Railroad News

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday issued safety recommendations that call for crash-resistant inward- and outward-facing cameras to be installed in all transit agency trains.

Issued to the Federal Transit Administration and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the recommendations call for recorders with a minimum 12-hour continuous recording capability that can verify crew actions and train operating conditions, NTSB officials said in a press release.

Freight and passenger railroads in the Houston area have begun restoring service in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

BNSF Railway Co. announced yesterday that service has resumed on its Houston Subdivision, as well as on a greater portion of its Galveston Subdivision.

Siemens and the International Society of Automation have partnered to raise awareness about industrial security needs and global standards. Both parties will share expertise in protecting the automation environment based on IEC 62443 cybersecurity standard. They'll also provide educational material and host events and webinars to boost cybersecurity awareness among owner-operators of industrial equipment, Siemens officials said in a press release. Recent global ransomware attacks have demonstrated the possible impacts of cybersecurity vulnerability, they added.

Americold broke ground on a 15.5-million-cubic-foot automated facility at its Rochelle, Illinois, campus. Expected to open in December 2018, the addition will increase automation capabilities, boost available capacity for the company's Chicago-area customers and provide an additional 57,600 pallet positions. Americold's Rochelle campus now is home to two conventional warehouse facilities. The company provides temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics services.

Metro Transit-St. Louis on Sept. 5 will ban smoking on all its properties.

Smoking already is prohibited on the agency's vehicles and on MetroLink light-rail station platforms. However, the new ban extends to all transit center locations, including parking lots and indoor and outdoor waiting areas.

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is working with Masabi Ltd. to a provide mobile ticketing app for the agency's new commuter-rail service.

Available on the Google Play and Apple App store, Masabi's "SMART eTickets" app enables riders to buy tickets and plan trips. The technology also integrated with the "Transit" app, which provides real-time departure information and service-distruption notifications.

U.S. railroads moved 551,776 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending Aug. 26, a 2.3 percent increase compared with the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported yesterday.

U.S. roads posted 272,153 carloads, up 1 percent compared with the same week in 2016, and 279,623 containers and trailers, up 3.6 percent versus a year ago, according to an AAR press release.

Union Pacific Railroad announced its second-quarter progress in implementing positive train control (PTC) on its network.

The Class I's efforts during the quarter included preparing 27 additional track segments for PTC operations, bringing the total track segments to 104, or 56 percent completed. Those 27 segments are equipped with wayside devices and have defined GPS coordinates, which identify thousands of precise locations for systemwide PTC coordination, UP officials said in a press release.

New Jersey Transit has issued body cameras for every member of its 263-member police force.

The cameras are aimed at providing additional transparency when officers interact with the public, NJ Transit spokeswoman Lisa Torbic said in an email.

Union Pacific Railroad is using helicopters and drones to inspect by air its track, bridges and signals in areas east and west of Houston where road access is unavailable due to flooding and storm damage from Hurricane Harvey.

As weather and access to storm-damaged areas allow, UP is inspecting and repairing track, bridges and signals to return rail service as quickly as possible, the railroad said in yesterday's customer notice. As of yesterday, the majority of of areas east of Houston were still inaccessible.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed Nancy Miller to serve on the California High Speed Rail Authority's (CHSRA) board.

Miller serves as senior counsel for Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai LLP.

Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) is increasing light-rail, bus and ferry fares by 25 cents starting Oct. 1.

The cost of one-way fares on each mode of transit will rise from $1.75 to $2. The change is the second phase of a planned fare increase for the system; the first phase took place in October 2014, when one-way fares rose from $1.50 to $1.75.

The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) board has unveiled its 2025 strategic organizational plan, which is aimed at improving overall operations and customer service.

The plan's four main goals are improving the customer experience, adapting the agency to evolving governance, bringing finances under control and attracting new talent. STM was required by law to update its last strategic plan for 2020, which was approved in 2012, agency officials said in a press release.

The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Cap Metro) in Austin, Texas, on Monday approved a $65.7 million contract with Modern Railway Systems Inc. to design, build and commission a positive train control (PTC) system for the Red Line commuter-rail route.

Under the contract, Modern Railway Systems will complete the work within 15 months, which will make Cap Metro eligible to apply for a two-year extension to the December 2018 deadline to implement PTC, agency officials said in a press release.

CN executives joined Port of Prince Rupert, DP World and other community leaders yesterday to mark the 10th anniversary of Fairview Container Terminal, as well as the recent completion of its expansion.

DP World's expansion increased Fairview Container Terminal's annual throughput capacity from 850,000 to 1.35 million 20-foot equivalent units, according to a press release issued by port officials.

Ohio this week became the first state in the country to have its state safety oversight (SSO) program certified by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

Under a final rule that went into effect in April 2016, the FTA requires strengthened SSO programs at transit-rail agencies. The rule also provides greater authority for SSO agencies to oversee their transit agencies.

BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad provided updates on the status of their operations in the Gulf Coast area, as flooding in Houston and parts of southeastern Texas continued in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Several BNSF subdivisions remain out of service due to multiple washouts and high water. As a result, all traffic destined to or originating from Houston — as well as traffic scheduled to route through the area — remains suspended, according to a BNSF announcement.

Bombardier Transportation obtained a $143.7 million contract from the London Underground to supply new motors and traction control equipment for the subway's fleet of Central line trains. The contract requires Bombardier to provide ongoing maintenance support until 2024. Bombardier's re-traction project is part of the London Underground's larger Central line improvement program, which calls for a number of enhancements to reduce failures on the route. For the program, Bombardier is replacing direct current traction motors on Central line trains with the latest MITRAC alternating current traction systems and traction control equipment, company officials said in a press release. In total, Bombardier will supply new motors and traction control for 85 eight-car Central line trains.

L.B. Foster Co. has appointed James Maloney senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. He'll join the company on Sept. 18. Based in L.B. Foster's office in Pittsburgh, Maloney will oversee global finances and accounting, as well as investor relations. He previously served as CFO at First Insight Inc., a company providing consumer data to global retailers and brands. Before that, Maloney was vice president-global financial planning and supply chain finance at H.J. Heinz Co., where he managed strategic and annual operating plans.