Railroad News

Beginning Nov. 8, New Jersey Transit will restore some weekend service that was cut back due to lower ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the fall service adjustment, additional trains will stop at Garwood, Avenel, North Elizabeth, Teterboro and Woodcliff Lake stations. 

A&R Logistics Inc., a supply chain services company for the chemical industry, has opened a new facility at Ameriport Industrial Park in Baytown, Texas.

A&R currently operates three facilities at the park, totaling 800,000 square feet. The company is purchasing select operating assets and assuming the lease formerly held by Baytown Packhouse, A&R officials said in a press release.

The Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) in California earlier this week hired Heather McKillop as chief financial officer.

McKillop will oversee SMART’s financial management, including day-to-day accounting, budget, payroll and financial management.

The Port of Virginia yesterday accepted delivery of two massive container cranes at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT), the final pieces of equipment needed to complete the $450 million renovation of the terminal's South Berth.

"It's a landmark moment for the Port of Virginia because it signals the completion of the overall expansion of this port that started back in 2016," said John Reinhart, chief executive officer and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, in a press release.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) last week launched a website application to enable rail riders to monitor and manage upcoming trips on the agency’s Access-a-Rider paratransit service.

The online portal enables riders to track their ride in real time, book new trips and cancel scheduled trips. 

Caltrain officials are considering adjusting winter service to better serve riders in California who depend on the passenger-rail system during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

By mid-December, Caltrain plans to offer more frequent off-peak and weekend train service. The change would provide more service at times when essential workers and transit-dependent riders are likely to travel, Caltrain officials said in a press release. 

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) last month released a draft study of the potential benefits and costs of a passenger-rail service that would connect western, central and eastern Massachusetts. 

Community leaders, stakeholders and residents expressed a desire for a passenger-rail link to improve multimodal transportation options in Massachusetts towns west of Worcester, MassDOT officials said in the study’s executive summary.

Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad LLC (FGA) recently completed construction of a new rail bridge in Marianna, Florida.

The new open-timber bridge over Borden Street replaces an older structure. The project was completed over two months for a cost of $175,000 through a partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation and with support from the city of Marianna, FGA officials said in a press release.

Jaguar Transport Holdings has acquired five short lines and a railroad construction and maintenance company from The Western Group, the companies announced yesterday.

The railroads being acquired are Cimarron Valley Railroad in southwest Kansas, northern Oklahoma and eastern Colorado; Washington Eastern Railroad in eastern Washington; Texas and Eastern Railroad, with operations between Rusk and Palestine in Texas, along with the Texas State Railroad; Southwestern Railroad in southern New Mexico; and Oregon Eastern Railroad in eastern Oregon.

U.S. railroads logged a 2% increase in combined carload and intermodal traffic during October compared with the same month a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Although carload volume declined 6.6% to 912,722 units during the month compared with October 2019, intermodal volume climbed 10% to 1,169,874 containers and trailers. Traffic for the month totaled 2,082,646 carloads, containers and trailers.

The Greenbrier Companies Inc. reported fourth-quarter fiscal-year 2020 revenue of $636.4 million, down from $762.6 million in Q3 FY2020. Greenbrier attributed the decrease to fewer deliveries and lower activity levels in the wheels, repair and parts segment, according to Greenbrier’s financial report. Net earnings attributable to Greenbrier for FY2020, which ended Aug. 31, were $49 million, or $1.46 per diluted share, on revenue of $2.8 billion. Greenbrier also released its second annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, which details Greenbrier’s accomplishments during fiscal years 2019 and 2020. The report highlights the company’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and establishes goals for the next two years. Those goals include increasing steel utilization efficiency to 93.3% in 2021 and allocating more than 50% of annual charitable contributions to underserved communities by 2022.

Bombardier Transportation launched a digital service for predictive maintenance. The Bombardier EBI Sense combines internet of things and cloud and machine learning with data collection and analytics to predict rail equipment failures and schedule maintenance. Meanwhile, Bombardier Transportation signed a letter of intent with the Reich Brothers real estate firm to lease about 240,000-square-feet of space at a former Caterpillar plant in Kendall County, Illinois. The company would potentially use the space to manufacture bi-level rail cars for Metra, if it is awarded a contract, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) last week launched its Ventra fare card on iPhone and Apple Watches to provide some riders a contactless, tap-and-go fare payment option.  

The new feature allows CTA train and bus riders who use an iPhone or Apple Watch to add a Ventra Card to their device and tap the device at a Ventra fare reader to enter the CTA system. 

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) next week will began seeking rider input on the agency’s Forging Ahead plan to preserve transit access for riders who depend on it as the agency prepares to cut low-ridership services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Nov. 9, the MBTA will announce which services will be prioritized and protected and which will have proposed changes in service. MBTA will host virtual meetings on the proposed changes in December.

Amtrak's random drug testing program doesn't test many employees in safety-related positions because the railroad limits the program to minimum federal requirements, Amtrak's Office of Inspector General (OIG) reported last week.

The OIG assessed the extent to which Amtrak's 11,356 employees involved in safety-related work are at risk for prescription opioid impairment or misuse, as well as the railroad's efforts to detect and deter risk. The inspector found that Amtrak's random drug testing program is limited to those in safety-work positions that are regulated under the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), such as locomotive engineers, conductors, maintenance-of-way employees and train dispatchers.

Reading & Northern Railroad officials announced this week that the first rail cars have been unloaded at a new rail-truck transload facility, which is located at the North Star BlueScope Steel (NSBS) mill in Delta, Ohio.

The announcement caps a multiyear effort to convert shipments of anthracite from truck to rail, Reading & Northern officials said in a press release.

The Denton County Transportation Authority’s (DCTA) board last month approved a contract with Rio Grande Pacific Corp. (RGPC) and subcontractor Stadler U.S. Inc. to provide operations and vehicle maintenance services for the A-Line commuter-rail service in northern Texas. 

Under the contract, which went into effect Oct. 31, RGPC is responsible for signaling, dispatching, maintenance of tracks and operations and communications. Stadler is responsible for maintaining DCTA’s rolling stock of 11 GTW DMU trains.