Railroad News

Gregory Winterbottom, the Orange County Transportation Authority’s (OCTA) longest-serving board member, died June 26. He was 73. 

Winterbottom began serving as a public member of the OCTA board in 1993. In 2004 and 2013, he served as chairman. Most recently, he was vice chairman of OCTA’s Transit Committee, a member of the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee and a board member for the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, which operates Metrolink.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) last week announced it will begin using electrostatic sprayers to more easily and efficiently disinfect trains and rail stations as the agency prepares for a increase in ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Delta Air Lines provided MARTA with 50 electrostatic sprayers that disperse disinfectant in a fine mist that clings to and sanitizes surfaces without leaving a residue. 

The National Mediation Board (NMB) last week announced the appointment of Kyle Fortson as chairman effective July 1. She serves on the board with Gerald Fauth and Linda Puchala.

Fortson joined the NMB in November 2017 and previously served as chair from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019. Puchala chaired the board from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020.

Virgin Trains USA last week entered into a lease agreement with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to use existing right of way along Interstate 15 in California for the planned high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and Southern California, a local news outlet recently reported.

Caltrans officials told the Daily Press that all public comments received before the agreement was signed supported the project.

The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) will hold its annual conference virtually Sept. 13-17. The meeting was changed to an online event to protect the health and safety of its attendees, AREMA officials announced in an email. The AREMA 2020 Virtual Conference & Expo will include nearly 80 technical presentations, keynote addresses from Kevin Brown and Tony Hatch, panel discussions and virtual meetings with exhibitors.

Alstom acquired Ibre, a French company focused on development, manufacture and supply of cast iron or steel brake discs for high-speed, intercity and regional trains. Ibre has been renamed Alstom Ibre and is now an Alstom subsidiary. The acquisition enables Alstom to reinforce internal capabilities regarding railway braking systems, which are essential to the overall dynamic performance of trains, Alstom officials said in a press release.

CSX has awarded a contract to Metso for the design, supply and installation of a rail-car dumper system that will be used to unload coal at the Curtis Bay Export Terminal in Baltimore.

The Metso Twin Cage Tandem Rotary Car Dumper System will include two complete dumper barrel assemblies, a complete hopper system with grizzlies, a unit train positioner operation and installation. The system is expected to be operational in October 2021, Metso officials said in a press release.

The Canadian government earlier this week announced it is investing more than CA$28 million in three projects that will increase transport capacity and efficiency at three facilities in greater Vancouver, British Columbia. 

Funding for projects includes:

The U.S. House yesterday passed the $1.5 trillion Moving Forward Act, H.R. 2, a massive infrastructure bill that includes $500 billion to reauthorize surface transportation programs over the next five years.

At the center of the legislation is the Democrats' INVEST in America Act, which has received mixed reviews from the railroad industry. The legislation would succeed the current surface transportation law known as the FAST Act, which will expire Sept. 30.

The Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd. (IAIS) earlier this week opened the new William J. Duggan Bridge in Booneville, Iowa, to freight-rail traffic. 

The structure, which crosses the Raccoon River west of Des Moines, replaces a 119-year-old through truss bridge. The bridge now consists of eight steel beam spans set in concrete piers, with two concrete bents supporting a concrete box beam.

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in San Francisco yesterday launched weekly train car loading charts to provide a snapshot of what riders can expect on trains during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The schedule-based passenger load data outlines the average number of riders on each car of a specific train as it departs a station. The charts will be shared weekly at www.bart.gov/crowding.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver's (RTD) finances could recover to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels by 2023, two years sooner than previously predicted, according to the latest forecast by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business.

The June forecast — presented to RTD's board yesterday — predicts revenue for 2020 could be $38.2 million more than previously projected, and revenue for 2021 could be $104.7 million more than previously projected, RTD officials said in a press release.

The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) earlier this week began the environmental review process for South Bay Connect, a proposed project to relocate the Capitol Corridor passenger-rail service from Union Pacific Railroad’s Niles Subdivision to the Coast Subdivision in Northern California.

The proposed relocation is expected to improve separation of passenger- and freight-rail operations in southern Alameda County and create new transbay connections for travelers between the East Bay and destinations on the peninsula, CCJPA officials said in a press release. Improvements to the rail infrastructure also may be included in the project to accommodate the shift of rail services.

Ontario Northland has tapped Drew Duquette to serve as vice president of transportation effective July 6, the railroad announced late last week.

Most recently, Duquette worked for Canadian Pacific, where he served in a number of senior roles, including as superintendent of southwestern Ontario. At Ontario Northland, he will succeed Grant Bailey, who is retiring.

The Kansas Department of Transportation this week (KDOT) announced nine rail improvement projects will receive a combined $11.5 million in State Rail Service Improvement Fund grants.

The program is intended to help improve rail access for businesses and preserve the condition of the state's rail network. This year, the total cost of the nine projects is $21.8 million. Construction is slated to begin in the third quarter, KDOT officials said in a press release.

The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which goes into effect today, will provide certainty as the economy begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Association of American Railroads (AAR) President and Chief Executive Officer Ian Jefferies said today in a press release.

"As economies reopen, the certainty provided by the USMCA will prove vital to charting a path back to prosperity," Jefferies said.

New Jersey Transit yesterday announced it has advanced its positive train control (PTC) system into the extended revenue service demonstration (ERSD) phase. 

The milestone follows completion of the Federal Railroad Administration’s requirement to perform 384 error-free test runs in the 17-mile demonstration area between Denville and Summit, NJ Transit officials said in a press release. The agency will now expand its revenue service demonstration to the entire Morristown Line from Hackettstown to Newark Broad Street, as well as the Gladstone Branch and Montclair-Boonton Line.

Kansas City Southern announced today that Jose Guillermo Zozaya Delano will retire Aug. 1 as president, general manager and executive representative of KCS de Mexico S.A. de C.V. He will be succeeded by KCSM Vice President and General Director Oscar Augusto Del Cueto Cuevas.

Zozaya joined the company in 2006 and served as senior officer of KCSM for 14 years. His career spanned nearly 50 years in government relations, legal affairs and international affairs, as well as in mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining the KCSM management team, he was legal and government relations director for ExxonMobil Mexico for nine years.