Railroad News

The North Carolina Railroad Co. (NCRR) has named Donald Arant vice president of engineering.

Grant joined the railroad in 2015 as its first full-time staff engineer. Prior to that, he worked for the global engineering and architecture firm STV Inc.'s office in Charlotte, North Carolina, NCRR officials said in a press release.

A coalition of U.S. transit agencies on Monday sent a letter to congressional leaders requesting that the federal relief package intended to provide aid to businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic include at least $25 billion of dedicated support for public transportation agencies. 

While agencies continue to provide essential travel for emergency personnel, overall ridership on the systems has plummeted, dropping as much as 90 percent in some cases, the coalition wrote.

Norfolk Southern Corp. has named Vanessa Allen Sutherland executive vice president and chief legal officer effective April 1.

Allen Sutherland joined NS in 2018 as VP of law. Last year, she was promoted to senior VP of government relations and chief legal officer.

The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) partners have received a $12.9 million federal grant for the Pullman Junction project in south Chicago.

The project will improve rail safety and fluidity, and reduce congestion throughout the Chicago Terminal by constructing a second main track, improving existing track geometry, increasing operating speeds and updating signals and switches in the junction, CREATE officials said in a press release.

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and Alexandria, Virginia, city officials last week added a new station design option with enhanced southwest access for the future Potomac Yard Metrorail station project.

Following pricing discussions with WMATA’s construction contractor, the new station design would include a bridge accessible via elevator and stairs, city officials said in a press release. 

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) yesterday announced the agency reached 20 percent completion of the preliminary design for the D2 Subway, a proposed second light-rail alignment through the Dallas Central Business District. 

DART now is preparing a supplemental draft environment impact statement (EIS) to access potential impacts and benefits of the project.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) announced yesterday it has appointed Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giulietti to serve a two-year term as chair of the organization's Council on Rail.

The rail council addresses policy, regulatory, safety, operations and investment issues that states encounter when developing freight- and passenger-rail systems.

Sound Transit this week completed Connect 2020, an 11-week project to connect the existing Link light-rail system to the 14-mile East Link extension in Seattle. 

The agency’s existing rail tunnel is now configured for East Link in preparation for extended service to Mercer Island, Bellevue and Redmond, Washington, via 10 new stations in 2023.

With daily ridership down 90 percent and future bookings down 85 percent year over year, Amtrak is cutting management pay and taking other "aggressive" steps to address revenue losses related to the impact of the coronavirus, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported today.

"Amtrak and our state partners estimate we need approximately $1 billion in supplemental funding through the remainder of the year to make up for the unprecedented loss of ridership and revenue and to minimize employee and service impacts," an Amtrak spokesperson said in a statement, according to the newspaper.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board yesterday awarded a $17.8 million contract to MAS Building and Bridge Inc. to consolidate four existing Green Line B Branch stations into two new stations beginning this fall.

Under the contract, St. Paul Street and Boston University West stations will be demolished and rebuilt into one station; the Babcock Street and Pleasant Street stations will be demolished and rebuilt into another.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has allocated a $4.2 million grant to the Texas North Western Railway Co. (TXNW) and a $220,000 grant to the Texas, Gonzales and Northern Railway (TXGN) for projects to improve infrastructure and safety.

The grants were awarded under the FRA's Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program (CRISI). Both railroads are subsidiaries of TNW Corp. of Dallas.

Fresno, California, officials awarded Granite Construction Inc. a $20 million contract to close a grade crossing on Union Pacific Railroad tracks on Veterans Boulevard in northwest Fresno. The work involves construction of a bridge that will carry future high-speed trains over the tracks and connect to a future Golden State Boulevard rail alignment. Construction is expected to begin this spring and be completed in fall 2021. 

The Metropolitan Region of Bogota-Cundinamarca awarded the ARCO Bogota Zipa consortium — made up of Ardanuy Ingenieria Colombia and Coral Delgado y Asociados — a $566,000 contract to supervise the feasibility studies and designs for Regiotram del Norte, a planned freight and passenger railway between Bogota and Zipaquire, Colombia.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) has closed its MAX light-rail station at the Portland International Airport (PDX) until May 30 to accommodate airport expansion construction. 

During the airport’s construction to expand Concourse B, TriMet crews will begin work to prepare for future track improvements on the Red Line, agency officials said in a press release.

Sound Transit in Washington, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority in California and Metro Transit-St. Louis have suspended fare collection on their light-rail systems to help protect rail employees and riders from the spread of coronavirus.

Meanwhile in California today, the Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo passenger-rail corridor agency reduced Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner service and temporarily canceled some trains on the route; Sacramento Regional Transit District reduced light-rail service to operate daily trains on a Sunday schedule; and Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit temporarily cancelled three trains in addition to other service reductions announced last week.

The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) last week awarded Ashland Railway (ASRY) a $735,882 grant to expand its Mansfield Yard and make repairs along its Willard Line.

The more than $1.4 million project will involve the installation of about 3,000 feet of new track and seven turnouts; ultrasonic rail flaw detection on 23 miles of the Willard Line; and replacement of rail identified as defective by the rail test.

Class Is employed 127,634 workers as of mid-February, down 0.53 percent compared with mid-January’s level and down 12.46 percent compared with the year-ago employment level, U.S. Surface Transportation Board data shows.

Five of six workforce categories posted month-to-month decreases. They were: professional and administrative, down 0.29 percent to 10,817; executives, officials and staff assistants, down 0.42 percent to 7,576 employees; transportation (train and engine), down 0.50 percent to 51,451; transportation (other than train and engine), down 0.56 percent to 5,316; and maintenance of equipment and stores, down 2.11 percent to 22,170.