5/12/2017
Rail News: Passenger Rail
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Alstom’s iLint multiple unit is the world’s first train to run on a hydrogen powered cell, the company says.Photo – Alstom/Michael Wittwer By
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Rail News Home Passenger Rail May 2017 Rail News: Passenger Rail
Alstom’s iLint multiple unit is the world’s first train to run on a hydrogen powered cell, the company says.Photo – Alstom/Michael Wittwer ByThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Associate EditorSuppliers often face uncertainty in the passenger-rail locomotive market as public support ebbs and flows for transit projects. Elected officials, too, offer varying levels of support for passenger-rail plans.Even so, several manufacturers believe the global demand for passenger locomotives and multiple units will remain steady, and perhaps even grow."We're hopeful that the market will be buoyant in the future," said Siemens Rolling Stock President Michael Cahill. "There's a long pipeline of needs across the United States from various commuter railroads and transit systems, but how they get funding, of course, is the key question."Funding concerns notwithstanding, other train builders characterize the overall passenger locomotive market as stable. And while they continue taking orders for their tried-and-true offerings, they're also piloting new technologies.Over the past couple years, Siemens has been busy filling orders for its Charger locomotives. The company in March 2014 obtained a $225 million contract to build 32 of those units for departments of transportation in Illinois, California, Michigan, Washington and Missouri.That order, which was coordinated by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) on behalf of the other states, included options for 225 additional locomotives. California, Illinois and Maryland in November 2015 opted to purchase 34 more Chargers.Taking chargeFourteen of those units were set aside for the Pacific Surfliner Amtrak route in California; the remaining locomotives were divided between IDOT and the Maryland Transit Administration. The locomotives, which can operate at speeds up to 125 mph, meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Tier 4 emissions standards. The units also feature a 4,400 horsepower Cummins QSK95 diesel engine.As part of a separate order, Siemens also is building locomotives for Brightline, All Aboard Florida's privately funded passenger-rail line between Miami and West Palm Beach, Fla. Those units have many of the same underlying features as the Chargers in the IDOT order, said Cahill."But there are some variations in the end product based on customer demands," he added.For example, Brightline locomotives feature what Cahill described as Siemens' "high-speed train look" — that is, a closed front-end with a sleek nose to provide better aerodynamics.In addition, there are some differences in the locomotives’ signaling systems. The units also have been designed to work with various positive train control (PTC) systems, Cahill said.Six of the new Chargers last month began revenue testing on Amtrak's Capitol Corridor route in California. IDOT also tested the locomotives on the Chicago-Milwaukee, Chicago-Carbondale and Chicago-Quincy routes in April.Siemens’ Charger locomotives can operate up to 125 mph.Siemens
Alstom’s iLint multiple unit is the world’s first train to run on a hydrogen powered cell, the company says.Photo – Alstom/Michael Wittwer By
IDOT has ordered a total of 33 Chargers, which are slated to enter full-time service later this spring.
Outside of the Charger orders, Siemens is building 13 electric locomotives for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. While the company hasn't had much activity in terms of new sales over the past six months or so, Siemens continues to work through a large backlog of projects, Cahill said.
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Rail News Home MOW May 2017 Rail News: MOW
Progress Rail offers a range of special trackwork, including flange-bearing crossing diamonds.Photo – Progress Rail By Michael PopkeRailroads continue to ask suppliers of special trackwork components to make their offerings easier and safer to install, and to last longer — be they turnouts, switch point guards, insulated joints, frogs or other products.“The main emphasis has been on reducing the impact put on trackwork that leads to degradation of components,” says Scot Campbell, director of Class I sales in the Engineering and Track Services Division of Progress Rail, which is field testing what the company believes is a more efficient rail-welding technique.“Railroads need us to keep getting better,” adds Ken Ouelette, vice president of marketing for special trackwork supplier voestalpine Nortrak, which has made improvements to products and facilities over the past year. “They want to see products that last longer and are easier to install.”And freight railroads likely will want more of them this year, some suppliers say.“We anticipate things will pick up from last year, when there was a bit of a downturn in the freight market,” Ouelette says.Progressive Railroading recently contacted suppliers of special trackwork to learn about their latest product offerings and the trends that impact that market sector. Five special trackwork suppliers responded, either by phone or email. Their edited responses follow.Turnout geometry and flange-bearing technologyThe expansion of Atlantic Track’s facilities in recent years — including ones in Memphis, Tenn., and St. Clair, Pa. — indicate a commitment to infrastructure technology and capacity, said Jeff Grissom, the company’s vice president of engineering and operations, in an email.In Memphis, Atlantic Track now provides more dedicated, product-specific manufacturing work centers for compromise rails, guard rails and plate work.In St. Clair, the installation of an enhanced electric third rail machining, processing and assembly work center better positions the company to serve the industry, Grissom said.Budgets for special trackwork materials appear steady at most freight railroads, Grissom said, adding that he has detected a slight uptick in Class I activity when it comes to overall maintenance. At the forefront of the special trackwork discussions are issues of turnout geometry at the point of switch entry and mainline speeds through turnouts, Grissom said.The industry also is working to better define the parameters for full-flange bearing crossings and their ideal usage as it pertains to crossing angle and signalization within heavy-haul applications, he added.“Flange-bearing technology has been around for decades in transit to eliminate that ‘ticka-tacka, ticka-tacka’ pounding of the train against the ties,” he said. “Now it’s evolving in heavy-haul applications, too.”Wanted: highly reliable insulated rail jointsMeanwhile, L.B. Foster Co. notes a “continuing drive by the rail industry for long-lasting, highly reliable insulated rail joints as a key requirement for their special trackwork, as well as for mainline track,” said Sid Shue, general manager of the Allegheny Rail Products division of L.B. Foster, in an email.Shown: a premium Class I design turnoutAtlantic Track
Progress Rail offers a range of special trackwork, including flange-bearing crossing diamonds.Photo – Progress Rail By Michael PopkeRailroads continue to ask suppliers of special trackwork components to make their offerings easier and safer to install, and to last longer — be they turnouts, switch point guards, insulated joints, frogs or other products.“The main emphasis has been on reducing the impact put on trackwork that leads to degradation of components,” says Scot Campbell, director of Class I sales in the Engineering and Track Services Division of Progress Rail, which is field testing what the company believes is a more efficient rail-welding technique.“Railroads need us to keep getting better,” adds Ken Ouelette, vice president of marketing for special trackwork supplier voestalpine Nortrak, which has made improvements to products and facilities over the past year. “They want to see products that last longer and are easier to install.”And freight railroads likely will want more of them this year, some suppliers say.“We anticipate things will pick up from last year, when there was a bit of a downturn in the freight market,” Ouelette says.Progressive Railroading recently contacted suppliers of special trackwork to learn about their latest product offerings and the trends that impact that market sector. Five special trackwork suppliers responded, either by phone or email. Their edited responses follow.Turnout geometry and flange-bearing technologyThe expansion of Atlantic Track’s facilities in recent years — including ones in Memphis, Tenn., and St. Clair, Pa. — indicate a commitment to infrastructure technology and capacity, said Jeff Grissom, the company’s vice president of engineering and operations, in an email.In Memphis, Atlantic Track now provides more dedicated, product-specific manufacturing work centers for compromise rails, guard rails and plate work.In St. Clair, the installation of an enhanced electric third rail machining, processing and assembly work center better positions the company to serve the industry, Grissom said.Budgets for special trackwork materials appear steady at most freight railroads, Grissom said, adding that he has detected a slight uptick in Class I activity when it comes to overall maintenance. At the forefront of the special trackwork discussions are issues of turnout geometry at the point of switch entry and mainline speeds through turnouts, Grissom said.The industry also is working to better define the parameters for full-flange bearing crossings and their ideal usage as it pertains to crossing angle and signalization within heavy-haul applications, he added.“Flange-bearing technology has been around for decades in transit to eliminate that ‘ticka-tacka, ticka-tacka’ pounding of the train against the ties,” he said. “Now it’s evolving in heavy-haul applications, too.”Wanted: highly reliable insulated rail jointsMeanwhile, L.B. Foster Co. notes a “continuing drive by the rail industry for long-lasting, highly reliable insulated rail joints as a key requirement for their special trackwork, as well as for mainline track,” said Sid Shue, general manager of the Allegheny Rail Products division of L.B. Foster, in an email.Shown: a premium Class I design turnoutAtlantic Track
L.B. Foster, which designs and manufactures high-performance insulated rail joints for use in special trackwork, collaborates with heavy-haul railroads and transit agencies to design the company’s insulated rail joints according to their needs, Shue added.
The company’s products include double rail joints for turnouts and crossing diamonds, insulated joints for girder rail profiles, U69/U33 guardrails and transition insulated joints. L.B. Foster’s special trackwork insulated rail joints can be furnished in bonded or poly kit form, plug form, or preassembled to customer-furnished prefabricated or machined rails.
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5/10/2017
Rail News: High-Speed Rail
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Rail News: Passenger Rail
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5/10/2017
Rail News: Amtrak
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Rail News: Safety
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Rail News: MOW
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Rail News: Intermodal
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