Railroad News

The New Jersey Transit Police Department late last week began using social networking app Nextdoor to boost community policing efforts.

Using the app's public agency platform, NJ Transit police will be able to geo-target Nextdoor users who live within a mile of commuter- and light-rail lines, as well as bus terminals.

All three of Amtrak's Michigan routes now accept bicycles on board.

Last week, the Wolverine Service became the last Michigan Department of Transportation-sponsored line to allow riders to bring their bikes on board. Wolverine trains provide three daily-round trips between Pontiac, Michigan and Chicago, via Detroit, Dearborn, Jackson and other stops in Michigan.

Nick Edelen, 35

Job description: Manages the operational, financial and administrative aspects of R. J. Corman's Emergency Services company. Responsible for overseeing more than 200 employees in 18 divisions across the United States.

Education: Bachelor of science in business administration, Georgetown College

A thermite weld failure resulted in a Canadian Pacific train derailment in Manitoba in August 2017, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) announced yesterday.

On Aug. 11, 2017, a CP unit train was heading north on the Emerson Subdivision when 22 covered hopper cars loaded with corn derailed while exiting a bridge over the Roseau River near Dominion City, Manitoba.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) yesterday announced the launch of a program to assist riders with mobility issues.

Through the new LIRR Care program, the railroad will offer help to passengers who need assistance boarding or exiting trains. The service will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, LIRR officials said in a press release.

Long Ridge Energy Terminal has completed its rail loop construction project in Hannibal, Ohio, which makes the facility the first in the Appalachian Basin to offer unit-train and barge transloading capabilities.

CSX serves the terminal.

The Port of Portland is continuing its Terminal 6 service with BNSF Railway Co. through mid-2019, as part of a larger focus to increase options to shippers at Terminal 6, port officials announced this week.

The intermodal rail service, which began in January, moves containers by rail between Portland and the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. Goods are loaded from rail on or off ocean carriers, with three carriers using the service in Washington, port officials said in a press release.

Trinity Metro in Fort Worth, Texas, has hired Mike Stolzman as vice president and chief operating officer of rail.

He has more than 20 years of railroad experience. In 1995, he joined the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Co., which was later purchased by Union Pacific Railroad.

GE Transportation and Ukrainian Railways earlier this week marked the completion of the first of 30 GE Evolution Series locomotives to be built under a framework agreement signed early this year. The TE33A locomotive features a 12-cylinder, 4,500-horsepower Evolution Series engine. Compared to the legacy Ukrainian fleet, the unit can "significantly reduce" emissions, economize fuel and oil costs, and increase time between maintenance overhauls, GE officials said in a press release. Production is occurring in the United States, with final assembly in Ukraine.

Siemens, South Korean train manufacturer Hyundai Rotem and Taiwanese construction company BES Engineering have obtained a contract to deliver electrical and mechanical solutions to the Green Line metro route in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Siemens' share of the project includes the Trainguard MT communications-based train control system, traction drives for the trains and direct-current traction power supply. The signaling system will enable full automation of the metro line, Siemens officials said in a press release.

Federal Railroad Administrator Ronald Batory earlier this week toured CSX's Virginia Avenue Tunnel reconstruction project in southeast Washington, D.C.

Joining Batory on the tour were CSX officials, along with representatives of Clark Construction, Delta Railroad Construction and Parsons, which are members of the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC).

On July 1, Watco Cos. LLC marked its 35th anniversary. The company was launched in 1983 by founder Dick Webb as an industrial switching operation in DeRidder, Louisiana.

Now, Watco has grown from one to more than 4,000 customers, from 14 to 5,200 employees, and from one to 202 operations, including 38 short lines. The company provides rail, switching, terminal and port, mechanical and other services in 37 states and four countries.

President Donald Trump has nominated former Metra Chairman Martin Oberman as a Surface Transportation Board (STB) member.

If his nomination is approved by the Senate, Oberman will serve the remainder of a five-year term that expires Dec. 31, 2023. The open Democratic seat on the board was vacated by former STB Chairman Dan Elliott last year.

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

Jessica Mefford-Miller has been named interim executive director of Metro Transit-St. Louis.

She succeeds Ray Friem, who retired July 1. Mefford-Miller previously served as Metro Transit's assistant executive director of transit planning and system development, according to a press release issued by Bi-State Development, Metro-Transit's parent agency.

The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority's (SFRTA) governing board has elected Esteban Bovo Jr. as chairman and Tim Ryan as vice chair.

Last month, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners tapped Bovo to serve as its representative on SFRTA's governing board. Ryan was added to the agency's governing board in January 2015.

Construction of Sound Transit's East Link light-rail tunnel in downtown Bellevue, Washington, is more than 90 percent completed, the agency announced late last week.

Crews are on track to finish the tunnel within 15 months, or about five months earlier than scheduled, Sound Transit officials said in a press release.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy announced $1 million in state grants to fund projects that will return blighted areas to productive use.

The funds are being awarded by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development through the recently launched Brownfield Area-Wide Revitalization Grant program. This is the second round of grants being awarded under the program.

Stillwater Central Railroad and its operator Watco Cos. LLC are seeking proposals from rail providers interested in operating the Eastern Flyer or "Sooner Sub" passenger-rail service between Sapulpa and Del City, Oklahoma.

Interested parties are asked to send an email requesting a nondisclosure agreement. Once the agreement is completed, a bid package will be mailed to the provider.