Railroad News

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) yesterday announced the winners of its annual Rail Safety and Security Excellence Awards.

The awards ceremony, which took place at the APTA Rail Conference in Baltimore, recognized North American rail systems for excellence in safety and security programs and operations, APTA 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

Unveiled last month, President Donald Trump’s proposed fiscal-year 2018 federal budget would reduce the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) spending by 12.7 percent. On the chopping block: the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program, funding for Amtrak’s long-distance routes and the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program, also known as New Starts.

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver has formally launched a smart card fare payment system, the agency announced last week.

The "MyRide" system enable riders to load up to $200 to pay fares on RTD's trains and buses. Passengers with a MyRide card also receive a 25 cent discount per trip, RTD officials said in a press release.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) next week will kick off a track renewal project on a portion of its Route 15 trolley line.

Scheduled to begin June 18, the work will take place on Girard Avenue between Broad Street and Corinthian Avenue in North Philadelphia. Crews will excavate and replace  4,100 track feet and repave the track area.

GE today announced that John Flannery has been named chief executive officer effective Aug. 1 and chairman effective Jan. 1, 2018.

As CEO, Flannery succeeds Jeff Immelt, who will remain chairman until his retirement from GE on Dec. 31. In addition, Jeff Bornstein, chief financial officer, has been promoted to vice chairman.

6/12/2017    

Rail News: Mechanical

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) late last week issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for the first phase of its Red and Purple line modernization program.

The initial phase involves rebuilding four the oldest Red Line stations and making them accessible to people with disabilities. The initial phase also includes the construction of a rail bypass at a century-old junction where Red, Purple and Brown line trains intersect.

The Port of New Orleans will take over the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, while in exchange the railroad will transfer the Governor Nicholls Street and Esplanade Avenue wharves to the city of New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced last week.

The arrangement is designed to stimulate economic growth of the port and local industries. The Public Belt will continue to serve the port, city and port officials said in a press release.

American Railcar Industries Inc. (ARI) announced that it has begun managing its rail-car leasing business in-house. The news follows the sale of its former lease fleet manager, American Railcar Leasing LLC, to SMBC Rail Services LLC. ARI now will be able to serve customers with a "complete suite of products and services," company officials said in a press release. The firm's offerings include ARI-built rail cars for direct sale and lease, in-house lease fleet management, rail-car and industrial components and rail-car repair services. To prepare for the endeavor, ARI added staff to internally manage its own lease fleet and increased sales and marketing staff. Additionally, the company hired John O'Bryan as chief commercial officer to lead the team.

Railserve's first Tier 4-compliant Dual Leaf® gen-set locomotive has been placed into service for an undisclosed customer. The unit is designed to cut particulate emissions by 99 percent and nitrous oxide emissions by 92 percent, company officials said in a press release. The locomotive is expected to improve fuel economy because it operates at lower revolutions per minute in low-notch and idle phases, which are the typical settings for most switching operations. Railserve produces the Dual Leaf units at a manufacturing facility in Longview, Texas.

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has presented Gary Griswell with the Thomas L. Schlosser Distinguished Service Award for "long-term, significant service" to the association.

Griswell, customer success team manager-rail with GE Digital, is the first associate member to receive the award, which was presented at ASLRRA's 2017 CONNECTIONS Convention in Grapevine, Texas, according to an ASLRRA press release.

MTA Metro-North Railroad's crews today will begin an $800,000 track improvement project on the Waterbury Branch.

Workers will renew the Farrel's Road crossing in Ansonia, Conn., and the Eagle Street Crossing in Waterbury, Conn. Elsewhere along the tracks, crews will cut brush and weld rail joints, Metro-North officials said in a press release.

In its latest state-to-state announcements of capital expenditure plans, Union Pacific Railroad revealed yesterday it will invest $24 million in projects to improve its infrastructure in Arizona.

The Class I's plans will include $21 million worth of track projects and $2 million worth of bridge projects.

Hampton Road Transit (HRT) next week will hold a public meeting to discuss a potential light-rail expansion to the U.S. Navy base in Norfolk, Va.

Naval Station Norfolk (NSN) is the region's largest employment center. Of the 60,000 to 70,000 people working at NSN and nearby facilities, more than 30 percent live in Norfolk, HRT officials said in a press release.

Wabtec Corp. obtained a contract worth $22 million to design, install and commission a positive train control (PTC) system for the Belt Railway Co. of Chicago.

Under the contract, Wabtec will provide its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System (I-ETMS®) equipment for five locomotives, a back-office server, office hosting, wayside and communications design, a track database, construction, training and system integration, according to a Wabtec press release.

The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) has hired 30 in-house security agents for its light-rail system.

The in-house team now has 63 full-time transit agents supported by 28 sworn officers representing various law enforcement agencies throughout the Sacramento region.

U.S. rail traffic rose 9.8 percent to 500,192 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending June 3 compared with traffic during the same week a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Railroads moved 252,853 carloads, up 12.7 percent compared with the same week in 2016, and 247,339 intermodal containers and trailers, up 7 percent compared to 2016.