Railroad News

Texas Central Partners has secured a $300 million loan toward the development of its proposed 240-mile, Dallas-to-Houston bullet train, the Dallas Morning News reported yesterday.

The company will use the loan, which is backed by Japanese sources, to advance the permitting, design and engineering on the project, the newspaper reported.

CN has been placed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI) for the seventh consecutive year and the North American index for the 10th consecutive year, the Class I announced yesterday.

The DJSI World Index recognizes the top 10 percent of the 2,500 largest companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index from each sector based on their sustainability scores.

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority has received proposals from four teams vying for a design-build contract for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) light-rail extension to Montclair, California.

The proposals include each team's technical approach to completing the design and construction of the $1.5 billion project, their management method and other specifications.

CSX Corp. yesterday announced a change in leadership for its merchandise and intermodal sales and marketing teams with the appointment of Dean Piacente to vice president of industrial products and Maryclare Kenney to VP of intermodal and automotive.

Piacente previously served as VP of intermodal. He now is responsible for the Class I's chemicals, metals, paper and forest product businesses. He has more than 30 years of experience across different segments at CSX.

Amtrak will seek a deadline extension from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to complete positive train control (PTC) implementation on all its railroad operations, an Amtrak executive told a congressional committee yesterday.

Railroads required by federal law to implement PTC have until Dec. 31 to complete the process, unless they qualify for an extension from the FRA of up to two years.

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

Caltrain logged 65,095 average weekday passengers during its annual ridership count conducted earlier this year. The figure marked a 1.5 percent increase over last year's count, Caltrain officials said in a press release.

Traditional peak-hour ridership grew to 34,373 this year from 33,548 passengers in 2017. In addition, the railroad reported a 5.1 percent increase in reverse-peak riders, along with a 5.8 percent decrease in evening riders and a 9.2 percent dip in midday riders.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is looking for participants in a new pilot program aimed at expediting transit capital projects.

Authorized under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, the program includes a streamlined federal review process to help deliver projects more quickly, FTA officials said yesterday in a press release.

Following a recent audit, Amtrak's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has determined that the railroad's information technology (IT) management has room for improvement if it wants to minimize the possibility and impact of IT service disruptions.

The audit evaluated Amtrak's business continuity planning and testing efforts, then compared them to private- and public-sector IT management controls standards issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and ISACA, according to the OIG report, which was released this week.

U.S. railroads moved 502,208 carloads and intermodal units — up 4.1 percent — in the week ending Sept. 8 compared with rail traffic during the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week increased 2.6 percent to 253,293 units over last year, while intermodal volume rose 5.8 percent to 248,915 containers and trailers, according to an AAR press release.

Instead of raising fares in 2019, Metra board members and executives will spend the next year calling for more state aid and "sounding the alarm" about the impact the lack of such funding has on the Chicago commuter railroad's service levels and state of good repair.

The railroad's board yesterday agreed that another fare hike for capital needs would overburden riders following four consecutive fare increases, Metra officials said in a press release.

Canadian Pacific, in collaboration with its customers and supply chain, is prepared to move this year's Canadian grain crop, the Class I told federal officials yesterday during a roundtable discussion on grain transportation.

Minister of Transport Marc Garneau and Minister of Agriculture Lawrence MacAulay hosted the discussion in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with grain producers, shippers and railroads to share information stemming from the Transportation Modernization Act, which became law in May.

Metrolink yesterday held a ceremony at Los Angeles Union Station to mark the 10th anniversary of the fatal crash in Chatsworth, California.

The incident left 25 people dead and spurred Congress to pass the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008. Among its provisions, the act mandated railroads to install positive train control (PTC) technology.

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

Siemens Mobility will unveil the world's first autonomous tram at InnoTrans 2018, slated to run Sept. 18-21 in Berlin, Germany. The company will demonstrate the unit on a 3.7-mile section of the tram network in Potsdam, Germany. Local transit agency ViP Verkehrsbetrieb Potsdam GmbH has provided a Siemens Combino tram for the project. The experimental vehicle is equipped with multiple lidar, radar and camera sensors to serve as its "digital eyes." Using artificial intelligence, the tram responds to trackside signals and reacts to hazards such as crossing pedestrians and other vehicles.

Alstom has signed a framework contract with Syndicat des Transports de l'Agglomeration Lyonnaise (SYTRAL) in Lyon, France, for 11 streetcars. The first order in is valued at more than $46.37 million, according to an Alstom press release. The agency may place other orders depending on future needs. The units will be used to boost capacity on line T4 of the Lyon agglomeration's tramway network. The streetcars' design will be identical to the 92 vehicles now operating on the Lyon network. The first unit is slated for delivery before 2019's end.

The Confederation Line light-rail route in Ottawa, Ontario, won't open to passengers in November as originally planned, city officials announced this week.

The 7.8-mile line's opening date likely will be pushed into 2019, according to a Sept. 10 city council update.

Anacostia Rail Holdings Co. this week announced the promotion of Stephane Perri to general superintendent of the Pacific Harbor Line (PHL).

Since joining PHL in 2000, Perri has served as a locomotive engineer, trainmaster, transportation director, operations director and superintendent, Anacostia officials said in a press release.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has released the 2018 State Rail Plan, which calls for increasing passenger-rail travel, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, boosting the economy and improving safety.

The document presents a plan for an integrated transportation system that will allow passengers to easily transfer from local transit services to regional, intercity and future high-speed rail, according to a Caltrans press release.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority's (MARTA) board late last week approved a contract to extend bus, rail and paratransit services to Gwinnett County, Georgia.

Under contract terms, MARTA would immediately assume control of six local bus routes and fixed express routes now operated by Gwinnett County Transit.