Railroad News

Union Pacific Railroad's Community Ties Giving Program has awarded $10.2 million in local grants to more than 930 nonprofit organizations across the Class I's 23-state system.

Traditionally, UP awards grants in the company's three philanthropic priorities: safety, workforce development and community spaces. However, this year, nearly $7 million is being awarded to efforts to address needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, UP officials said in a press release.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) yesterday issued the first of four request for industry feedbacks (RFIF) to gauge contractor interest and gather feedback on the scope of the contracts to be awarded for the SCVTA’s BART Silicon Valley Phase II extension project. 

The contractors and subcontractors ultimately awarded these contracts will complete the design and collectively build the six-mile, four-station extension of the regional Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system into downtown San Jose and Santa Clara, California. 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has issued a request for proposals for a transit-oriented development (TOD) on the south side of MTA Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) Westbury Station in New York.

MTA is offering a 99-year ground lease on 1.6 acres. The lease has the potential to raise millions of dollars for MTA, in addition to generating revenue for the local community by creating jobs and enlarging the tax base, MTA officials said in a press release.

U.S. freight railroads logged 474,785 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending Sept. 12, a 9.9 percent decrease compared with the same week in 2019, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week were 214,142 units, down 15.2 percent, while intermodal volume was 260,643 containers and trailers, down 5 percent.

Metra's board yesterday elected Romayne Brown as chair, effective Nov. 1. 

Brown, who represents Cook County, Illinois, on the board, will succeed Norman Carlson. Carlson will remain on the board as vice chair. 

New Jersey Transit yesterday broke ground on the construction of the Raritan River Bridge replacement project, which will replace the existing 112-year-old swing-span bridge that carries NJ Transit’s North Jersey Coast Line trains over the Raritan River between Perth Amboy and South Amboy. 

The current bridge was damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and, as a result, has recurring maintenance issues. The new bridge will integrate resilient structural designs and materials to withstand future storm surges and be significantly less vulnerable to severe weather events, according to a press release from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s office. 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao yesterday announced the award of $1 billion in federal grant awards for fiscal-year 2020 to 70 transportation infrastructure projects in 44 states.

The funds were awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program. The grants are for planning and capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure and were awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. BUILD funding supports roads, bridges, transit, rail ports or intermodal transportation.

Metrolink has partnered with the Los Angeles and Orange County sheriff’s departments to reduce traffic and pedestrian violations along Metrolink’s Orange County and Inland Empire-Orange County commuter-rail lines in Southern California.

Sheriff's deputies will conduct education and enforcement operations in Santa Ana, California, to encourage drivers and pedestrians to engage in safe behavior at crossings. Community members will be educated on the importance of safety laws to save lives, Metrolink officials said in a press release.

Metra yesterday unveiled a campaign to highlight its pandemic response to show riders that the Chicago commuter-rail service is safe to use.

The campaign will highlight Metra’s previous deep-cleaning efforts on all rail cars and stations; current daily cleaning and disinfecting practices; safety protocols like mask and social distancing requirements; the use of air filters; and the installation of hand sanitizer dispensers on each rail car. 

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has unveiled its "Mobility Dashboard" to help the public understand the effects of COVID-19 on the state's transportation network.

MassDOT is collecting data and monitoring the impacts of COVID-19 on transportation, including on roadways and transit services. Updated weekly, the dashboard will serve as an interactive roundup of key indicators that reflect how much people are traveling, how they're getting around and where they're going in the state, MassDOT official Klark Jessen wrote on the agency's blog.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) is offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the identification, apprehension and conviction of the person who shot two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies at Compton Station on Sept. 12.

Combined with funds from LA Metro, LASD and private donations, the total reward stands at $200,000 as of Sept. 15, LA Metro reported on its blog, The Source.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) earlier this month named Virginia Railway Express’ (VRE) former operations chair Sharon Bulova as the recipient of its 2020 Distinguished Service Award.

APTA awarded Bulova for her work in founding VRE, championing the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Silver Line expansion, and securing dedicated funding for WMATA, VRE officials said in a press release.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday reiterated its call for federal regulators to mandate the use of inward- and outward-facing cameras on locomotives.

The announcement follows the board's investigation of a 2019 collision between two CSX trains in Ohio, in which investigators found that the engineer of one train was impaired by his use of alcohol at the time of the accident.

BNSF Railway Co. has named Matt Igor the railroad's next executive vice president of operations, effective Jan. 1, 2021. He will succeed Kathryn Farmer in the role.

Currently VP of transportation since July 2017, Igoe will oversee the entire operations organization. He will report to Farmer, who will succeed the retiring Carl Ice as president and chief executive officer on Jan. 1, BNSF officials said in a press release.

[Editor's note: Story was updated to correct the spelling of Matt Igoe's name.]

BNSF Railway Co. has named Matt Igoe the railroad's next executive vice president of operations, effective Jan. 1, 2021. He will succeed Kathryn Farmer in the role.

FreightCar America Inc. announced it has started to permanently close its Shoals manufacturing plant in Cherokee, Alabama. The factory will continue to produce rail cars through the end of the year. After that, production will shift to the company’s Castanos, Mexico, operation. The closure will further align costs and manufacturing capacity with the current realities of depressed rail-car demand, which have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, FreightCar officials said in a press release. Full closure of the facility is expected by the end of first-quarter 2021.

The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) recognized Hanson Professional Services Inc. with the Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence for the firm’s work on the emergency repair of Norfolk Southern Corp.’s collapsed bridge over the Grand River near Brunswick, Missouri. Flooding and a buildup of tree limbs wiped out about 267 feet of the 1,110-foot bridge. Hanson and Massman Construction Co. worked together to help NS rebuild the 103-year-old bridge in 27 days. Meanwhile, AREMA also selected Hanson’s Senior Railroad Engineer Staff Consultant Charley Chambers as AREMA’s 65th honorary member, a distinction that recognizes his contributions to railway engineering and the association. Chambers has been a member of AREMA and its predecessor, the American Railway Engineering Association, for 50 years. 

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) officials announced yesterday that the CMA CGM Brazil, the largest vessel to call on a U.S. East Coast port, arrived at APM Terminals at the Elizabeth Port Authority Marine Terminal on Sept. 12.

The 167-foot container ship has a capacity of 15,072 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo. Its arrival showcases the port's ability to handle the world's largest container ships, which is an outcome of key investments in port infrastructure over the years, PANYNJ officials said in the authority's blog, Breaking Waves.