Railroad News

Caltrain’s board last week approved a nearly $43 million interim operating budget and a $19.1 million interim capital budget for the first quarter fiscal-year 2021. 

The $42.9 million interim operating budget includes a projected $8 million in farebox revenue, representing an $18.5 million decrease over Q1 farebox revenue in FY2020. This comes as the California agency grapples with a decline in ridership from 65,000 passengers per day to just 1,300 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, agency officials said in a press release.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) last week granted another 60-day extension to time limits in which certain petitions for review must be filed with the Locomotive Engineer Review Board (LERB) and the Operating Crew Review Board (OCRB). 

The extension followed a second joint petition filed by two railroad unions, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD). 

Harsco Rail last month installed its 250,000th tie on the MTA Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) system. The contract between Harsco Rail and LIRR was first awarded in 2012 after LIRR decided to switch from wood to concrete ties. “Our system has benefited greatly from the installation of concrete ties, which now comprise roughly 30 percent of our mainline track miles,” said LIRR Chief Engineer Glenn Greenberg in a Harsco Rail press release.

A Class I has awarded Duos Technologies Inc. an approximately $2.1 million contract to integrate up to 100 artificial intelligence use cases into Duos’ centraco® platform. The use cases will eventually be used by the railroad in its automation-focused efforts, Duos officials said in a press release. The contract also includes a recurring service and maintenance component for the new software that's being developed. The contract will be executed by Duos subsidiary truevue360 Inc. in two phases, with half occurring in the summer and the rest expected to be completed in early 2021. 

On June 11, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) will hold two call-in public hearings to solicit comments on the supplemental draft environmental impact statement (SDEIS) for the D2 Subway Project. 

The D2 Subway Project is a proposed second light-rail line through downtown Dallas that would extend 2.4 miles from Victory Station to the Green Line along Good Latimer Expressway.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) has selected Melanie Snyder as general counsel. She assumes the role June 8.

Snyder succeeds Acting General Counsel Jenifer Ross-Amato, who temporarily filled the position after Rolf Asphaug retired in February.

Union Pacific Corp. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Lance Fritz earlier this week posted on the railroad's website a statement about the recent racial injustice events that spurred protests throughout the nation over the past week.

Fritz began by noting that UP employees formed the Black Employee Network 40 years ago to help company leadership understand and respond to the company's African American employees.

Amtrak is asking the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to settle an ongoing dispute with Metra over the commuter railroad's use of Chicago Union Station, which Amtrak owns.

In a May 27 filing with the STB, Amtrak said it's been unable to reach an agreement with Metra on terms and compensation for a new contract. Metra has used the station under an agreement since 1984. The latest extension to that pact expired in July 2019.

In a service update to customers, Norfolk Southern Railway announced earlier this week that the railroad is examining its individual yards for ways to streamline operations.

The review is part of the Class I's strategic plan launched last year to create a more efficient and responsive railroad, but also is in response to lower volumes resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

On June 9, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) will begin work to improve accessibility at Chester Station.

With fewer riders using the station due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TTC will close the station for two weeks, saving weeks of construction time, commission officials said in a press release.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) yesterday approved construction authorization from the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) directing Northern Ohio & Western Railroad (NOWR), CSX and Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway (WLE) to upgrade the safety of several grade crossings in the state.

NOWR will install lights and gates at six crossings in Gibsonburg by Dec. 3, 2021. Funds for NOWR's projects will be provided by ORDC, PUCO and the Sandusky County-Seneca-County-City of Tiffin Port Authority, PUCO officials said in a press release.

Virginia Railway Express (VRE) has outlined additional precautions to support social distancing and cleanliness on its commuter trains as the Washington, D.C., region enters its first phase of reopening and ridership is expected to grow.

This month, VRE will install platform decals, onboard graphics and window decals to indicate to riders where they should stand and sit to ensure proper distancing.

Canada's Transport Minister Marc Garneau yesterday provided an update on recent developments in the 8-mile rail bypass project near Lac-Megantic, Quebec.

Despite many challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the project is "progressing well," Garneau said in a prepared statement issued by Transport Canada. A number of steps have been reached in recent months or soon will be, he said.

Sound Transit leaders yesterday informed the agency's board members that some projects should be delayed or canceled in order to preserve tax money to expand its system in the future.

Sound Transit Chief Financial Officer Tracy Butler predicted that Sound Transit could lose $7.8 billion to $12 billion through 2041 depending on the severity of the recession to come, according to the board workshop presentation document.

U.S. freight railroads moved 1,653,093 carloads and intermodal units during May, a 20.2 percent decrease compared with May 2019, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR).

The railroads logged 740,171 carloads, down 27.7 percent, and 912,922 intermodal containers and trailers, down 13 percent, from the same month last year, AAR officials said in a press release.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) late last week released the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for private company Texas Central's proposal to build a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston, bringing the project one major step closer to fruition.

Released on May 29, the FEIS is available for public review and comment through June 29, FRA officials said in a statement.

U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) yesterday unveiled details of House Democratic leaders' $494 billion, five-year surface transportation bill, dubbed the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST).

The bill calls for $411 billion for five years out of the Highway Trust Fund for highway, transit, safety and research programs, a 46 percent increase over current investment levels, according to the bill's summary.

Metra today began work to replace and resurface a grade crossing at 95th Street and Vincennes Avenue on the Rock Island Line in Chicago.

The work will require closure of the crossing to vehicle traffic until June 12.

A project to deepen the  harbor at the Port of Savannah in Georgia set a new precedent with four dredges working simultaneously, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced earlier this week.

The Savannah harbor expansion project includes two dredges keeping the channel at its current authorized depth of 42 feet followed by two dredges taking the channel to a new depth of 47 feet. The dredges work without disrupting the flow of commercial traffic to or from the Port of Savannah's Garden City Terminal and other facilities along the river, Army Corps of Engineers officials said in a press release.