Railroad News

Amtrak has begun a $22 million project to restore and repair the Great Hall at Chicago's Union Station, the railroad announced yesterday.

The project will include repainting the hall in its original colors, which will be made brighter by a restored and protected skylight with improved lighting.

The Metropolitan Council last week rejected all four civil construction bids for the Southwest light-rail transit project due to concerns over price and responsiveness.

The bids were opened in August and represent the bulk of construction work involved in building tracks, bridges, tunnels, stations and other facilities for the project.

America's Central Port District of Granite City, Illinois, has received a $700,000 federal grant to help cover the cost of rail and roadway improvements to the port's intermodal industrial park.

The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded the grant earlier this month. The project is needed to spur business growth at the park, EDA officials said in press release.

Surface Transportation Board (STB) Vice Chairman Daniel Elliott III announced yesterday he will leave the board on Saturday.

Elliott, who was appointed chairman by former President Barack Obama and joined the board in August 2009, informed President Donald Trump of his plans in a letter yesterday, according to an STB press release.

Although the number of people injured or killed in vehicle-train collisions is on the decline, the number of pedestrian deaths and injuries in rail-trespass incidents is on the rise, Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI) announced yesterday.

In 2016, 1,104 people were hurt or killed in vehicle-train collisions, marking a 13.7 percent decrease compared with 2015 statistics, according to preliminary Federal Railroad Administration data released by OLI.

Rocky Mountaineer, a privately owned luxury tourist train based in Vancouver, British Columbia, recently restructured its North American leadership team in an effort to drive sales growth.

The restructuring included internal promotions within the North American sales team. Inna Germanotta and Doug Johnson have filled the newly created positions of regional sales director, business development and regional sales director, key accounts, respectively, according to a company press release.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) on Sept. 30 will begin replacing wood ties with concrete ones along the Babylon Branch between Freeport and Merrick, New York.

The work is part of the railroad's efforts to improve infrastructure, safety and on-time performance, LIRR officials said in a press release.

Tradepoint Atlantic, Gov. Larry Hogan and other local officials gathered last week for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the new FedEx Ground Distribution Center in Sparrows Point, Maryland.

The freight shipper was the first major company to open a facility at Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,100-acre multimodal global logistics center, which provides access to railroads, highways, deepwater berths and storage.

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) Deputy General Manager of Operations Mike York will retire on Friday, the agency announced late last week.

Throughout his five-decade career in the transit industry, he's held leadership positions at agencies in Atlanta, Dallas and Cleveland.

Twin Eagle Sand Logistics LLC announced last week it has acquired a frac sand terminal near Bridgeport, West Virginia, from Process Transloading Bridgeport.

The Bridgeport terminal is positioned to serve the southern Utica and Marcellus sand logistics markets with more than 130 rail-car spots and 20,000 tons of flat and silo storage, Twin Eagle officials said in a press release.

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation is seeking design concepts for hydrogen-powered trains as an alternative to conventional overhead wires on GO Transit's rail network.

The province has issued a request for proposals for designs that demonstrate how a hydrogen fuel cell system could be integrated into a bi-level electric multiple unit train.

Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI) and railroads across the country have designated this week as national Rail Safety Week to raise awareness of safety practices near, on and around trains and railroad property.

Throughout the week, OLI will host events aimed at educating pedestrians and drivers about ways to stay safe around railroad tracks and grade crossings. OLI's rail safety push will include radio and digital public service ad campaigns.

U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) earlier this week toured construction of Sound Transit's Northgate light-rail extension.

When it opens for service in 2021, the 4.3-mile extension will provide a 14-minute ride between Seattle's Northgate neighborhood and downtown.

A University of Maryland undergraduate team has won the Intermodal Association of North America's (IANA) seventh Intermodal EXPO academic challenge in Long Beach, California.

The competition required students to respond to a case study challenge focused on mitigating congestion at marine terminals. A panel of IANA board members evaluated the teams' presentations and selected the winning university.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has resumed inspections of its latest generation of rail cars after receiving a safety concern about its inspection procedures.

The agency yesterday temporarily halted inspections of its 7000-series rail cars after the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689 voiced concerns about a worker receiving an electric shock while inspecting one of the units. The union represents WMATA's operators and clerical and maintenance workers.

Class Is employed 147,319 employees as of mid-August, down 3.56 percent year-over-year and 0.15 percent compared with mid-July employment numbers, according to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB).

Five of the six employment categories reflected workforce decreases in mid-August compared with mid-July. The number of transportation (other than train and engine) employees declined 1.50 percent to 5,703; maintenance of way and structures, down 0.68 percent to 33,620; maintenance of equipment and stores, down 0.67 percent to 26,855;
executives, officials and staff assistants, down 0.53 percent to 8,632; and professional and administrative, down 16 percent to 12,623.

CSX was able to quickly restore service throughout the areas affected by Hurricane Irma and continues to improve in key service metrics as the railroad implements its new model of precision scheduled railroading, President and Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison announced yesterday.

After the hurricane slammed Florida on Sept. 10 with devastating winds and flooding, CSX re-established rail service in most of the Southeast United States within hours, into and out of northern Florida within 24 hours, and throughout the vast majority of the state within a week, according to a CSX press release.