Railroad News

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) on Oct. 4 will recall 132 additional train and bus operators of the 450 employees laid off in April as part of the agency's efforts to reduce costs as it faces revenue losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The 132 employees being recalled are in addition to the 150 operators that returned to work earlier this month to provide service as ridership rebounds and students go back to school.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) later today is hosting a virtual meeting and public forum to gather input on the agency’s strategic plan to manage and help its stakeholders improve the movement of goods through railways, ports, airports and freeways in Los Angeles County. 

Los Angeles County is one of the nation’s top gateways for both domestic and international trade, handling over 30 percent of the nation’s containerized trade volume, LA Metro officials said in a press release.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded a $47.6 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant to help the North Carolina Department of Transportation purchase and preserve the rail corridor between Raleigh and Ridgeway for future passenger service.

The 10-mile section of rail line serves as a "missing link" to the Southeast Corridor, said U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) in a press release issued by the office of U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). The grant will be used to purchase the inactive freight-rail line from CSX.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Foye last week sent letters to the New York authority's 11 largest suppliers, warning that without an immediate injection of $12 billion in federal aid all current and future contracts with companies that have U.S. operations are in jeopardy.

The letters come as the agency — which operates New York City's subway, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Metro-North Railroad — faces a crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, the MTA is experiencing $200 million in revenue losses every week — an unprecedented crisis that eclipses the Great Depression's impact on ridership and finances, MTA officials said in a press release.

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (SDMTS) on Sept. 20 restored its Trolley light-rail service to near pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. 

SDMTS increased light-rail service frequency from 30 to 15 minutes on the UC San Diego Blue Line on weekday evenings, on the Orange Line on Saturday mornings, and on the Sycuan Green Line on Sunday mornings.  

New Jersey Transit last week launched a new feature on its DepartureVision mobile application that enables riders to see how full a train is before boarding. 

The new feature enables riders to make informed decisions and practice social distancing as they return to using the system, NJ Transit officials said in a press release.

Canadian provincial and federal governments last week awarded TransLink CA$644 million to cover revenue losses the agency is incurring as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The one-time funding will enable TransLink to maintain current service levels and continue enhanced safety measures, TransLink officials said in a statement.

CN is handling all containers that arrived earlier this month at the Port of Halifax on the CMA CGM Brazil, the largest containerized cargo vessel to call at a Canadian port.

The ship, which measures 1,200 feet in length with a capacity of 15,072 20-foot equivalent units of cargo, berthed at the port's South End Container Terminal on Sept. 9. CN is the exclusive rail service provider to the port.

Pioneer Railcorp will receive a $4.1 million federal grant to help pay for a project to perform critical safety improvements at its Napoleon, Defiance & Western Railway (NDW) subsidiary, which operates along 58 miles between Woodburn, Indiana, and Liberty Center, Ohio.

The funds will be granted through the U.S. Department of Transportation's 2020 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program. The grant will cover 50 percent of the project's cost, with nearly $3.9 million matched by the NDW and 3 percent, or $250,000, by the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC), Pioneer officials said in a press release.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) today celebrated the opening of its newest electrified commuter-rail line, the N Line, which extends from Denver to Thornton, Colorado. 

The N Line includes six new stations along a 13-mile corridor between Union Station and Eastlake 124th Station, serving Denver, Commerce City, Northglenn and Thornton. An end-to-end trip will take about 29 minutes. 

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has released the final Rule of Particular Applicability (RPA) and Record of Decision (ROD) for Texas Central Railroad LLC, bringing the private company's proposal to build a Dallas-to-Houston high-speed rail (HSR) line closer to construction.

The RPA provides the regulatory framework for the railroad, establishing a comprehensive set of safety requirements that will govern the HSR system's signal and trainset control, track, rolling stock, operating rules and practices, system qualifications and maintenance, Texas Central officials said today in a press release.

Alstom has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Bombardier Inc. and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) for the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation. The price range for the acquisition of 100 percent of Bombardier Transportation shares was revised and reduced by $355 million to be between $6.5 billion to $6.98 billion. The proceeds are likely to amount to up to $6.3 billion, Alstom officials said in a press release. Following positive progress on an antitrust regulation process, the closing of the transaction is expected for first-quarter 2021.

Transdev promoted Laura Hendricks to chief executive officer of Transdev U.S. Hendricks previously served as president of Transdev Services. Prior to joining Transdev in 2019, she held executive leadership roles at Coach America, Paint Drop, Merry Maids, Cintas and FedEx. Hendricks succeeds Dick Alexander, who has served in the role on an interim basis since March. Alexander was named special adviser to Thierry Mallet, CEO of the global Transdev Group. In this role, he will focus on strategic projects aimed to expand the company’s global business via acquisitions and partnerships, Transdev officials said in a press release.

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) yesterday announced it will restore 90 percent of pre-pandemic service levels beginning Oct. 19.

On April 6, DART temporarily reduced service on light-rail and bus services due to lower ridership levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Canada's Transport Minister Marc Garneau yesterday announced more than CA$25 million in funding for the Rail Safety Improvement Program.

The funds will support 165 new projects and initiatives that aim to raise public awareness and increase safety at grade crossings and along rail lines, Transport Canada officials said in a press release.

The Amtrak Office of Inspector General (OIG) found in a recent audit that national intercity passenger railroad has not established certain practices that likely would improve the railroad’s track outage planning and coordination process. As a result, the OIG issued recommendations for Amtrak to adopt.

Following assessment of the effectiveness of the Amtrak’s efforts to plan and coordinate track outages, Amtrak’s OIG found that, starting in 2018, the railroad has built a more disciplined process. The process included implementing new procedures to prioritize capital projects and identify and plan for outages needed to accomplish the projects, according to the management advisory report issued this week.

The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) this week approved grant awards for Cleveland and Cuyahoga Railway LLC (CCRL), an OmniTRAX Inc. property, and Huhtamaki Inc. for rail-related projects.

ORDC approved a grant award of up to $300,000 to CCRL to help repair a stone arch culvert on the railroad's Mahong Subdivision. In June, the embankment adjacent to the culvert failed, requiring the railroad to perform emergency repairs to bring the rail line back into service. Based on the culvert's condition, CCRL took additional action to stabilize the structure and completed the interim repairs. 

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) board today voted on cost-cutting measures, including potential service cuts and layoffs, that will be necessary to balance the agency’s budget.

The actions would be necessary if federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding runs out without new revenue.