Railroad News

The Railway Association of Canada (RAC) announced yesterday its board has elected Fiona Murray chairperson. Murray, vice president of public and government affairs at CN, is the first woman to chair the 103-year-old organization's board.

Murray joined CN in 1992, initially working in the public affairs department before moving to positions of increasing responsibility. Her experience and thorough understanding of railroading will be a "great asset" to the association, RAC officials said in a press release.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) earlier this month approved Canadian Pacific's acquisition, through subsidiary Soo Line Corp., of Central Maine & Quebec Railway US Inc. (CMQR US) from Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC.

The STB decision, made on May 1 and issued May 4, is subject to standard employee protective conditions.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) on May 18 will begin work to install two cross-track drainage lines beneath the Tufts interlocking in Medford in order to advance the Green Line Extension (GLX) project.

The work is necessary to accelerate construction of critical infrastructure inside a narrow rail corridor shared by the Lowell commuter-rail line and the GLX project, MBTA officials said in a press release.

Trinity Metro on May 17 will resume fare collection on its TEXRail commuter railroad in Texas following nearly two months of free fares. 

The agency suspended fares from mid-March to mid-May to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by increasing social distancing and decreasing rider-to-employee interactions, Trinity Metro officials said in a press release.

TransLink last week announced it will rescind layoff notices issued to almost 1,500 employees and suspend further service reductions planned for next week following release of British Columbia’s Restart Plan to restore metro Vancouver's economy.

TransLink is working with the province on a solution to address the financial impact that TransLink has incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic, agency officials said in a press release.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on its bottom line, the Port Everglades' $1.6 billion in expansion and infrastructure improvements are proceeding on track, port officials announced yesterday.

The Florida port's diverse business sectors of cargo, cruise and petroleum helps balance a dip in one business sector, said Glenn Wiltshire, the port's acting chief executive and port director, in a press release.

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) officials yesterday announced that the more than $767 million the agency received in federal pandemic relief funding will enable WMATA to close its current fiscal year with a balanced budget. 

Provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES), the funding enables the agency to cover its increased costs related to enhanced safety measures required during the COVID-19 pandemic, which also has led to a drop in fare revenue.

American Public Transportation Association (APTA) leaders and transit industry executives hosted a press call yesterday to explain why they're seeking additional federal stimulus relief to offset transit agencies' extraordinary revenue losses and cost increases related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

APTA recently called on Congress to provide nearly $24 billion in additional emergency funding, while a coalition of some of the nation's largest transit agencies are calling for an additional $32 billion in funding.

Union Tank Car Co. (UTLX) announced plans to convert its tank car manufacturing plant in Sheldon, Texas, into a rail-car repair facility. The company expects to cease manufacturing operations there in August and establish repair operations in 2021. The conversion was prompted by reduced industry demand for new tank cars and an increase in tank car repair needs as shippers rely more heavily on existing cars, UTLX officials said in press release. The Sheldon tank car plant employs about 350 people. The repair facility, when fully operational, is expected to employ about 100 people. 

FreightCar America Inc. reported first-quarter revenue of $5.2 million compared to $70.7 million in Q1 2019. The company logged a net loss in the quarter of $16.9 million, or $1.29 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $14.0 million, or $1.12 per diluted share, in Q1 2019. The company delivered 11 rail cars, compared to 641 cars delivered in the same quarter last year. “We were obviously disappointed with our delivery figures for the quarter, a result of timing and weakness in the backlog, line startups in the quarter and lost production days at the end of the quarter due to COVID-19,” said Jim Meyer, president and chief executive officer of FreightCar America in a press release. The company withdrew its guidance for FY2020 due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. 

The California High Speed Rail Authority’s (CHSRA) first phase of a project to build a high-speed rail system will generate $46 billion in labor income and $131 billion in economic output over the course of the project, authority officials said in a press release.

In 2019, the system generated $600 million in labor income, and produced $1.6 billion in economic output, officials said.

Imports at major U.S. retail container ports are expected to log double-digit year-over-year declines this spring and summer, as the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues, according to a Global Port Tracker report released last week by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.

"Factories in China are largely back online and stores that closed here in the United States are starting to reopen, but volume is far lower than what we would see in a normal year," said NRF Vice President Jonathan Gold in a press release. "Shoppers will come back and there is still a need for essential items, but the economic recovery will be gradual and retailers will adjust the amount of merchandise they import to meet demand."

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) yesterday released preliminary details of its COVID-19 pandemic recovery plan, a flexible blueprint for ramping up service as the District of Columbia region prepares for recovery.

The recovery plan will follow four phases:

Customers were notified late last week that Union Pacific Railroad is ceasing operations of Cold Connect, a Loup Logistics service that moves refrigerated products from the West Coast to UP's warehouse in Rotterdam, New York.

On May 8, employees were informed that the service would permanently close and most Cold Connect-related positions have been eliminated, said UP spokesman Tim McMahan in an email.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board approved a nearly $159 million contract with Skanska DW White JV to build the Fall River Secondary Line between Fall River and Boston. 

The construction is part of Phase 1 of South Coast Rail, a project to build a new southern line of the MBTA commuter-rail system along several abandoned and freight-only rail lines. The line will connect southeastern Massachusetts and Boston in fall 2023, MBTA officials said in a press release.

Infinity Intermodal has launched a new expedited temperature-controlled intermodal service from Salt Lake City to Chicago. 

The three day, door-to-door service will allow Infinity to provide refrigerated intermodal transport throughout the greater Salt Lake City market, including areas of southern Idaho, company officials announced today in a press release.

Some U.S. and Canadian passenger railroads and transit agencies are gearing up to resume regular service as stay-at-home orders are lifted or modified during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

SunRail today resumed regular commuter-rail service in Orlando, Florida, and stepped up train and station cleanings.