Railroad News

A $67 million grade separation project in Bensenville, Illinois, has been completed as part of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) program, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced last week.

The project involved an intersection improvement at Irving Park Road (Illinois Highway 19) and York Road, an effort that followed a railroad overpass companion project built on Irving Park Road, department officials said in a press release.

President Donald Trump has nominated former U.S. Rep. Leon "Lynn" Westmoreland of Georgia to serve a five-year term on Amtrak's board. 

A Republican, Westmoreland served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years. He completed that service in January.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) yesterday kicked off its EXPO trade show in Atlanta.

APTA officials say 12,000 public transit leaders from more than 75 countries are attending the show, which they've described as the world's largest showcase for the public transportation industry.

Union Pacific Railroad late last week announced appointments to its finance department, as well as the retirement of Vice President and Treasurer Mary Jones and Vice President-Tax Pat O'Malley.

The Class I has named Jon Panzer vice president and treasurer; Jennifer Hamann vice president-planning and analysis; and Bryan Clark, vice president-tax, according to a UP press release.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority's (CHRSA) staff has recommended that DB Engineering and Consulting USA serve as an early train operator for the agency's Central Valley-to-Silicon Valley segment.

The firm's parent is Deutsche Bahn AG, Germany's state-owned rail company. As early train operator, DB Engineering and Consulting would help design and operate the segment in its beginning phases.

Canadian Pacific announced yesterday a new partnership with Genesee & Wyoming Inc.  and Bluegrass Farms of Ohio that enables the Class I to serve customers in the Ohio Valley region. 

Under the agreement, CP has obtained an exclusive agreement with Bluegrass Farms to use the consortium's 90-acre intermodal facility in Jeffersonville, Ohio. Bluegrass Farms will continue to own the facility and operate it on behalf of CP. The Class I and G&W have agreed to provide rail service to the facility through G&W's Indiana & Ohio Railway (IORY) line.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) has logged 1 million "taps" on its Hop Fastpass™ electronic fare system, the agency announced last week.

The system enables riders to pay for rides by tapping fare cards against Hop readers. TriMet launched Hop Fastpass in mid-July.

The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) over the weekend performed track maintenance and rail replacement between its North Avenue and Camden Yards light-rail stations.

To accommodate the work, the agency shut down light-rail service in both directions between the stations.

The U.S. Senate last week confirmed Howard "Skip" Elliott to serve as the next administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

A 40-year veteran of the U.S. freight-rail industry, Elliott most recently served as group vice president of public safety, health, environment and security for CSX.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) later this month will replace its 103-year-old Post Avenue bridge in Westbury, New York.

On Oct. 21-22, crews will use cranes and an industrial-grade movable hydraulic lift to remove the existing bridge and replace it with a new one. The $9.7 million project is slated to wrap up before the first morning rush hour train arrives Oct. 23, according to a press release issued by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office.

Norfolk Southern Railway has begun recovery efforts to restore service to areas affected by Hurricane Nate, which made U.S. landfall over the weekend in southeast Louisiana and near Biloxi, Mississippi.

The Class I announced yesterday that operations to and in New Orleans have been restored to service, and NS will meter traffic back into the area.

Siemens and Wi-Tronix are launching a partnership to expand digital predictive maintenance for rail services. 

As part of the deal, Siemens has made a "significant equity investment" in Wi-Tronix, the companies announced today in separate press releases. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has appointed Tenzin Dolkar to serve as state rail director. Dolkar succeeds Alene Tchourumoff, who left the post in June after Dayton appointed her chair of the Metropolitan Council.

Dolkar most recently served as senior policy adviser to Dayton and Lt. Gov. Tina Smith. In that role, her work focused on transportation, agriculture, elections, and military affairs and veterans' affairs. In this role, Dolkar collaborated with former Rail Director Tchourumoff on Dayton's rail priorities, according to a press release issued by Dayton's office.

Metra is considering reducing service and raising fares to close a $45 million deficit in its proposed 2018 operating budget.

Under the budget proposal, a small number of weekday trains would be eliminated on the North Central Service, SouthWest Service and Rock Island Line. Metra also would remove six weekend trains on the Milwaukee District North Line.

Virginia Railway Express (VRE) has signed an agreement with Rockwell Collins to implement the company's ARINC RailwayNet service. The technology is a hosted network, messaging and application platform for passenger and freight railroads that creates a common communication infrastructure for positive train control (PTC) systems. RailwayNet will help VRE meet the federal PTC mandate "efficiently, cost effectively and securely," said Ken Schreder, Rockwell Collins vice president of strategic programs and surface transportation systems, in a press release. Financial terms of the pact weren't disclosed.

TrinityRail Asset Management Co. LLC (TRAMCo) served as an adviser and arranger for ECN Capital Corp.'s sale of 9,950 leased rail cars. A subsidiary of Trinity Industries Inc., TRAMCo also acted as adviser to Napier Global Capital LP, the investment manager for the purchaser of most of the portfolio. TRAMCo earned fees in its capacity as adviser and arranger. Trinity will continue to service the leased rail cars under the new ownership to help maintain a "seamless transition" for the lessees and strategic partners, said TrinityRail Group President D. Stephen Menzies in a press release. In August, ECN announced that it agreed to sell $1.487 million worth of rail-car asset to affiliates of ITE Management LP and Napier Global Capital.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) on Wednesday announced plans to conduct a peer review of single- and twin-bore tunnel methods.

Slated to begin this month and last several weeks, the review will be conducted by public transit agencies that currently operate subway systems, VTA and BART officials said in a joint press release.

Port of Columbia and Frontier Rail officials will gather tomorrow in Dayton, Washington, to mark the reopening of the Columbia Walla Walla Rail Line (CWW).

The port owns a 37-mile stretch of rail that spans two counties and provides service from Dayton to Walla Walla, Washington. A segment that runs between Prescott and Dayton has been closed for nearly three years due to repair work on eight bridges and a section of track near the Touchet River, port officials said in a press release.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has released a new report that provides a framework for assessing return on investment (ROI) for high-speed and intercity passenger-rail projects.

The report suggests a new analysis that considers a broader range of local community effects, as well as impacts on regional connectivity and global competitiveness.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) on Tuesday announced more than $3 million in grants will be awarded as part of the 2017 Industrial Rail Access Program.

The eight awards will be issued to projects that expand or improve rail or freight access, economic opportunity and job growth. The grants require a private-sector match of at least 40 percent, according to a MassDOT press release.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has awarded a $50 million contract to Spanish manufacturer CAF to supply 10 streetcars.