Railroad News

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has been awarded a $574,000 grant to fund planning, surveying and permitting for a 4,300-foot rail connection in Jackson County.

The grant awarded to MDEQ, which was announced by U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss), as well as Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss), is being provided as part of the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act). The legislation provides funding for Gulf Coast states affected by the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill.

The Association of American Railroads and Norfolk Southern filed comments with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) on May 7 asking for a level regulatory playing field regarding automation.

Specifically, AAR's comment asks the U.S. Department of Transportation "to take the same supportive regulatory approach with railroads that it has with automation of trucks and cars."

Tutor Perini Corporation (TPC), a civil, building and specialty construction company, announced May 7 three recent low bids for new civil projects totaling about $1 billion.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to take a "supportive regulatory approach" to how railroads will use automation technology.

The AAR's comments were submitted in response to the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) request for public comments on the potential benefits, costs, risks and challenges to implementing automated railroad operations.

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) unveiled a three-year capital project to reconstruct platforms and address structural deficiencies at 20 Metrorail stations on Monday.

WMATA notes that rebuilding platforms is a heavy construction activity that requires that tracks to be taken out of service to allow for demolition of existing structures, access to the construction area and concrete pouring. To add perspective to the ambitious nature of the program, WMATA reconstructed platforms at Minnesota Avenue and Deanwood stations took approximately three years to complete.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) voted May 7 to award a nearly $7 million contract to Hardesty & Hanover, LLC to design a replacement for the drawbridge above the Saugus River.

voestalpine Nortrak announced May 8 the launch of a new North American marketing and distribution agreement with Getzner USA to serve freight railways.

Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario have signed a CA$2.5 billion contract with Mosaic Transit Group to design, build, finance and maintain the Finch West light-rail project in Toronto.

The contract reflects payments during construction, along with a "substantial completion payment" and monthly service payments during the 30-year maintenance period, IO officials said in a press release.

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx announced May 7 that Mosaic Transit Group (Mosaic) has signed a contract worth CA$2.5 billion (US$1.9 billion) to design, build, finance and maintain the Finch West Light Rail Transit (LRT) project.

BNSF Railway Co. reported first-quarter 2018 total revenue rose 8 percent to $5.6 billion from $5.2 billion a year ago as a result of a 5 percent increase in unit volume.

First-quarter net income net income soared 37 percent to $1.1 billion from $838 million a year ago, while operating income climbed 11 percent to $1.7 billion from $1.6 billion, BNSF reported in a Q1 financial performance summary.

BNSF Railway Co. reported first-quarter 2018 total revenue rose 8 percent to $5.6 billion from $5.2 billion a year ago as a result of a 5 percent increase in unit volume.

First-quarter net income net income soared 37 percent to $1.1 billion from $838 million a year ago, while operating income climbed 11 percent to $1.7 billion from $1.6 billion, BNSF reported in a press release.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has released its Metro Vision 2028 plan, which outlines steps to improve local mobility and quality of life over the next decade.

The plan includes improvements to Metro's state-of-good-repair program to help reduce rail and bus service disruptions. Over the next decade, the agency aims to build a "state-of-the-art, condition-based asset management practice" for maintaining mission-critical assets and upgrading to current technologies, Metro officials wrote in the plan.

On May 3, a consortium of Manitoba First Nations, led by Chief Glenn Hudson, and in partnership with iChurchill Inc., a private Canadian company, said it entered into an agreement to purchase the Hudson Bay Railway (HBR), the Port of Churchill and associated assets.

HBR, which is owned by OmniTRAX, Inc., has had service suspended since May 2017 following damage that was the result of severe flooding.

Sound Transit has promoted Don Billen to executive director of the Planning Environment and Project Development (PEPD) department.

Billen previously served as PEPD's deputy director and since September 2017 as its acting executive director. He will be responsible for leading the PEPD in long-range planning and advancing voter-approved capital projects from the earliest stages through environmental review and preliminary engineering. During the project development process, PEPD defines station and alignment locations, access improvements, station area plans and sustainability features. The department works closely with partner organizations, community members and internal design, engineering, construction and operation staff. Other responsibilities include, but are not limited to, leading the agency's environmental compliance, transit oriented development, innovation and sustainability efforts.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has scheduled a meeting June 12 in Washington, D.C., to solicit input from stakeholders in the railroad and trucking industries on whistleblower issues.

OSHA is looking for comments and suggestions on how it can better deliver "whistleblower customer service," as well as assistance it can provide to better explain the whistleblower laws it enforces. The meeting will be the first in a series requesting public input on the whistleblower program, OSHA officials said in a press release.

Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) this month will begin weekend tunnel and station closures to finish installing and testing positive train control (PTC) equipment and software.

The closures will begin May 19 and resume July 7 through October's end. PATH conducted a similar weekend closure program during 2016's second half for the first phase of PTC implementation, which involved equipment and signal installation.

STV, a transportation design firm, will serve as the lead designer for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) $1.3 billion Green Line Light Rail Extension (GLX) work.

Sally Librera has been appointed to lead MTA New York City Transit's (NYCT) department of subways.

She will oversee the development and delivery of a long-term strategy to modernize the system, NYCT officials said in a press release.