Railroad News

The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) on July 1 will increase fares by 3 percent.

In addition, the cost of Amtrak "Step-Up" tickets will jump from $5 to $7. Passengers can use these tickets in conjunction with a valid multifare ticket to board certain Amtrak trains, according to VRE's website.

A tunnel boring machine yesterday broke through the underground wall of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill Station in downtown Los Angeles.

The event marked a "construction milestone" for the agency's Regional Connector project, Metro officials said in a press release. That project is a 1.9-mile underground rail route that will allow passengers to transfer between Blue, Expo, Red and Purple lines.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) next month will wrap up its SafeTrack maintenance projects and transition to a new preventive maintenance and capital program.

The new effort will be aimed at avoiding another emergency program of the scale of SafeTrack, WMATA officials said in a press release.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC) announced yesterday that its railcar operating lessor and fleet management business, SMBC Rail Services LLC (SMBC Rail), has completed its acquisition of American Railcar Leasing LLC.

The transaction creates a full-service lessor of long-lived rolling stock that offers "comprehensive" rail leasing solutions in North America, according to an SMBC press release.

Union Pacific Corp. yesterday published its 2016 "Building America Report," which details the Class I's safety, social, economic and environmental progress.

The publication marks the eighth consecutive year that UP has reported its sustainability business practices and goals.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) on Wednesday broke ground on the new Campus Station, which will be served by the Red, Green and Blue rail lines.

Expected to be completed in late 2018, the rail hub is located on the site of an existing station near the Cuyahoga Community College Metro campus in downtown Cleveland.

6/2/2017    

Rail News: Mechanical

AECOM has released its first television commercial to show "infrastructure's power to connect communities," company officials said in a press release. Filmed by director John Singleton and created by Los Angeles advertising agency Battery, the ad is part of a new AECOM campaign that focuses on the human impacts of its clients' projects. The campaign is dubbed "Imagine it. Delivered." The commercial, which began airing yesterday, depicts a young surfer traveling on a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) light-rail train from South Los Angeles to a beach in Santa Monica. AECOM has worked on rail projects with L.A. Metro, along with other major infrastructure projects throughout the world.

ZTR Control Systems announced a new partnership with Surtees Rail Group in South Africa. ZTR's products will be used to upgrade Surtees' fleet and eventually locomotive fleets throughout South Africa and beyond, said Surtees Director Tony Wood in a press release. ZTR offers the NEXSYS™III-i control system, which is designed to increase locomotive adhesion and integrate with automatic engine start-stop technology. Along with NEXSYS, ZTR and Surtees will offer a products and services aimed at extending the life of a locomotive by 15 to 20 years, according to the press release.

Metra police have charged with felony theft a suspect who was trespassing in one of the railroad's yards.

The suspect, Orlando Dampier, entered the yard Tuesday and stole $1,500 worth of copper wire, Metra officials said in a press release. He also is a suspect in multiple thefts from Metra property, and additional Metra Police charges are pending.

U.S. railroads moved 548,103 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending May 27, a 6.7 percent increase compared with the same week in 2016, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

The railroads logged 266,564 carloads, up 8 percent, and 281,539 intermodal containers and trailers, up 5.4 percent, compared with the same week a year ago.

Utah Transit Authority's (UTA) S-Line streetcar ridership grew 8 percent in 2017's first quarter compared with the same period last year.

Additionally, ridership in 2016 was up 15 percent year over year, UTA officials said in a press release.

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) announced yesterday it has completed its acquisition of Atlantic Western Transportation Inc., the parent of Heart of Georgia Railroad Inc. (HOG).

Founded in 1999, HOG operates across Georgia on 219 miles of track leased from the Georgia Department of Transportation. The railroad connects with G&W's Georgia Southwestern Railroad at Americus, Ga., and with G&W's Georgia Central Railway at Vidalia, Ga., according to a G&W press release.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) yesterday announced the recipients of $197 million in grants to help commuter and intercity passenger railroads meet the Dec. 31, 2018, deadline to implement positive train control (PTC).

The federal dollars will be awarded to 17 projects in 13 states. The FRA and FTA received 27 eligible applications requesting $455 million, more than double the funds authorized by Congress, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Progressive Railroading and RailTrends® have named Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John "Jack" Hellmann the 2017 recipient of the Railroad Innovator Award, which recognizes an individual's outstanding achievement in the rail industry.


Hellmann joined G&W in 2000 as the short-line holding company's chief financial officer. In 2005, he was promoted to president; in 2007, G&W added "CEO" to his title. On May 24, Hellmann was named chairman of the board, succeeding Mortimer Fuller III, who retired. Fuller had been G&W's CEO for 30 years and chairman for 40.

GO Transit last week marked its 50th anniversary.

The agency, which provides public transportation in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, began operating on May 23, 1967, as a 14-stop commuter-rail line from Hamilton to Pickering, Ontario.

The U.S. Department of Transportation will announce some of its 2017 round of FASTLANE grants "soon," while other project applications will be re-solicited before more grants are issued, according to a report by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

The AASHTO Journal cited comments by James Ray, the USDOT special adviser on infrastructure, who spoke last week at the association's spring meeting in Portland, Maine.

TransLink and the Vancouver-area Mayors' Council on Regional Transportation earlier this week unveiled a 90-day action plan to solicit funding for major transportation expansions in the region.

The plan calls on the British Columbia government to "be ready to make quick decisions over the summer and fall" to fund the next phase of the 10-year vision for metro Vancouver transit and transportation, TransLink officials said in a press release.