Railroad News

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) last week endorsed the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Transportation Housing and Urban Development (THUD) for approving a proposed fiscal-year 2020 appropriations bill that includes "historic funding levels" for public transportation and passenger rail.

The legislation includes $13.5 billion for public transportation and $2.7 billion for passenger-rail grants, more than $1 billion more than what is called for in the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act's authorization levels for FY2020 and $150 million more than the 2019 THUD Appropriations Act, APTA officials said in a press release.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) and its Class I members are calling on Congress to pass the proposed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) "expeditiously."

The letter — sent by AAR, BNSF Railway Co., Canadian Pacific, CN, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad — urges Congress to approve the USMCA to harness the North American trading relationship's full potential.

Sound Transit's board last week identified preferred design alternatives for the 11.8-mile West Seattle and Ballard Link light-rail extensions to study in a draft environmental impact statement (EIS). 

The route alternatives, which include design of 14 stations, were based on 18 months of public engagement with community groups, agency partners and local elected officials, Sound Transit officials said in a press release.

Canada's Transport Minister Marc Garneau last week unveiled voice and video recorder regulations that specify technical requirements for rail companies to install such devices on locomotives.

Published in the Canada Gazette, the proposed regulations "reflect a careful balance between measures to increase safety benefits, while safeguarding the privacy rights of railway employees," according to a Transport Canada press release.

Wabtec Corp. was selected to implement the positive train control (PTC) system for the New Mexico Rail Runner Express (NMRX), in an order worth $55 million. Under the contract, Wabtec will implement its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System, a PTC safety-overlay system, on NMRX, including all necessary wayside and communication design and dispatch upgrades. Wabtec will also provide full back office server support, as well as equipment and software upgrades to nine NMRX locomotives and nine cab cars. The contract schedule calls for NMRX PTC assets to be in revenue service by late 2020, according to a Wabtec press release.

Helaba completed the acquisition of the Land Transport Finance customer loan portfolio from DVB Bank SE. Personnel associated with the loan portfolio will also integrate into Helaba. As a result of the transaction, the company’s rolling stock rail finance segment has grown to a total volume of $2.2 billion, according to a Helaba press release.

Metro Transit-St. Louis is partnering with moovel to pilot a mobile ticketing application, allowing riders to purchase transit fare directly on a mobile device for select trips.

During the six-month pilot period, riders using the Metro Mobile app will be able to purchase round-trip MetroLink passes to St. Louis Cardinals baseball games and St. Louis Blues hockey games, according to a Metro Transit-St. Louis press release. 

Norfolk Southern Railway has recognized 58 of its chemical shipper customers with the Class I's 2018 Thoroughbred Chemical Safety Award.

The award is part of an NS initiative to promote safe rail-shipping practices in communities the railroad services, according to an NS press release.

Metrolinx, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and Ontario government officials earlier this week unveiled six new light-rail vehicles to be used on the future Eglinton Crosstown Line that will run between the Mount Dennis and Kennedy subway stations in Toronto.

Metrolinx and its contractor, Crosslinx Transit Solutions (CTS), have been conducting low-speed testing of the vehicles at the Eglinton Maintenance and Storage Facility, according to a Metrolinx blog.

Oregon's two U.S. senators are raising concerns with Union Pacific Railroad's reported plan to eliminate nearly 200 jobs from the Class I's Hinkle Rail Yard in Hermiston.

In a letter sent this week to UP Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Lance Fritz, the senators wrote that the railroad's decision to reduce jobs at the yard and close the Hinkle supply warehouse and mechanical locomotive shop "will devastate this rural community by hamstringing the economic opportunities and stability of the entire region."

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has withdrawn its 2016 proposed rulemaking that called for federal regulation of train crew staffing.

The FRA determined that such regulation is unnecessary for railroad operations to be conducted safely "at this time," agency officials said yesterday in a rulemaking withdrawal notice.

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) last week launched a fare evasion campaign to educate riders about the consequences of not paying fares.

The action follows a month-long investigation into fare evasion in which the Toronto Auditor General found that non-paying riders cost the TTC more than $60 million in 2018, according to a TTC press release. 

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) earlier this week removed 284 rail cars from service in order to inspect a door malfunction. The cars are back in service. 

After inspection, WMATA officials found that an electrical component “didn’t perform the way it was supposed to,” allowing a 3000-series rail-car door to open, unprompted, while the train was moving, The Washington Post reported. 

California has filed suit against the Trump administration for canceling a nearly $1 billion federal grant awarded in 2010 for the state's high-speed rail program.

State and California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) officials filed the suit May 21 in federal court in San Francisco, according to Reuters. The filing claims the U.S. Department of Transportation lacks authority to withhold the $929 million in federal funds previously awarded to the high-speed rail program.

President Trump yesterday awarded the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor posthumously to the late Brent Thompson, a Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) police officer who was killed in 2016 while on duty.

Thompson, who was 43 at the time of his death, became the first DART police officer to be killed in the line of duty. He was shot by a mass shooter on July 7, 2016, during a protest against police. 

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)’s Fiscal and Management Control Board earlier this week awarded a $26.5 million contract to Fischbach & Moore Electric Group LLC to upgrade the signal system at the North Station terminal in Boston. 

Under the project, the contractor will replace the signaling in and around North Station with microprocessor technology contained within nine new signal houses that control the five major interlocking switching areas at the terminal, according to an MBTA project overview.