Railroad News

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) yesterday announced the availability of $24 million in grant funding to initiate, restore or enhance intercity passenger-rail service.

The grants provide intercity passenger-rail operating assistance for staffing, fuel, electricity, station expenses, lease payments on rolling stock, routine planned maintenance, host railroad access costs, train yard operation and administrative costs, FRA officials said in a press release.

Florida's Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport) yesterday announced it has been awarded a $20 million federal grant to reconstruct more than 100 acres of existing terminal pavement at the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal at the port’s Blount Island Marine Terminal. 

The funding was awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program, and is part of a $238 million plan to expand and upgrade the facility to accommodate more containers, Jaxport officials said in a press release.

U.S. freight railroads' traffic in October dropped 8.1 percent to 2,556,421 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers compared with the same month a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

The total number of carloads fell 8.4 percent to 112,703 units, while the number of intermodal units dropped 7.8 percent to 111,910 units during the month.

Keolis Group Supervisory Board Chairman Joel Lebreton appointed Patrick Jeantet executive chairman, effective in early 2020. Kathleen Wantz O'Rourke will serve as acting chairwoman during the transition. Previously, Jeantet served as chairman and chief executive officer of SNCF Reseau; deputy chairman of the SNCF Executive Board; Keolis’ international deputy CEO; Keolis’ CEO in France; and chief operating officer of Groupe Aeroports de Paris, Keolis officials said in a press release.

Universal Logistics Holdings Inc. acquired Roadrunner Intermodal from Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. Roadrunner Intermodal is a nationwide drayage provider, servicing major port and rail locations throughout the United States, and is made up of Roadrunner Intermodal Services LLC, Morgan Southern Inc., Wando Trucking LLC and Central Cal Transportation LLC. Universal officials say they anticipate that Roadrunner Intermodal will operate as a subsidiary of Universal Intermodal Inc. 

The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) yesterday awarded contracts worth CA$4.38 million to two architectural firms to complete the first phase of design for three stations on the Blue Line rail extension in Montreal. 

The Lemay Bisson Fortin Architectes en consortium will design the Anjou and Pie-IX stations, and ACDF Architecture will design the Langelier station, STM officials said in a press release.

MTA Metro-North Railroad yesterday announced it has implemented positive train control (PTC) on almost 90 percent of the Hudson Line in New York.

All Hudson Line trains, including Amtrak and CSX trains, are now operating with PTC between Marble Hill and Poughkeepsie, a distance of 67 miles. 

The Association for American Railroads (AAR) and GoRail yesterday honored U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) with the Railroad Achievement Award for her leadership on federal policies that help ensure the health of the U.S. railroad network.

The ranking member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, Granger was presented the award yesterday during a visit to BNSF Railway Co.'s national dispatching center in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board this week voted to electrify its commuter-rail fleet and increase service frequency. 

The board adopted a resolution that instructs MBTA officials to prepare immediately to launch electrified pilot programs on the Providence/Stoughton Line, the Fairmount Line, and a section of the Newburyport/Rockport Line connecting Boston to Lynn, Revere, Chelsea and Everett, local media reported yesterday.

Houston-area voters yesterday approved the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County's (METRO) $3.5 billion bond referendum to fund new transit projects, including a 16-mile extension of METRORail light-rail service to William P. Hobby Airport.

The borrowing will support the METRONext Moving Forward Plan, which the agency developed over the past three years of gathering public input, METRO officials said in a press release.

Railroad, city and state officials gathered yesterday in Columbus, Indiana, to break ground on a $35 million railroad overpass on the city's west side.

The new overpass and cloverleaf interchange at State Road 46 and State Road 11 will enable motorists to avoid being stopped or slowed due to increasing rail traffic that's projected to occur on the Louisville & Indiana Railroad tracks that pass through Columbus, city officials said in a press release.

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U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) officials last week kicked off construction of the new Volpe Center, a 400,000-square-foot federal research facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The project calls for reducing the current Volpe Center from 14 acres to 4 acres, and from six buildings to one building, in order to reduce operating costs and unlock land for development by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USDOT officials said in a press release.

TransLink this month is seeking public feedback on the elevated guideway placement and accessibility of the proposed 10-mile SkyTrain Expo Line extension from the King George Station to Langley, British Columbia.

TransLink officials are soliciting the public's input on three proposed SkyTrain guideway placements, which would run along Fraser Highway either on the north or south side of the roadway, or in the center of the median.

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) has introduced legislation that would ban smoking on Amtrak trains.

Amtrak has an internal policy that prohibits smoking on trains, but the legislation would make that policy a federal law. Consistent with the railroad's policy, the federal ban would apply to all tobacco use, as well as electronic cigarettes, Carper said in a press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board yesterday awarded a $36 million contract to Daniel O’Connell and Sons Inc. for station and accessibility improvements at Natick Center Station on the Framingham/Worcester commuter-rail line in Natick, Massachusetts. 

The project will include the construction of two elevators, two accessible ramps and two stairways, as well as the replacement of all ground level train platforms with full-length, high-level platforms, MBTA officials said in a press release.