Railroad News

VIA Rail Canada Inc. late last week released a report highlighting its sustainability efforts in 2017.

Last year, the railroad provided 4.39 million trips, marking a 10.5 percent increase over 2016’s total. As ridership increased, VIA Rail logged a 34 percent drop in greenhouse-gas emissions since 2015, railroad officials said in a press release.

As of mid-March, U.S. Class Is employed 145,105 workers, up 0.2 percent compared with mid-February’s level, but down 2.8 percent compared with mid-March 2017's count, according to Surface Transportation Board data.

Only two of six employment categories reflected workforce increases on a month-over-month basis. They were transportation (train and engine), up 0.8 percent to 60,297 employees, and maintenance of way and structures, up 0.6 percent to 32,433 workers.

Nathan Henderson, who served the Class I, contracting and supply segments of the industry during his 20-year rail career, died April 18 from an apparent heart attack. He was 43.

From 1998 through 2011, Henderson worked at CSX, rising to the position of division manager before joining R. J. Corman Railroad Group, where he spent the next six years. At R. J. Corman, he held a variety of senior executive positions, including president of R. J. Corman Railroad Services Co.; and chief commercial officer, vice president of material sales, and VP of sales and marketing of R. J. Corman Railroad Group.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) last week opened a new south terminal at the Red Line's 95th/Dan Ryan Station on the city's South Side.

The completion of the terminal marked a milestone in the $280 million project to rebuild the station, which is one of the agency's busiest, CTA officials said in a press release.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Friday announced a new infrastructure project funding program that will supplant the popular Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program.

The USDOT published a notice of funding opportunity for interested parties to apply for $1.5 billion in discretionary grants through the new Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) transportation grant program. The BUILD grant program will replace the TIGER program, which was introduced in 2009.

Canadian Pacific late Friday negotiated its way out of a strike two unions were set to launch shortly after midnight. The Class I reached an agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Train & Engine (TCRC) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which planned to begin a work stoppage at CP at 12:01 a.m. on April 21.

Per a recommendation from federal mediators, Canadian Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labor Patty Hajdu directed the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to administer a ratification vote on each of the railroad’s final offers to the TCRC and IBEW, CP officials said in a press release. The parties didn’t release any details on the pacts. The TCRC and IBEW represent 3,000 conductors and 360 signal maintainers at CP, respectively.

Bombardier Transportation in Australia has received the EN 15085 certification for rail vehicle and component welding. The firm is the first rail company in Australia to receive the certification, Bombardier officials said in a press release. Bombardier's welding training center in Dandenong, Victoria, is now an accredited facility for securing and growing local welding capabilities. The site also can deliver industry-recognized certifications to staff, external suppliers and industry partners in Australia.

Road & Rail Services Inc. has received the 2017 Toyota Logistics Services Kaizen Award for Logistics Excellence. The award recognizes "successful collaboration" between Toyota Logistics Services and Road & Rail, which led to improved rail-car and vehicle velocity performance at a lowered cost, Road & Rail officials said in a press release.

Metra next week will install and test a new signal and switching system north of the Museum Campus/11th Street Station in Chicago.

The railroad is switching from a manual system to an automated one as part of its positive train control (PTC) implementation, Metra officials said in a press release.

VIA Rail Canada Inc. has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a supplier to replace its fleet that operates along the Quebec-Windsor corridor.

Starting today, the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Cotton Belt corridor regional rail project in North Texas is now available for a 45-day public review and comment period, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) officials announced.

The 26-mile Cotton Belt Corridor extends between Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Shiloh Road in Plano, Texas. The project's primary purpose is to provide passenger-rail service in Tarrant, Dallas and Collin counties, Texas.

In 2017, public transit ridership in the United States dropped 2.9 percent to 10.1 billion trips compared to 2016, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced this week.

While heavy-rail ridership in the country declined 2 percent to 3.8 billion trips, light- and commuter-rail ridership held mostly steady. Last year, U.S. transit riders took 497 million commuter-rail trips and 548 million light-rail trips, marking 0.19 percent and 0.83 percent decreases, respectively.

Kansas City Southern reported record first-quarter 2018 results, including a 5 percent increase in revenue and a 4 percent hike in operating income compared with last year's first quarter, the Class I announced today.

KCS' revenue in the quarter rose to $639 million from $609.5 million a year ago. The Class I posted record Q1 diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.40, up 1 percent, and record Q1 adjusted diluted EPS of $1.30, up 11 percent over Q1 2017.

Metrolinx and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) have agreed to study potential connections between GO Transit's Kitchener commuter-rail corridor and Toronto Pearson International Airport's future transit and passenger center.

The agencies also will explore other potential transit connections to the airport, such as the Eglinton Crosstown West light-rail project.

The Regional Plan Association (RPA) yesterday released more details on its proposal to combine three commuter-rail networks in the New York City area.

The association's Trans-Regional Express (T-REX) plan outlines a set of investments to combine MTA Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and New Jersey Transit's commuter-rail operations into a unified system.

U.S. railroads reported a 4.3 percent increase in traffic for the week ending April 14, logging 534,198 carloads and intermodal units compared with the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Intermodal volume outpaced growth in carload activity during the week, with railroads moving 276,075 containers and trailers, up 6.9 percent, and 258,123 carloads, up 1.6 percent compared with the same week in 2017, according to AAR data.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) yesterday awarded a $152.9 million contract to Kiewit-Aldridge AJV for a Blue Line track signal improvement project.

The contractor will replace the line's original 34-year-old signal system between Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood and Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

Norfolk Southern Railway has awarded its 2017 Thoroughbred Chemical Safety Award to 52 chemical customers for safely handling rail-shipped products.

Last year, the honorees shipped 153,213 carloads of chemical products regulated as hazardous material on NS rail lines without incident, company officials said in a press release.