No, it looks like the notorious train haters at the oil industry funded "Reason" Foundation came up with this. I am on the Reason Foundation distribution lists, and see this kind of diatribe on a monthly basis. It is boring, out of date, and now untrue, as well.

The Starlight in the post Davidson era at UP is now at 85% on time performance. It is now on-time so often that the "smoking stops" run up to a half an hour to kill time on the still grossly padded schedule. Performance on Capitols, LOSSAN North and other UP corridors is also at a level nearly comparable to BNSF's very good record. UP completed substantial rehab work on the route over the last three years and this has helped to eliminate many slow orders in Oregon and Northern California. UP's new management, has taken a different approach, called cooperation, since they also want assistance from the States along the corridor for a number of key infrastructure projects, like the Colton Crossing grade separation.