Railroad News

More than half of Caltrain riders polled, or 55 percent, indicated they plan to ride the commuter-rail system the same amount of times or more after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, according to the railroad’s recent rider survey. 

A third of the respondents expect to ride Caltrain less after the pandemic, and 1 percent indicated they won’t return to the system, agency officials said in a press release.

Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) board last week issued $700 million in Measure RR green bonds to further rebuild projects across the system. 

Measure RR is a $3.5 billion bond measure that was approved by voters in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties in 2016.

U.S. freight railroads logged 481,331 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending July 25, down 9.9 percent compared with the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week were 215,171 units, down 17.8 percent, while intermodal volume was 266,160 containers and trailers, down 2.4 percent, AAR officials said in a press release.

Canadian Pacific today released its first public statement on climate change to acknowledge the effects of rising global temperatures.

The statement lays out the Class I's commitment to ongoing efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change. It also expresses support for the goals of the Paris Agreement and the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, which seek to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels.

Sean Cronin, 39
Senior director, mechanical capital projects
Metra

Nominator’s quote: “In Sean’s 18 years working in the railroad industry, he has risen through the ranks and turned a job into an exceptional career, mastering positions in mechanical operations and capital projects. Sean now possesses a unique combination of skills and experience essential to the department’s success.” — Kevin McCann, Metra

The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) on Aug. 10 will begin work to make the Edouard-Montpetit Station universally accessible. 

The two-year, CA$39 million project includes two new elevators and an expanded building entrance to make room for a staircase and two fare collection turnstiles, STM officials said in a press release.

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (SDMTS) Director of Transit Enforcement Manuel Guaderrama will retire Aug. 28, the agency announced earlier this week.

Under Guaderrama’s leadership over the past five years, SDMTS implemented a security staffing plan that offers greater officer presence on the light-rail system, developed a task force with local police departments, implemented de-escalation training, supplied body cameras for security officers and maintained a fare evasion rate of 3 percent, SDMTS officials said in a press release.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) earlier this week launched a fund to help the families of SEPTA employees who have died or suffered health issues as a result of COVID-19.

The SEPTA Disaster Relief Memorial Fund was started in large part due to feedback from employees who wanted a way to help the families of coworkers severely impacted by the pandemic, SEPTA officials said in a press release.

Tomorrow, Progressive Railroading will host a virtual celebration of the 2020 Rising Stars Award winners.

The ceremony will recognize the 25 individuals honored this year for outstanding achievement in the railroad industry early in their careers.

CN yesterday and today continued to roll out its 2020 capital expenditure budgets for various states, including $125 million targeted for infrastructure projects in Illinois, $35 million in Iowa, $30 million in Tennessee and $25 million in Minnesota.

In Illinois, CN's investments will focus on replacing the St. Charles Air Line Bridge over the Chicago River in Chicago. In addition, the Class I will replace 9 miles of rail, install over 180,000 new ties, rebuild 45 grade crossing surfaces and perform maintenance work on bridges, culverts, signal systems and other track infrastructure.

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Cap Metro) and Austin, Texas, City Council officials earlier this week recommended a $7 billion initial investment to begin work on Project Connect, a plan for an expanded rail and bus system in Austin.

The investment would require $3.9 billion in local funding, with Cap Metro seeking federal funding for the remaining 45 percent of the project costs, Cap Metro officials said in a press release.

Ryan Breier, 39
Director of signals, communications, train control
Burns Engineering Inc.

Nominator’s quote: “What makes Ryan stand out is his personal approach to communicating expectations and maintaining that communication to ensure that no one involved in a project is unaware of those expectations. He treats his coworkers and his clients the same — with respect, transparency and with the expectation that they will do likewise.” — William Wiedmann, Burns Engineering Inc.

Wabtec Corp.’s Trip Optimizer™️ surpassed a milestone as railroads utilized the energy management system to operate their trains for more than 500 million miles, Wabtec officials announced in a press release. Installed on over 11,000 locomotives globally, the system has saved 400 million gallons of fuel to date and reduced CO2 emissions by over 500,000 tons per year, they said.

Alstom and Eversholt Rail announced a more than $1 million investment in British hydrogen trains to create a new class, the 600 series, of trains. Alstom will build the trains, known as Breeze, at the Widnes Transport Technology Center in the United Kingdom. The investment will underpin other initiatives in the hydrogen sector and support any subsequent national hydrogen strategy, Alstom officials said in a press release.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao last week released a policy document meant to serve as a roadmap for crossmodal technology innovators to engage with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).

Titled "Pathways to the Future of Transportation," the document was released a year after Chao announced the formation of the department's Non-Traditional and Emergency Transportation Technology (NETT) Council, an internal deliberative body to identify and resolve jurisdictional and regulatory gaps that may impede the deployment of new technologies, such as potential advances in tunneling and hyperloop.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) board last week awarded a $93.2 million contract to Tully Construction Co. Inc. to construct elevators and other accessibility features at the 149 Street-Grand Concourse and Tremont Avenue subway stations in the Bronx, New York.

MTA bundled both station projects under one construction contract and are taking advantage of lower ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic to shorten the construction schedule and lower costs, MTA officials said in a press release.