Railroad News

Sound Transit last week released a draft service plan for 2020, which outlines significant service disruption for the Link light-rail system in the first quarter of the year. 

For 10 weeks between January and March, parts of International District/Chinatown Station will close so crews can build rail connections that will allow the East Link extension to serve downtown Seattle and beyond, according to the service plan.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) last week announced that it is working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to provide travel alternatives for commuters during reconstruction of Interstate 95. 

To accommodate a potential influx of riders during interstate construction, SEPTA today is adding capacity and increasing train frequency on the Trenton and West Trenton lines, SEPTA officials said in a press release. 

The Port of New Orleans and Public Belt Railroad boards last week elected Tara Hernandez chair.

The boards also named Darryl Berger vice chair and William Langenstein III, secretary-treasurer. With the port's acquisition of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad effective in February 2018, port commissioners also serve as directors of the railroad's board.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) earlier this week announced it will postpone the opening date of the N Line, a 18.5-mile commuter-rail line between Denver and Thorton, Colorado, until May or August of 2020.

The previous opening date for the N Line was projected in first-quarter 2020. 

South Carolina Ports Authority and the South Carolina Department of Health received a $2 million federal grant to upgrade the engines of 12 rubber-tired gantry (RTG) cranes, port officials announced yesterday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the grant through its Diesel Emissions Reduction Act program. The funding will equip the RTG cranes with hybrid battery/genset engine systems, replacing the existing hi-power diesel engines, port authority officials said in a press release.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) board yesterday approved two contracts to assess how and where it would be possible to pilot congestion relief pricing in Los Angeles County.

LA Metro awarded WSP USA Inc. a more than $3 million contract to investigate the feasibility and framework for testing and implementing motorist pricing strategies, evaluate potential pricing models, identify a location to pilot the program and establish an implementation plan.

Attorneys general from 10 states have joined Montana and North Dakota in calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to overrule a Washington state law regarding the transportation of crude oil by rail.

This week, attorneys general from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah and West Virginia wrote to the department to support the position of the Montana and North Dakota attorneys general, who have petitioned the Trump administration to overturn Washington's law.

Union Pacific Chief Financial Officer Rob Knight will retire on Dec. 31, the Class I announced yesterday. Jennifer Hamann will succeed him effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Knight joined UP in 1980 and held numerous leadership positions prior to being named CFO in 2004. During his tenure as CFO, he led many initiatives that helped the company earn the highest market capitalization of any North American transportation company, UP officials said in a press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) yesterday announced it has completed all necessary Red Line signal repairs and restored regularly scheduled service on the line following a June rail-car derailment that caused significant infrastructure damage and service disruptions over the summer.

As of last week, all restoration work was completed with final repairs made to train control signals, track signals and electronic track switching controls. 

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) yesterday announced a $75 million grant to Valley Metro for the Tempe Streetcar project in Arizona. 

FTA provided the grant for the $192.4 million project through the federal Capital Investment Grants Program, which provides funding for major transit infrastructure projects nationwide.

U.S. freight-rail traffic fell 6.8 percent to 528,670 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending Sept. 21 compared with the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week declined 8 percent to 250,794 units, while intermodal volume fell 5.7 percent to 277,876 containers and trailers.

A Georgia Southern University undergraduate team won the Intermodal Association of North America's (IANA) ninth Intermodal EXPO Academic Challenge held in California, the association announced this week.

Each of the participating teams responded to a case that focused on analyzing volume trends from the intermodal and over-the-road perspectives. Georgia Southern's win was its first victory in the annual competition, IANA officials said in a press release.

California's high-speed rail project ranks among the top rail projects for sustainability in North America, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) announced this week.

The project received five stars for sustainability from the GRESB Infrastructure Assessment, a benchmark for environmental, social and governance policies, practices and performance of infrastructure investments.