Railroad News

Leaders of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and its Highways and Transit Subcommittee are calling for further oversight of a federal competitive grant program after a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found a lack of transparency in projects chosen to receive grants.

The GAO report focused on the selection of projects under the Nationally Significant Freight and Highways Projects (NSFHP) competitive grant program, created under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act in 2015.

The city of Davenport, Iowa, has received a federal grant to improve rail access to an industrial park and manufacturing facility.

The $2.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) will go toward constructing a new interchange track and rail spur to serve a new manufacturing facility and other businesses located in the Davenport industrial park.

The city of Davenport, Iowa, has received a federal grant to improve rail access to an industrial park and manufacturing facility.

The $2.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) will go toward constructing a new interchange track and rail spur to serve a new manufacturing facility and other businesses located in the Davenport industrial park.

The city of Davenport, Iowa, has received a federal grant to improve rail access to an industrial park and manufacturing facility.

The $2.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) will go toward constructing a new interchange track and rail spur to serve a new manufacturing facility and other businesses located in the Davenport industrial park.

Canadian Pacific (CP) awarded a contract to ENSCO Rail to provide inspection systems for a new track evaluation car.

ENSCO Rail says the car will be the newest track evaluation car in the CP fleet and will be equipped with state-of-the-art track measurement and imaging system technology.

Canadian Pacific (CP) awarded a contract to ENSCO Rail to provide inspection systems for a new track evaluation car.

ENSCO Rail says the car will be the newest track evaluation car in the CP fleet and will be equipped with state-of-the-art track measurement and imaging system technology.

Canadian Pacific (CP) awarded a contract to ENSCO Rail to provide inspection systems for a new track evaluation car.

ENSCO Rail says the car will be the newest track evaluation car in the CP fleet and will be equipped with state-of-the-art track measurement and imaging system technology.

Miller Ingenuity and Maryland Department of Transportation have entered into a collaborative agreement to install Miller Ingenuity's ZoneGuard on Maryland Transit Administration's Baltimore light-rail lines.

ZoneGuard is an electronic roadway worker protection system that combines Train Detection Modules and Train Alert Modules. The system can also be outfitted with wearable devices to provide equipped roadway workers with an alert of an approaching train.

Miller Ingenuity and Maryland Department of Transportation have entered into a collaborative agreement to install Miller Ingenuity's ZoneGuard on Maryland Transit Administration's Baltimore light-rail lines.

ZoneGuard is an electronic roadway worker protection system that combines Train Detection Modules and Train Alert Modules. The system can also be outfitted with wearable devices to provide equipped roadway workers with an alert of an approaching train.

Miller Ingenuity and Maryland Department of Transportation have entered into a collaborative agreement to install Miller Ingenuity's ZoneGuard on Maryland Transit Administration's Baltimore light-rail lines.

ZoneGuard is an electronic roadway worker protection system that combines Train Detection Modules and Train Alert Modules. The system can also be outfitted with wearable devices to provide equipped roadway workers with an alert of an approaching train.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has invested more than $101 million since winter 2015 in capital improvement projects aimed at making the transit system more resilient in severe weather.

The investments followed severe service disruptions in February 2015 that hampered the MBTA's commuter-rail operations and left passengers stranded.

The House tax bill's failure to address long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is a "glaring omission" in efforts to reform the nation's tax code, American Public Transportation Association (APTA) officials told members of Congress last week.

In a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee, APTA Acting President and Chief Executive Officer Ricard White wrote that the proposed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) neglects to include a long-term solution to the trust fund's solvency.

The Port Authority of Allegheny County has implemented a real-time tracking system for light-rail service, the agency announced last week.

The so-called "TrueTime" system enables riders to track the status and location of light-rail trains. Passengers can access the information on a separate website.

The Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) last week approved $52,520 in rail-safety grants for crossing improvements in Tonasket and Yakima County.

The UTC approved a $44,000 grant from the Grade Crossing Protective Fund at the request of Cascade and Columbia River Railroad.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) sent a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means to identify its concerns with the proposed overhaul of the U.S. tax system.

APTA says the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1, "fails to address key priorities of the public transportation industry." The association applauds the upholding of tax-exempt status of municipal bonds, which are used to finance state and local government-sponsored public works, but says repealing the use of Private Activity Bonds (PABs-another infrastructure financing mechanism) would "undermine Congress' stated goal of leveraging a $1 trillion investment in our nation's infrastructure."

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) sent a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means to identify its concerns with the proposed overhaul of the U.S. tax system.

APTA says the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1, "fails to address key priorities of the public transportation industry." The association applauds the upholding of tax-exempt status of municipal bonds, which are used to finance state and local government-sponsored public works, but says repealing the use of Private Activity Bonds (PABs-another infrastructure financing mechanism) would "undermine Congress' stated goal of leveraging a $1 trillion investment in our nation's infrastructure."