Railroad News

Trinity Metro and other local officials yesterday held a grand-opening ceremony for a new equipment maintenance facility that will house TEXRail trains in Fort Worth, Texas.

The 53,000-square-foot building includes three maintenance pits and a train washing area. All eight TEXRail train sets will be housed and maintained at the facility, which also includes offices, a parts warehouse and dispatch operations, Trinity Metro officials said in a press release.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is halfway finished constructing the $1.75 billion Regional Connector rail line in downtown Los Angeles.

The agency marked the milestone at a May 19 public event, which included construction site tours, according to a Metro press release.

iChurchill Inc. is stepping away from its plan to acquire the flood-damaged Hudson Bay Railway and Port of Churchill in northern Manitoba, Canada, the private company announced yesterday.

Earlier this month, a group of Manitoba First Nations and iChurchill announced they had reached an agreement to buy the rail line, port and associated assets, which are owned by OmniTRAX Inc.

Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc. announced yesterday that its Huron Central Railway (HCRY) will halt service on its 176-mile line from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, to Sudbury, Ontario, by year's end.

The announcement follows the "recent refusal of support" from Transport Canada's National Trade Corridors Fund, according to a G&W Canada press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) on May 26 will begin positive train control (PTC) installation along the Worcester Line.

To give crews space to carry out the work, the agency will halt weekend train service between the Worcester and Framingham stations from May 26 through June 17.

The Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) announced that Ron Trees has been named to the authority's board.

Trees will represent the town of Little Elm, Texas, on the board. He is a semi-retired military operations research analyst who is on the adjunct staff for the Rand Corp., according to a DCTA press release.

The Chicago-area Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) has appointed Brian Sager to its board to represent McHenry County, Illinois.

Since 2005, Sager has served as mayor of Woodstock, Illinois. He has been on the Woodstock City Council since 1989.

The Center for LNG has become the newest sponsor of TRANSCAER®, which provides hazardous materials education and training to first responders.

The center represents the full liquefied natural gas (LNG) value chain, including producers, shippers, terminal operators and developers.

Amtrak last week announced a $4 million plan to update the interiors of the entire Acela Express fleet operating on the Northeast Corridor (NEC).

The 14-month program will rehab the interiors of 20 trainsets, which include 100 Amtrak cars.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) President Phil Eng yesterday announced plans to repair faulty infrastructure and boost operating efficiency following a year of poor on-time performance.

In 2017, the railroad logged its worst on-time performance history in nearly two decades, Newsday reported last month.

Kansas City Southern yesterday announced the appointments of Michael Walczak to vice president mechanical, Maquiling Parkerson to vice president labor relations and Adam Godderz to associate general counsel and corporate secretary.

Effective immediately, the appointments were made for professional advancement and organizational development, KCS officials said in a press release.

CSX Corp. will put more resources into safety, company executives said at the annual shareholders meeting held late last week in Jacksonville, Florida.

President and Chief Executive Officer James Foote told shareholders that CSX soon will announce a new chief safety officer and is bringing in an outside consulting firm to help with safety issues, according to a report by WJCT News.

Metra's board earlier this month approved a series of new fare pilot programs, including a day pass.

The Chicago commuter railroad also will test a plan to consolidate its outer zones and reassign certain stations to closer zones. The new fare programs are aimed at attracting riders and simplifying fare structure, Metra officials said in a press release.

The Portland Streetcar last month averaged 16,650 weekday riders, marking a new record.

The streetcar system also reported an 84 percent on-time performance rating for April, according to a Portland Streetcar press release.

The Virginia International Gateway (VIG) in Portsmouth last week completed the changeover of its terminal operating system to the Navis N4.

The switch began May 11 and was completed May 14, Virginia Port Authority officials said in a press release.

As of mid-April, U.S. Class Is employed 145,959 workers, up 0.59 percent since mid-March, but down 2.11 percent compared with April 2017, according to Surface Transportation Board data.

All but one employment category — professional and administrative — reflected slight increases in the workforce on a month-over month basis. Categories that logged increases since mid-March were executives, officials and staff assistants, up 0.07 percent to 8,298 workers; maintenance of way and structures, up 0.65 percent to 32,644; maintenance of equipment and stores up 0.22 percent to 26,647; transportation (other than train and engine), up 0.18 percent to 5,566; and transportation (train and engine), up 0.99 percent to 60,891.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs last week approved the nomination of Thelma Drake as administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was the only committee member who voted against her nomination, the AASHTO Journal reported.

In a recent survey, U.S. port authorities identified more than $20 billion in multimodal port and rail-access needs over the next decade, with a third of those citing pressing rail projects that cost at least $50 million, according to the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA).

In its "State of Freight III" report, the association examined the freight transportation needs at U.S. member port authorities, with an emphasis on rail access.

The California Transportation Commission (CTC) last week awarded $703.6 million in gas-tax funds to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro).

The funding comes from the state's Senate Bill 1, which increased the state's tax on gasoline to pay for transportation improvements. The California State Legislature approved the bill in April 2017.

General Electric Co. has agreed to merge its railroad business with Wabtec Corp. in a transaction valued at about $11.1 billion, the companies announced today.

The agreement has been approved by the boards of Wabtec and GE, with the transaction expected to close in early 2019, officials from both companies said in a press release.