Railroad News

Amtrak will begin rail service today at a new regional multimodal transportation center in Alton, Illinois, the Illinois Department of Transportation announced.

Located at 1 Golf Road in Alton, the new facility will replace a train station on College Road that Amtrak has served for 89 years. The College Road station, which is owned by Union Pacific Railroad and leased by Amtrak, is slated for demolition.

The Port of Corpus Christi and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have signed a partnership agreement for a project that would deepen and widen the Corpus Christi Ship Channel.

The project calls for widening the channel to 530 feet, plus additional barge shelves, to allow for two-way vessel and barge traffic. In addition, the project would deepen the channel to 54 feet to allow for safe passage of deep draft vessels, port officials said Monday in a press release.

Caltrain today will begin lowering horn noise from trains passing through certain stations in California.

The railroad chose the stations for horn-use reduction based on their configurations. For example, a train passing through the San Bruno, Belmont and San Carlos stations only needs to sound one short horn blast as it approaches because those stations have track and platforms that are separate from street level.

TraPac, LLC, launched the use of a planning management system by Tideworks Technology Inc. at its Los Angeles container facility.

TraPac is utilizing the Tideworks Spinnaker Planning Management System to support the automation of its on-dock rail operations at the Port of Los Angeles. This is part of TraPac's larger project to automate rail operations at its Los Angeles container facility in order to effectively manage increasing rail volumes.

TraPac, LLC, launched the use of a planning management system by Tideworks Technology Inc. at its Los Angeles container facility.

TraPac is utilizing the Tideworks Spinnaker Planning Management System to support the automation of its on-dock rail operations at the Port of Los Angeles. This is part of TraPac's larger project to automate rail operations at its Los Angeles container facility in order to effectively manage increasing rail volumes.

TraPac, LLC, launched the use of a planning management system by Tideworks Technology Inc. at its Los Angeles container facility.

TraPac is utilizing the Tideworks Spinnaker Planning Management System to support the automation of its on-dock rail operations at the Port of Los Angeles. This is part of TraPac's larger project to automate rail operations at its Los Angeles container facility in order to effectively manage increasing rail volumes.

Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI) provided a preview of the activities and sponsors of the upcoming inaugural U.S. Rail Safety Week (RSW).

RSW will take place Sept. 24-30 with a goal of raising awareness for pedestrians and drivers on ways they can keep themselves safe around railroad tracks and at highway-rail grade crossings.

Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI) provided a preview of the activities and sponsors of the upcoming inaugural U.S. Rail Safety Week (RSW).

RSW will take place Sept. 24-30 with a goal of raising awareness for pedestrians and drivers on ways they can keep themselves safe around railroad tracks and at highway-rail grade crossings.

Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI) provided a preview of the activities and sponsors of the upcoming inaugural U.S. Rail Safety Week (RSW).

RSW will take place Sept. 24-30 with a goal of raising awareness for pedestrians and drivers on ways they can keep themselves safe around railroad tracks and at highway-rail grade crossings.

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The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending September 9, 2017.

CSX Corp. has eliminated 2,700 jobs so far this year, as the Class I works through its transition to a more efficient operating plan, Chief Financial Officer Frank Lonegro told investors at a conference last week.

In addition to the 2,700 employees, CSX has eliminated 1,000 contractor and consultant positions, Lonegro said during a presentation at the Cowen & Co. Global Transportation Conference held in Boston.

CSX Corp. has eliminated 2,700 jobs so far this year, as the Class I works through its transition to a more efficient operating plan, Chief Financial Officer Frank Lonegro told investors at a conference last week.

In addition to the 2,700 employees, CSX has eliminated 1,000 contractor and consultant positions, Lonegro said during a presentation at the Cowen & Co. Global Transportation Conference held in Boston.

OmniTRAX has named Pierre-Luc Mathieu to lead OmniTRAX Energy Solutions (EOS) as president, effective immediately.

"Pierre is the perfect executive to oversee the OES team and deliver strong growth to the OmniTRAX organization. His experience and expertise will help allocate the right resources to capitalize on the strength of our assets. We're looking forward to seeing great things from Pierre and OES," said Kevin Shuba, chief executive officer of OmniTRAX.

OmniTRAX has named Pierre-Luc Mathieu to lead OmniTRAX Energy Solutions (EOS) as president, effective immediately.

"Pierre is the perfect executive to oversee the OES team and deliver strong growth to the OmniTRAX organization. His experience and expertise will help allocate the right resources to capitalize on the strength of our assets. We're looking forward to seeing great things from Pierre and OES," said Kevin Shuba, chief executive officer of OmniTRAX.

OmniTRAX has named Pierre-Luc Mathieu to lead OmniTRAX Energy Solutions (EOS) as president, effective immediately.

"Pierre is the perfect executive to oversee the OES team and deliver strong growth to the OmniTRAX organization. His experience and expertise will help allocate the right resources to capitalize on the strength of our assets. We're looking forward to seeing great things from Pierre and OES," said Kevin Shuba, chief executive officer of OmniTRAX.

CN and Conuma Coal Resources have resumed direct rail service to the Wolverine Mine in northern British Columbia, the Class I announced on its website.

The mine was closed in 2014 as commodity prices dropped. As the coal market began to rebound, Conuma purchased and reopened the mine in 2016.

CN and Conuma Coal Resources have resumed direct rail service to the Wolverine Mine in northern British Columbia, the Class I announced on its website.

The mine was closed in 2014 as commodity prices dropped. As the coal market began to rebound, Conuma purchased and reopened the mine in 2016.

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) yesterday began a series of maintenance, cleaning and repair work on the Q line as part of the agency's FASTRACK program.

The program incorporates various elements of the ongoing Subway Action Plan, which addresses key delay-causing incidents involving signals, track and power.

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) has closed the request for proposals (RFP) stage for station improvements along GO Transit's Stouffville rail line.

In September 2016, the agency prequalified three teams to respond to the RFP. All three have submitted their proposals by the Sept. 8 deadline, IO officials said in a press release.

U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) announced last week that Denny Wirtz has been appointed staff director of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials.

Wirtz has served as Shuster's legislative director since 2015, after joining the T&I Committee's staff when the congressman became chairman in January 2013, according to a committee press release.