Railroad News

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday published a preliminary report for its investigation of an April 24 derailment of a Union Pacific Railroad train near Fort Worth, Texas.

The 6,122-foot, high-hazard flammable, key train was carrying denatured ethanol in 96 loaded rail tank cars when 25 cars derailed on UP's Midlothian Subdivision. At least three tank cars leaked about 74,000 gallons of denatured alcohol, which then ignited. Some of the product entered a nearby tributary of the Trinity River, NTSB officials said in a press release.

The North County Transit District (NCTD) of San Diego announced that earlier this year the board authorized the purchase of two additional Siemens SC-44 Charger diesel-electric locomotives, pending receipt of funding from a source that has yet to be announced.

The procurement would be part of NCTD’s plan to increase Coaster commuter-rail service frequency. 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) yesterday announced an agreement to add 500 additional uniformed officers to the New York City Transit (NYCT) system to address transit-worker assaults and combat fare evasion.

Assaults on NYCT workers increased 15.2 percent between 2013 and 2017. Lost revenue from fare evasion rose to $225 million in 2018 from $105 million in 2015, according to a press release issued by Cuomo's office.

New Jersey Transit will create a video campaign to make passengers with mobility challenges aware of the accessibility accommodations available on its commuter- and light-rail services. 

NJ Transit was awarded a $60,600 Access and Mobility Partnership Grant from the Federal Transit Administration to complete the campaign. The agency will add $17,400 for a total project cost of $78,000, according to a NJ Transit press release.

TransLink last week completed upgrades at the western end of Joyce Collingwood SkyTrain Station in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

The station now offers increased capacity and greater accessibility options, including a new elevator and escalator; exterior real-time service information signs; improved lighting, an extended roof; improved integration of pedestrian, bicycle, bus, and SkyTrain transportation modes; glass partitions to support crime prevention; and universally accessible fare gates.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit's (DART) board last week approved a Victory Plaza development agreement with Anland North Commercial LP.

The pact covers the financing, design, engineering and construction of DART's planned 1-acre plaza in the Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas. Following the project's completion, Anland North will maintain Victory Plaza for 10 years through the Victory Owners Association, DART officials said in a press release.

Amtrak has completed a project to refresh the interiors of its 20-trainset Acela fleet, the passenger railroad announced last week.

The project, which took 15 months to complete, is one of Amtrak's initiatives to improve Acela service along the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

Howard Energy Partners (HEP) announced last week that it has completed expansions of its bulk terminal facilities in Port Arthur and Corpus Christi, Texas.

The projects were designed to increase HEP's Gulf Coast terminal storage capacity to 2.6 million barrels with three ship docks, three barge docks, unit train loading capacity for up to two trains per day and direct pipeline connections through wholly owned pipelines, company officials said in a press release.

Bombardier Transportation last week announced it will open a rail-car assembly site in Pittsburg, California. 

The first equipment off the assembly line will be for Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) 775-car contract with Bombardier.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) last week published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in response to petitions seeking reconsideration of a final rule regarding intercity- and commuter-rail systems' Safety System Program (SSP) and Risk Reduction Program (RRP).

The NPRM addresses state and labor petitions filed on the SSP final rule.

Compiled by Walter Weart

The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) has hired TGA Association Management Solutions LLC (TGA AMS) for government affairs and association management services. TGA AMS President Matt Ginsberg previously worked with the association in roles including operations, conference planning, and regulatory and government affairs.

Tramont Manufacturing has acquired Compo Steel Products, increasing its production capacity and expanding its reach into the railroad market. Compo will continue operations as a division of Tramont Manufacturing under the name Motive Energy. Motive Energy is known for creating precision components for passenger and freight locomotives, according to a Tramont press release. As part of the acquisition, Tramont will begin transferring production to the Compo manufacturing plant, which is less than a mile from Tramont’s current facility in Milwaukee.

Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) commuter-rail system officials announced it will open the eastbound Harrison Station tomorrow in Harrison, New Jersey.

The eastbound redevelopment is part of PATH’s $256 million modernization of the 76-year-old Harrison Station. It is glass-enclosed, with weather-protected entrances, elevators, widened stairs and escalator access to the platform. 

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) earlier this week announced that its first tunnel boring machine has broken through from the Wilshire/La Brea Station site to the Wilshire/Western Terminus in Los Angeles. 

The boring machine is one of two being used to mine parallel subway tunnels to extend LA Metro’s Purple Line from the current Wilshire/Western Terminus to the Wilshire/La Brea Station site. 

Frontier Logistics broke ground yesterday on a new warehouse facility that will support the handling of plastics and resin exports from the Port of Charleston in South Carolina.

The 550,000-square-foot facility will be built on 26 acres of the former U.S. Navy base in North Charleston, South Carolina. It will be served by Palmetto Railways, which will connect it to Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX routes, South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) officials said in a press release.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) yesterday announced the appointment of David Schulze as the chief of staff.

Schulze becomes DART’s first executive-level chief of staff, serving as senior adviser to DART's president and executive director, according to a DART press release. 

North Dakota's congressional delegation is making its case to U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao that Washington state's new crude-by-rail law violates the nation's Interstate Commerce Clause and interferes with the U.S. Department of Transportation's authority over the shipment of crude oil over state lines.

U.S. Sens. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) this week asked Chao's assistance in North Dakota's concerns about Washington's new law.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) this week announced a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) to apply for $292.7 million in discretionary grant funding through the new Port Infrastructure Development Program.

The program aims to support public coastal ports by improving the safety, efficiency or reliability of goods moved into, out of or within a port, USDOT officials said in a press release.