Railroad News

Plasser & Theurer has named Daniel Siedl chief operating officer and Winfried Budenbender chief technical officer. Most recently, Siedl led site development and process optimization. Prior to joining the company, he was managing director of ROBEL Bahnbaumaschinen GmbH in Germany. Budenbender previously held management positions in various companies in the technical sector, Plasser & Theurer officials said in a press release.

Alstom announced it has equipped the Wuppertal Suspension Railway in western Germany with its Atlas ETCS train control system under a contract with WSW mobil GmbH. The system includes interlocking and a radio block center, as well as an interface to the computer-aided operation control system. The entry into service marks the completion of Alstom’s first full train control and signaling contract in Germany, Alstom officials said in a press release.

The TCU/IAM Advanced Training Services Department held a dedication ceremony last month for a recently donated Union Pacific Railroad rail car at the Excelsior Springs Job Corps Center in Missouri.

Students enrolled in the TCU/IAM trade will now be able to learn the skills of their craft by practicing on a real rail car stationed on campus, Transportation Communications Union/International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers officials said in a press release.

VIA Rail Canada Inc. logged a 6.4 percent increase in ridership and a nearly 5 percent increase in passenger revenue in the second quarter compared with the same period last year.

Total passenger revenue in the quarter grew to CA$94.3 million, an increase of CA$420,000, compared with the previous year’s quarter. Total revenue reached nearly CA$100 million, according to VIA Rail’s financial report.

CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway issued advisories yesterday for service that will be affected by Hurricane Dorian.

CSX is anticipating the storm will impact portions of its network in Florida today, and in Georgia and the Carolinas today and tomorrow. As a result, freight moving through affected areas may be delayed or rerouted, CSX officials announced on Twitter.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (LA Metro) board last week awarded a $25.9 million contract to KDG+DE Construction Support Services to provide construction support for the Airport Metro Connector (AMC) 96th Street Transit Station project. 

The award marks the first time LA Metro has selected a woman-led consultant group to work on a large project, authority officials said in a press release. 

Sound Transit yesterday began construction of the 8.5-mile Lynnwood Link Extension, which will extend light rail from the Northgate Station in Seattle to the Lynnwood City Center Station in Lynnwood, Washington, by 2024.

The Stacy & Witbeck/Kiewit/Hoffman joint venture and the Skanska L300 joint venture are tasked with construction of the $2.9 billion extension, which includes four new stations in Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Shoreline and Seattle, Sound Transit officials said in a press release.

The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) last week introduced a multiride fare ticket for California college students as part of a larger Stride On Board rewards program. 

The ticket offers riders with a valid student identification card a 25 percent discount for six rides over a one-year period on the Capitol Corridor train, which runs between San Jose and Auburn, California, CCJPA officials said in a press release.

Faster Amtrak service between St. Louis and Chicago has been delayed as a result of ongoing work to install and test positive train control (PTC), the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported late last week.

Late last year, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) indicated that an eight-year, $1.95 billion project to upgrade the St. Louis-to-Chicago corridor for Amtrak service would be ready for increased train speed by summer 2019. However, as of now, the trains still are not allowed to operate faster than 79 mph, the newspaper reported.

GoRail last month hired Brett Sebastian to oversee its operations in Arizona and in the southcentral  United States.

Sebastian has worked in public policy for several years in Washington D.C., Austin, Texas, and Oklahoma City, where he has acted as an advocate for the infrastructure, health care and construction industries, GoRail officials said in a press release.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) last week announced its high-speed rail project in the Central Valley has created more than 3,000 construction jobs. 

In partnership with local trade unions, the State Building and Construction Trades Council and the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board, the CHSRA has employed operating engineers, electricians, laborers, cement masons and ironworkers, CHSRA officials said in a press release. 

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) last week issued two safety recommendations related to safety messaging for end-of-rail-car doors, following the board's investigation of a fatal rail accident that occurred last year in Pennsylvania.

The incident occurred Sept. 23, 2018, when a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) train struck and killed a 7-year-old child after he fell between two rail cars as he walked through the end-of-rail-car doors while the train moved out of the Alleghany Station.

Freight railroads and ports announced closures and other preparations over the next few days as a precaution against potential storm damage from Hurricane Dorian.

Norfolk Southern Railway last week began planning for the hurricane's potential impact on the Class I's rail operations along the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic coast. NS is providing updates as the storm progresses, and recommended shippers with specific questions to contact their NS customer service representatives.

Several passenger-rail lines in Florida have closed today due to severe weather affecting the southeast coast, as Hurricane Dorian approaches South Florida. 

Suspensions include Tri-Rail service between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach until Sept. 4; Brightline service between West Palm Beach and Miami until Sept. 4; and all train activity on the Central Florida Rail Corridor (CFRC), which includes SunRail in the greater Orlando area and Amtrak, until Sept. 6.

Two Congress representatives visited rail industry businesses in Minnesota and Iowa in recent days.

On Aug. 27, U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa) toured the operations center and rail yard of Iowa Northern Railway Co. in Waterloo, Iowa. The short line operates through the state from Manly to Cedar Rapids.

Metrolink officials yesterday announced the Southern California commuter railroad has appointed the following to new positions: Justin Fornelli, chief of program delivery; Jennifer Vides Hirsch, chief marketing and communications officer; and Don Filippi, chief of safety, security and compliance. 

Fornelli has been promoted permanently to chief of program delivery after serving in an acting capacity. He will oversee the agency’s Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion Program and state-of-good-repair projects, Metrolink officials said in a press release.

The Greenbrier Cos. Inc. promoted Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Lorie Tekorius to president and COO. Tekorius will lead Greenbrier's strategic planning; its wheels, repair and parts business unit; and its accounting, finance, human resources and global corporate health, safety and security functions. She will continue to chair Greenbrier's executive management committee, composed of its senior management team, Greenbrier officials said in a press release. Tekorius has been with Greenbrier for 24 years in various operating and financial capacities. Prior to her appointment as COO, she served as chief financial officer.

Vossloh Tie Technologies opened a rail products manufacturing facility in Monte Lake, British Columbia, to produce prestressed concrete rail ties for the Canadian market. The facility is designed to produce 100,000 to 350,000 concrete ties annually, and expands the company’s production capacity for Canadian industrial and transit-rail customers nationwide, Vossloh officials said in a press release. Vossloh also installed a spur track that links the facility directly to a primary rail line.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and other government leaders representing the state are calling on the Trump administration to help fund a replacement for the 108-year-old moveable Portal North Bridge.

Murphy, along with New Jersey's federal delegation, held a press event this week to talk about the need for replacing the bridge, its importance to the regional and national economy and to implore the Trump administration and U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to get on board to help fund the project.