, “See Tracks? Thank Train!”.

Operation LifeSaver (OLI) is a non – profit organization that was established in 1972 to address the rising number of Highway Grade Crossing accidents. BY 1986 this non-profit expanded to help support and coordinate the efforts of Operation Lifesaver Nationwide. Today this program is sponsored by various federal, state, and local agencies, as well as America’s railroad systems.

IAIS Chairman, Henry Posner III, continues his support through funding, grants and volunteering. This effort assists in the creation of media related resources, distribution of resources and education.

Left: OLI’s commemorative locomotive is painted in a custom black and yellow color scheme with one of the organization’s slogans on the side, “See Tracks? Think Train!” (Photo from media.amtrak.com)

See the full details at https://oli.org/about-us/news/amtrak-unveils-commemorative-operation-lifesaver-50th-anniversary-locomotive

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Cedar Rapids, IA – Iowa Interstate Railroad, LLC (IAIS) today announced that it joined the SmartWay^® Transport Partnership, an innovative collaboration between U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry that provides a framework to assess the environmental and energy efficiency of goods movement supply chains.

IAIS will contribute to the Partnership’s savings of 312 million barrels of oil, $41.8 billion on fuel costs,133 metric tons of CO2, 2.6 million tons of NOx and 109 million tons of PM. This is equivalent to eliminating annual energy use in over 20 million homes. By joining SmartWay Transport Partnership, IAIS demonstrates its strong environmental leadership and corporate responsibility.

“Iowa Interstate Railroad is proud to partner with the U.S. EPA by joining the SmartWay^® Transport Partnership.  Our participation, along with our continued investments in energy management technologies, reaffirms our commitment to recognizing environmental issues and continuing to reduce our carbon footprint.”, said Joe Parsons, IAIS President / CEO.

Developed jointly in early 2003 by EPA and Charter Partners represented by industry stakeholders, environmental groups, American Trucking Associations, and Business for Social Responsibility, this innovative program was launched in 2004. Partners rely upon SmartWay tools and approaches to track and reduce emissions and fuel use from goods movement.

The Partnership currently has over 3,000 Partners including shipper, logistics companies, truck, rail, barge, and multimodal carriers.

Founded in 1984, Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Cedar Rapids, IA based class-II freight railway company operating in the Midwestern region of the USA between Chicago, Peoria and Omaha.  

For more information about IAIS, please visit www.iaisrr.com.

For information about the SmartWay Transport Partnership visit www.epa.gov/smartway.

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June 30^th, 2021

The Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) today celebrated the 100th birthday of its founding Chairman Dr. Paul H Banner with a reminder to the railroad community of his numerous contributions to the industry. This was commemorated with the naming of its most recently purchased locomotive, Wabtec ES44AC #519, the “Paul H Banner” upon its delivery in December of 2019.

IAIS Chairman Henry Posner III commented, “I have been honored to follow in Paul Banner’s footsteps, and am proud that we are in a position to commemorate his contributions to the industry in such a manner. It is easy to forget the audacity of the formation of our company from the abandoned main line of the Rock Island in 1984: the fact that new locomotives are being bought by a railroad that began under such dire circumstances is testament to many things, including the remarkable story of railroad deregulation. But on this day we focus on the vision and tenacity of its founders, Paul Banner being the first among equals, and celebrate the fact that he is alive and well in retirement.”

Dr. Banner’s service to the industry prior to IAIS includes leadership roles at Southern Railway and the Rock Island.

IAIS President Joe Parsons added, “The Iowa Interstate Railroad survives today as a critical part of the nation’s freight rail network because of a few key railroaders who saw something in our footprint that many others did not.  Dr. Banner is one of those visionaries.”

The Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Cedar Rapids, IA based freight railway company operating in the Midwestern region of the USA between Chicago, Peoria and Omaha. Further information is available at: www.iaisrr.com.

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