Railroad News

CN is searching for a new chief executive officer today after announcing the abrupt departure of Luc Jobin.

The Class I announced this morning that Jobin has left the company and is being replaced on an interim basis by Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Jean-Jacques Ruest until a permanent leader is named.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has chosen civil engineering firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc. (LAN) to oversee platform extensions at 28 light-rail stations. The $124 million project calls for modifying platforms along the Red and Blue lines to accommodate three-car trains. Currently, the Red and Blue lines are limited to two-car trains due to the stations' platform lengths. By expanding the platforms, DART will be able to roll out three-car trains systemwide, LAN officials said in a press release.

Mitsui Rail Capital LLC has hired Yiannis Loizides as director of sales and marketing. He previously held sales and marketing roles at Norfolk Southern Railway. In the new job, Loizides will focus on leasing activities for Mitsui's Western and Southeastern territory, company officials said in a press release.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon's (TriMet) board on Wednesday officially chose Doug Kelsey the agency's next general manager.

The board's resolution directed the start of contract negotiations with Kelsey. The negotiations are expected to continue through March 6 at the earliest, TriMet officials said in a press release.

Vancouver Energy and the Port of Vancouver USA in Washington announced this week they've agreed to end their lease agreement a month early.

Vancouver Energy said it agreed to end its lease for space at the port and would donate its $100,000 payment for March to local charities, according to a company press release.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) earlier this week unveiled a $33 million program aimed at improving safety across its system.

As part of the "Safe and Secure" program, CTA later this year will upgrade more than 3,800 older-model rail station cameras. The agency also will install 1,000 new security cameras "throughout the system," CTA officials said in a press release.

BNSF Railway Co. will spend $80 million this year on maintenance and expansion projects in New Mexico.

About half of BNSF's New Mexico capital expenditures plan will focus on upgrading rail, ties and ballast. The remainder of the plan will go toward track expansion, including in the Gallup Subdivision.

The Maryland Department of Transportation's Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) has awarded Amtrak a five-year contract to continue providing train operations services for the Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) Penn Line, which operates between Washington, D.C., and Perryville, Maryland.

Amtrak was chosen based on the "strength of [its] technical proficiency, which was rated highest among all the bidders," Amtrak officials said in a press release. MDOT MTA initiated the contract bidding process a year ago.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told a U.S. Senate committee yesterday that federal loans should not count toward states' financial contributions to replace the Hudson River rail tunnels between New Jersey and New York.

Chao's statement appears to be the latest indication that the Trump administration is backing away from a 50-50 funding commitment that New Jersey and New York officials believed they had with the U.S. Department of Transportation for the proposed $12.7 billion project.

FreightCar America Inc. has agreed to purchase Navistar Inc.'s rail-car operations assets at its Shoals facility in Cherokee, Alabama.

North American railroads' intermodal traffic continued on a growth path for the week ending Feb. 24, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

North American rail volume for the week on 12 reporting  U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 363,753 intermodal units, up 6.4 percent compared with the same week a year ago. However, combined carload volume fell 2.7 percent to 346,089 units compared with 2017.

Ronald Batory was sworn in yesterday as the 14th administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

Prior to his nomination, Batory served as president and chief operating officer of Conrail until his retirement in April 2017. Before that, he was president of the Belt Railway Co. of Chicago.

The fatal Amtrak-CSX train collision in Cayce, South Carolina, caused $25 million in damage, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) preliminary report on the accident.

The Feb. 4 incident occurred when a southbound Amtrak train diverted from the main track through a hand-thrown switch and collided with a CSX train parked on a siding.

Amtrak and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have partnered to test new devices that can help detect explosives, including suicide vests.

Known as a stand-off explosive detection unit, the system triggers an alarm if someone carrying or wearing an improvised explosive device passes by.

BNSF Railway Co. has requested to join Lighthouse Resources' lawsuit against Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and key members of his administration over permit denials for Millennium Bulk Terminals' proposed Longview coal terminal.

BNSF's complaint contends that Washington state officials unduly violated interstate commerce, a violation of the U.S. Constitution's dormant commerce clause and the ICC Termination Act (ICCTA) by using supposed rail impacts to deny permits for Millennium Bulk Terminals.

CSX will aim for a 60 percent operating ratio by 2020 and revenue growth at a compound annual rate of 4 percent by 2019-20, the company announced today at its annual investor and analyst conference in New York City.

At the conference, CSX officials were expected to outline plans to build on the scheduled railroading model, increase efficiency, control costs and grow the business.

The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) earlier this week held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its soon-to-open Blue Line light-rail extension.

The event's attendees included CATS Chief Executive Officer John Lewis, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, and University of North Carolina at Charlotte Chancellor Philip Dubois, according to CATS' Twitter account.

Metrolinx this spring will roll out a "click-and-collect" grocery shopping service at GO Transit commuter-rail stations — marking the first time the service will be offered at transit stations in Canada.

The Toronto-area agency is working with Loblaw Cos. Ltd. to establish the service, which enables riders to shop online and pick up groceries when they arrive at their GO station.

Quebec Iron Ore Inc. (QIO) announced last week that the first train loaded with 16,500 metric tons of high-grade 66 percent Fe iron concentrate left the Bloom Lake Iron Ore Mine near Fermont, Quebec.

The first train represents a "tangible step toward realizing Bloom Lake's potential to become a major supplier of high quality iron ore to global markets," QIO officials said in a press release. QIO is a subsidiary of Champion Iron Ltd.