Railroad News

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

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is soliciting public and stakeholder opinions on an update to its state rail plan.

ADOT is seeking comments by Aug. 10 on what the plan should include for both freight- and passenger-rail systems, department officials said in a press release.

In a bid to boost ridership, the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) next month will roll out a program to provide free A-train commuter-rail service for local college students, faculty and staff.

The promotion will run from Aug. 27 through Jan. 14, 2019. The agency is providing the free rides along its entire A-train alignment between the Trinity Mills Station in Carrollton, Texas, and the Downtown Denton Transit Center.

The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) is partnering with the regional 211 helpline and crisis lines to launch a new suicide prevention campaign.

As part of the effort, the agency is placing signs along its southern rail corridor to deter suicides and encourage people to call the 211 crisis line for help. The signs also will be installed in SFRTA's stations.

The National Association of Railway Business Women (NARBW) has elected Amtrak veteran Melanie Bennett McKim as its 40th president.

She succeeds Laura Gutteridge Anos, who was elected president in 2016.

Although freight-rail safety has improved in the five years since the Lac-Megantic rail disaster, more remains to be done, says the chair of Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB).

Today is the fifth anniversary of the tragic accident, in which a train carrying over 2 million gallons of crude oil derailed in the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec. The resulting fire and explosions killed 47 people, forced another 2,000 from their homes and destroyed much of the town's downtown core.

NDYLTK Rail has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of LTK Engineering Services and has changed its name to LTK Australia Pty. Ltd. In 2011, LTK Engineering Services and Norman Disney & Young (NDY) established a partnership to offer rail engineering services for clients in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Africa. NDY was recently acquired by another firm, which gave LTK the opportunity to purchase NDYLTK outright, company officials said in a press release. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF has signed an agreement to acquire Polish bus and tram maker Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. The move is aimed at making the CAF Group a market leader in the bus segment and opening new opportunities for the company's urban rail business in Central and Eastern Europe. The acquisition also will provide an opportunity to enter and grow in "new mobility-related areas," CAF officials said in a press release. Solaris has an estimated enterprise value of more than $350 million.

Valley Metro's rail board has elected Thelda Williams as chair.

Since late May, she has served as interim mayor of Phoenix. Williams also has chaired the Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority's (RPTA) board.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) next week will kick off its fifth consecutive trolley tunnel "blitz" repairs.

SEPTA will shut down trolley service in the Center City tunnel from July 13 to 23 to allow crews to perform repair work.

The Canadian government has committed CA$7.5 million for an infrastructure project at the Port of Thunder Bay.

The project involves adding tracks and lay-down areas for cargo staging and trans-shipment to respond to increased demand, according to a press release issued by Transport Canada.

Alaska Railroad Corp. has promoted George Newman to senior director of the advanced train control systems (ATCS) department. Newman succeeds Eileen Reilly, who retired July 1.

ATCS is focused on developing and implementing the railroad's positive train control (PTC) system. Newman joined Alaska Railroad in November 2016 as director of ATCS, company officials said in a press release.

The $8 billion budget for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation's (HART) proposed 20-mile passenger-rail system remains $134 million short, news site Honolulu Civil Beat reported earlier this week.

A Jacobs Engineering report drafted for the Federal Transit Administration has recommended adding the shortfall amount to the budget to ensure the rail system's construction is completed, according to the news site.

Negotiations for the sale of Hudson Bay Railway, the Port of Churchill in northern Manitoba and related assets have broken down, railroad officials announced yesterday.

Discussions between the railroad's owner and a consortium involving two First Nations groups and Fairfax Financial Holdings have been ongoing for the past few months. In late May, the parties announced a tentative agreement that would have transferred ownership of the port and restored rail service to northern Manitoba.

U.S. rail traffic trends last month were consistent with a healthy economy, but that trend could change if the country engages in a trade war, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

U.S. railroads originated 2,240,742 carloads and intermodal units last month, a 4.2 percent increase over rail traffic in June 2017, according to an AAR press release.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) yesterday launched a test version of its "MYmta" app, which provides real-time arrival information and trip planning for subways, buses and commuter-rail service.

The agency also unveiled a new mobile-optimized site, new.mta.info. The app and the website are designed to "bring wayfinding for all of MTA's mass transit properties under one roof," agency officials said in a press release.