Railroad News

Caltrain’s board last week adopted a $155.7 million operating budget and a $47.4 million capital budget for fiscal-year 2020, which begins July 1. 

The operating budget includes $106 million in farebox revenue and $29.9 million in funds from the San Mateo County Transit District, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the city and county of San Francisco.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced a $33 million grant will be awarded to help fund the restoration of passenger-rail service along the U.S. Gulf Coast, the Southern Rail Commission (SRC) reported late last week.

The SRC applied for the grant from the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program. The commission has been working on restoring passenger-rail service to the Gulf Coast since service ended 14 years ago when Hurricane Katrina devastated rail infrastructure there.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Editor

Progressive Railroading and RailTrends® have named Kansas City Southern President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Ottensmeyer the 2019 recipient of the Railroad Innovator Award, which recognizes an individual’s outstanding achievement in the rail industry. KCS’s president since 2015 and CEO since 2016, Ottensmeyer has helmed the railroad during a pivotal stretch in its history.

Hub Group Inc.'s board appointed Phillip Yeager president and chief operating officer, effective July 1. Yeager currently is chief commercial officer and is responsible for the intermodal and truck brokerage operating units. Prior to serving as CCO, Yeager led Hub Group’s intermodal operations, procurement, sales and account management teams, according to a Hub Group press release.

All Hands Fire Equipment LLC was awarded a 27-month contract to provide MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) with over 22,000 flagging lanterns and magnetic bases. NYCT requested a modified version of the company’s Eflare lanterns to meet new specifications and requirements for light beam profile, durability, battery life and lens and body design. The updated lanterns have passed NYCT's field testing and independent testing, and will be delivered this month, according to a company press release.

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) this week received the Bay Area Metro Award, a new awards program to recognize positive impacts on mobility and resilience in the nine-county Bay Area region in California. 

The awards program was launched jointly by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments last year.

The Canadian government has allowed the Oshawa and Hamilton port authorities to form the new Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority, Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced this week.

Both located in Ontario, the Port of Hamilton and Port of Oshawa each are served by Canadian Pacific and CN.

New Jersey Transit hired Bilal Khan as the agency’s chief technology officer for infrastructure and operation. 

Khan has over 17 years of information technology experience. Most recently, he was the technology executive of SHI International, where he advised Fortune 500 companies on cybersecurity, digital workspace and cloud computing, NJ Transit officials said in a press release.

Illinois state lawmakers last week approved a six-year, $33 billion transportation capital program that includes money for improving public transportation and passenger-rail service.

To help pay for the projects, the plan calls for updating the state's motor fuel tax from 19 cents per gallon to 38 cents per gallon. Also, the tax will be indexed to inflation to ensure that the state will have a sustainable revenue source. The fuel tax has not been updated since 1990, according to Illinois State Sen. Martin Sandoval.

Ceres Global Ag Corp. has established a yet-to-be-named joint venture with Steel Reef Infrastructure Corp. that will focus on transloading hydrocarbon products for transportation between the United States and Canada.

The joint venture's facilities will be located at Ceres' Northgate rail terminal in Saskatchewan, Canada, which is served by BNSF Railway Co. The joint venture will begin operations July 1, according to a Ceres press release.

Sound Transit on June 20 will begin construction on the 2.4-mile Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension that will operate along Commerce Street and Stadium Way to the Hilltop District in Tacoma, Washington.

Crews will close roads north of Division Avenue and at Tacoma Avenue to work simultaneously on track installation, foundations for Link power poles and street lighting, underground sewer and stormwater utilities and new pavement, according to a Sound Transit press release. 

Canadian Pacific officials this week marked the opening of the Class I's new Vancouver Automotive Compound (VAC) in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The VAC is in a prime location to handle vehicles made in North America for distribution in British Columbia, northern Washington state and parts of Alberta, as well as vehicles imported through the Port of Vancouver, CP officials said in a press release.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Associate Editor

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in California will launch a redesigned website focused on light rail and multimodal trip planning later this month.

Before the official launch, riders are being encouraged to familiarize themselves with the new site and provide feedback via a test link, according to a VTA press release.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) yesterday approved the installation of lights and other upgrades at three rail crossings in Ohio. 

The PUCO approved construction authorization from the Ohio Rail Development Commission directing Norfolk Southern Railway to upgrade to LED lights and improve circuitry at the Waller Street crossing in Portsmouth by June 5, 2020, and Grand River Railway to install lights and gates at the Headlands Road and Stage Avenue crossings in Lake County by March 5, 2020.

Lacassine Operating Co. will invest $12.5 million to build a catalyst blending plant in Lacassine, Louisiana, to serve oil refineries worldwide, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and the company announced this week.

The plant will become the anchor tenant of the Lacassine Rail Terminal operated by Rail Logix in Jefferson Davis Parish, according to a press release issued by Edwards' office.

Metra is gathering public input before creating a pilot program designed to improve connections between its trains and the Pace bus system.

The project’s focus is to improve access to jobs and schools for south suburban Chicago commuters, make transportation more affordable and convenient, and simplify transfers between the trains and buses, according to a Metra press release.

Amtrak has named Tracie Winbigler executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Stephen Gardner chief operating and commercial officer.

Winbigler, who will join Amtrak on June 24, will be responsible for Amtrak's finance, treasury, accounting and control functions. Most recently, she was CFO at Recreational Equipment Inc., where she led the financial, procurement, and asset protection teams for the $2.7 billion cooperative. Before that, she spent three years at National Geographic, joining the company as CFO and later promoted to chief operating officer.

Several factors contributed to the 4.1 percent decline in U.S. railroads' combined traffic volume last month compared with May 2018, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported yesterday.

U.S. carload traffic fell 2.1 percent to 1,291,671 units, while intermodal volume dropped 5.9 percent to 1,315,684 containers and trailers in May versus a year ago, according to AAR data. Combined, U.S.railroads logged 2,607,355 carloads and intermodal units, down 110,586 units.