Railroads serving the eastern U.S. saw better third-quarter results from their coal segments than their western counterparts did, and executives cited the strong export market as a factor.

Norfolk Southern Corp.'s coal operating revenue increased 3.3% year over year to $464 million, while CSX Corp. saw a 14% boost in coal revenue to $588 million.

Kansas City Southern reported a 23% year-over-year decrease in utility coal revenue to $35.4 million, and Union Pacific Corp. saw a 3% year-over-year decline in third-quarter coal and coke volume. Union Pacific does not provide specific revenue figures for coal.

Texas-based BNSF Railway Co., which has shipped the most coal recently among U.S. carriers, saw a 6% year-over-year growth in its coal revenue to $1.1 billion and a 5% year-over-year decline in volume to 502,000 carloads during the third quarter.

Brian Hancock, Kansas City Southern's executive vice president and chief innovation officer, said the company's shipments are shifting away from domestic coal and focusing more on refined products and the automotive industry.

Norfolk Southern's executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Alan Shaw, said on an Oct. 24 earnings call that coal prices and growth in exports helped offset a decline in domestic utility demand. Although coal shipments declined 4% in the third quarter to 28.4 million tons, fourth-quarter coal revenues are expected to surpass year-ago levels due to higher volumes and average revenue per unit.

CSX also anticipates the seaborne market to remain "very strong" in the fourth quarter and said low domestic stockpiles could be "a good story for Q4 for us" as power companies seek spot coal shipments heading into the winter months and early 2019.

While some coal producers complained of transportation delays in the first and second quarters, Arch Coal Inc. reported better rail service in the most recent period.

Arch President and COO Paul Lang said the company had "a lot of problems" with Union Pacific's rail shipments out of Colorado and along the West Coast in the second quarter, but "UP did a good job and responded to our issues."

CSX "had a pretty good quarter overall," Lang said, and Norfolk Southern "started off pretty rough" but "worked through their issues."

Michael Wheeler, executive vice president and COO of Norfolk Southern, said the railroad's service levels are improving, "as evidenced by our service composite, speed and dwell all improving sequentially."