Railroad News

Metro Transit last week began a $4 million improvement project at a commuter-rail operations and maintenance facility in Big Lake, Minnesota. 

The facility serves as a maintenance, inspection and wash station for 19 rail cars and six locomotives that run on the Northstar Line between downtown Minneapolis and Big Lake, according to the Metro Transit website.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is calling on the U.S. Department Commerce to investigate whether a Chinese rail-car manufacturer that has obtained contracts to build subway cars in major U.S. cities poses a threat to national security.

Schumer wants the federal government to "thoroughly investigate" the Chinese state-owned China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. (CRRC), which was among the winners of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) 2018 design contracts for new subway cars that could include modern train control technology.

The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) on Friday will begin its seasonal weekend rail service on the CapeFLYER. 

The CapeFLYER passenger-rail service runs from Boston to Cape Cod every summer. This year's season-run will end Sept. 2. 

CN today announced Rob Reilly will become executive vice president and chief operating officer and Michael Foster will be promoted to EVP and chief information and technology officer as of July 1.

Reilly has 30 years of experience in the rail industry, starting in 1989 when he joined the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Co., now known as BNSF Railway Co. His industry experience includes a succession of increasingly senior positions in markets across the United States, most notably in Chicago and on the West Coast.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Associate Editor

Hitachi Rail Italy must retrofit the floors of 24 rail cars provided to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) following a failed roof and floor testing in February, according to a Star Advertiser report citing HART officials. 

Following the retesting of the failed rail car by Hitachi Rail, the company found that it would need to retrofit the rail car floors with a thin layer of stainless steel to ensure they pass fire testing. 

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) will begin running all Yellow Line trains to Greenbelt, Maryland, more than a month earlier than expected when the platform improvement project begins at six Yellow and Blue line stations south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The trains will begin running to Greenbelt on May 25, WMATA officials said in a press release.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) last week began a $6.4 million track upgrade project funded by the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Transit Preservation Partnership, a funding program to support public transportation services.

The project — which calls for extending 3.6-miles of rail between the West Park Station and the airport tunnel — will replace 12,275 timber cross ties, improve track drainage, add signal systems, repair the Puritas Station platform and provide for a full rehabilitation of the railroad track, said RTA’s Interim Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Flounsay Caver in a press release.

Cimarron Valley Railroad (CVR) has received a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) to help cover the cost of replacing the railroad's 13 aging locomotives with a "more modern and efficient fleet" of seven engines.

The upgrade will benefit CVR's rural customer base through lower fuel costs, enhanced service and better reliability, CVR officials said in a press release. In addition, the newer locomotives will offer a significant increase in hauling capacity, they said.

Union Pacific Railroad is now operating positive train control (PTC) on 80 percent of its route miles, the Class I announced late last week.

UP recently implemented PTC on 582 route miles, bringing required PTC-operated route miles to 13,597. PTC was implemented on all required passenger routes on track owned by UP in 2018, UP officials said in a press release.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Associate Editor

The latest trends in detecting and preventing security threats to rail were discussed at the fifth annual Secure Rail Conference held May 1-2 in Orlando, Florida.

Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co. (BR&L), a division of A. Stucki Co., has acquired Austintown Rail Supply, a supplier of switching materials and other railroad track products. Austintown Rail Supply will now operate as BR&L’s Austintown, Ohio, location. BR&L retained the company’s 10 employees, and expects to add three or four more employees to support a new crane rail operation, which will supply rail and accessories for overhead cranes, according to a BR&L press release.

Wabtec Corp. has invested in GE Additive’s H2 binder jet printer capabilities to design and produce reliable, low-cost components for current and developmental engines, locomotive, transit and mining programs, according to a Wabtec press release. Additive technologies could be used in the production of up to 250 components for Wabtec product lines by 2025, company officials said.

Central Florida commuter railroad SunRail yesterday unveiled a mobile application that provides riders with trip planning features, service information and account management. 

The app's key features include train arrival status, a detailed trip planner with times, distance and fare information, and a login for ordering and maintaining SunCards, SunRail’s reloadable fare cards for frequent users. 

The Southern California Chapter of the Construction Management Association has recognized two recently completed Alameda Corridor-East (ACE) grade separation projects for achievement, the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments announced yesterday.

The awards acknowledged the projects for "outstanding achievement in the practice of construction management," council officials said in a press release.

A ceremony was held last month to mark the start of construction on the RCR Hempstead Logistics Park in Hempstead, Texas, RCR Rail Co. announced this week.

Union Pacific Railroad will serve the park, a 137-acre site under development on the northwest corner of State Highway 290 and 6 in Waller County.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers this week introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would prevent federal transit funds from being issued by transit agencies to procure Chinese rail cars and other rail assets.

Introduced by U.S. Rep. Harley Rouda (D-Calif.), the Transportation Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act also would ensure transit agencies develop and implement a cybersecurity plan, Rouda said this week in a press release.