Railroad News

Compiled by Michael Popke

New York Air Brake has appointed Ulisses Camilo president and chief executive officer. He will succeed Michael Hawthorne, who was tapped to lead Bendix Commercial Vehicle Commercial Systems LLC, a sister company within the Knorr-Bremse Group. Camilo has worked in the rail industry for nearly two decades. Most recently, he served as managing director of the rail and transit sector for Atkins NA, an SNC-Lavalin company. He also has held senior leadership roles at Faiveley Transport NA, Parsons Transportation Group, Vossloh NA and Alstom Transportation.

SRT Transportation Solutions has agreed to manage, market and operate Contractors Cargo Cos.' CCRX 40010 20-axle Schnabel rail car. The unit features a custom 40-foot, 850,000-pound capacity deck insert to extend its utility, SRT officials said in a press release. The company manages and maintains speciality rail cars in Siemens' fleet, along with FD rail cars.

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has tapped several companies to provide grant-writing expertise to member short lines.

The expertise aims to aid short lines in writing grant applications for programs available from the U.S. Department of Transportation, ASLRRA officials said in a press release.

The Orange County Transportation Authority's (OCTA) board on Monday approved a $1.3 billion budget for fiscal-year 2019, which begins July 1.

The budget provides funds to advance major projects funded through Orange County's Measure M sales tax, including the proposed OC Streetcar line. The budget also includes $101 million for rail services and capital improvements, OCTA officials said in a press release.

U.S. rail traffic growth continued in the week ending June 9, with railroads logging 561,061 carloads and intermodal units, a 4.2 percent increase compared with the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week rose 2.8 percent to 271,641 units, while intermodal volume climbed 5.6 percent to 289,420 containers and trailers compared with the same week in 2017.

Oregon is the latest state to have its transit-rail safety oversight program certified by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

Under federal law, states with transit-rail systems have to get their safety oversight programs certified by April 15, 2019. To achieve certification, a state must establish a safety oversight agency that's financially and legally independent from the transit agency it oversees.

CN this year will spend CA$320 million to strengthen and expand its infrastructure in Alberta and CA$210 million in Quebec, the Class I announced this week.

The investments are part of CN's CA$3.4 billion capital expenditures program for 2018, CN officials said in press releases.

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust (CIT) has selected business magnate Elon Musk's Boring Co. to design, build, finance, operate and maintain a new high-speed tunnel between downtown Chicago and O'Hare International Airport.

Known as the Chicago Express Loop, the new system will feature "electric skate" vehicles that will whisk passengers through underground tunnels at speeds up to 150 mph, according to The Boring Co.'s website.

BNSF Railway Co. has asked the U.S. Department of Transportation for a two-year extension to the federally mandated positive train control (PTC) deadline due to interoperability delays with other railroads, the Class I announced yesterday.

BNSF announced in December 2017 that it had installed and was operating under PTC on all mandated subdivisions ahead of the Dec. 31, 2018, deadline. However, BNSF will require an extension due to the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) current interpretation of the PTC law.

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) this week launched a $6 million project to add a section of double track along the S-Line streetcar.

The agency plans to install the track between the 300 East to 500 East stops in South Salt Lake. After the project is completed, UTA will be able to run streetcars every 15 minutes instead of every 20, according to an agency press release.

SunRail on June 16 will host an open house at the new Tupperware Station along its 17-mile southern extension.

Service on the extension is slated to start this summer. The new station is in Kissimmee, Florida.

The Florida Department of Transportation has provided a $2.7 million grant to the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) to extend service hours and increase frequency on the TECO Line streetcar in Tampa.

The grant also will enable HART to provide free rides on the heritage streetcar system for the next three years, HART officials said in a press release.

Signalmen represented by the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) and employed at Canadian Pacific's Soo Line Railroad have ratified a new six-year contract, the union announced yesterday.

The agreement, which takes effect July 1, provides six general wage increases, BRS officials said in a statement posted on the union's website.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker yesterday announced a request for proposals (RFP) to find a consultant team to study the feasibility of passenger-rail service between Boston and western Massachusetts.

The RFP is part of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's (MassDOT) plan to conduct an 18-month study of proposed rail service between Boston and Springfield, as well as cities farther west, such as Pittsfield and Palmer.

Carload Express Inc. has expanded freight-rail service into Virginia through a lease of 14.8 miles of track between Pocomoke City, Maryland, and Hallwood, Virginia.

After the Bay Coast Railroad ceased operation in May, Carload's Delmarva Central Railroad (DCR) entered into a lease and operating agreement with landowner Canonie Atlantic Co. (CAC.) to restore and enhance rail service on the northern portion of what was Bay Coast's route, according to a Carload Express press release.

Amtrak, in coordination with BNSF Railway Co., will implement positive train control (PTC) over several BNSF-owned subdivisions this week, which will mark the first activation on host-owned territory used by Amtrak.

Subdivisions that serve Amtrak's Southwest Chief and California Zephyr routes are the first to roll out the technology, with full PTC activation on BNSF-owned track expected by the end of August, Amtrak and BNSF officials said in a press release.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) yesterday announced the winners of the 2018 Rail Safety and Excellence Awards at the association's annual Rail Conference, which this year is being held this week in Denver.

The awards recognize recognize public transportation organizations for their "innovative and proactive" safety and security programs. It also provides value to the industry by benchmarking successful programs so other public transit systems can adopt them and derive similar benefits, APTA officials said in a press release.

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