Railroad News

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) yesterday announced it has been allocated $229 million from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. 

The grant will be used to help address the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on DART’s system.

U.S. railroads logged 184,415 carloads in the week ending May 16, marking a 30.2 percent drop and the biggest decline in year-over-year weekly carload traffic since the Association of American Railroads (AAR) began tracking the data in 1988.

For the week, U.S. railroads moved 416,115 carload and intermodal units, down 22 percent compared with the same week a year ago. Weekly intermodal volume was 231,700 containers and trailers, down 14 percent, according to AAR data.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) announced plans to replace its GoMetro mobile application with the Transit trip planning app. 

The Transit app will provide LA Metro riders with real-time arrival information for trains and buses, navigation, trip planning features, personalized service alerts and offline functionality, LA Metro officials said in a press release.

Port of Virginia Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director John Reinhart announced yesterday he will retire from his post in March 2021.

Reinhart has served in the position since February 2014. He is the fourth person to lead the agency, which owns and operates container and multi-use commercial marine terminals on behalf of the state.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City earlier this week expanded its antibody testing program for all MTA employees. 

Employees that are asymptotic, or not currently exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, but may have been exposed to the diseases are eligible for the antibody testing, MTA officials said in a press release.

The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) yesterday announced that the Milpitas and Berryessa rail stations will open for BART service on June 13. 

The station openings are part of the $2.3 billion, 10-mile Berryessa extension in San Jose, California. VTA was responsible for station construction, communications, signal and track testing.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) yesterday announced grant awards to five transit-rail agencies as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to address the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The agencies and their grant allocations are:

Class Is employed 124,430 employees as of mid-April, down 2.69 percent from March and down 13.72 percent from April 2019 levels, according to Surface Transportation Board data.

Four employment categories logged month-to-month decreases. They were transportation (train and engine), down 6.07 percent to 48,658 employees; maintenance of equipment and stores, down 1.6 percent to 21,709; transportation (other than train and engine), down 1.3 percent to 5,237; and professional and administrative, down 1.01 percent to 10,638.

The Robel Group formed the Robel Railway Engineering Technology Co. Ltd. (RRET) to provide full sales and service coverage for the Robel product portfolio in Shanghai, China. William Lin was appointed RRET’s general manager.

Siemens Mobility partnered with Ondas Networks to bring a portfolio of wireless radio communication systems to the North American rail market. The portfolio will feature new radios that are interoperable with Siemens Mobility’s advanced train control system radios. Using the MC-IoT radio architecture from Ondas, the new radios will be able to utilize a railroad’s existing wireless infrastructure and dedicated radio frequencies, as well as the flexibility to adapt to future availability changes in the radio frequency spectrum, Siemens officials said in a press release.

Sound Transit will resume fare collection on its Link light-rail and Sounder commuter-rail systems on June 1. 

The Seattle-based agency suspended fare collection on March 21 to encourage social distancing between riders and rail operators to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The final group of automated stacking cranes that are at the center of the Port of Virginia's capacity expansion project arrived last week at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT), port officials announced yesterday.

Over the past two years, 86 of the cranes have been delivered to the port. Twenty-six new cranes are in place at Virginia International Gateway and 60 at NIT. The $217 million contract with Finland-based Konecranes is the largest one-time order for automated stacking cranes in industry history, port officials said in a press release.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver’s (RTD) board has begun a nationwide search for a permanent general manager and chief executive officer. 

The board is looking for applicants who are passionate, forward-thinking leaders with strong interpersonal and communication skills, as well as the ability to manage a complex environment collaboratively, RTD officials said in a press release.

President Donald Trump yesterday nominated Sarah Feinberg, interim president of MTA New York City Transit (NYCT), and Chris Koos, mayor of Normal, Illinois, to serve on Amtrak's board.

Feinberg has filled the role of NYCT's interim president since February, following the resignation of Andy Byford. She's also a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board. Feinberg served as administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration from 2015 to 2017 during President Barack Obama's second term.

New Jersey Transit has been allocated $1.4 billion in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding, agency officials announced late last week.

The grant can be used for operating expenses incurred from efforts to prevent, prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic dating back to January 20. 

Norfolk Southern Corp. today announced organizational changes in its finance division as part of the company's strategic plan to improve performance and push toward a 60 percent operating ratio.

Jason Zampi, currently vice president and controller, will become VP of financial planning and analysis, a new department in the finance division. Zampi has worked for NS for nine years, serving in leadership roles in finance, treasury and accounting.

The Rocky Mountaineer passenger-rail service between Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Canadian Rockies has further postponed its 2020 opening date until July 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The train’s travel season originally was scheduled to open April 13, and was later postponed until July 1. 

Opponents of Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration’s (MTA) Purple light-rail line are appealing a federal judge’s decision to reject arguments that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the federal Clean Water Act during construction, The Washington Post reported last week. 

The lawsuit — brought by the nonprofit Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail, a Chevy Chase resident and a former Chevy Chase resident — alleged that the Corps of Engineers allowed light-rail construction crews to discharge dredge and fill into streams, a violation of the Clean Water Act. The judge dismissed the lawsuit in April.