Railroad News

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An environmental study exploring the viability of a high-speed passenger-rail service between Minnesota and Wisconsin has been halted after two Minnesota state lawmakers objected to its funding.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is celebrating the completion of the state's largest program of rail infrastructure improvements after seven years.

Brightline today announced that its privately funded passenger-rail service between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Florida, will begin Jan. 13.

Over the past month, the company has been operating simulated service to prepare for operational readiness. Brightline expects to become fully operational and extend service to downtown Miami in the coming months, company officials said in a press release.

OmniTRAX, Inc., Board Chairman Edmond Harris is resigning after being named executive vice president of operations at CSX Corporation (CSX).

Norfolk Southern Railway has assisted 75 customer facilities in locating or expanding operations along the Class I's rail lines in 2017.

The 54 new and 21 expanded facilities owned by NS customers represent an investment of $1.1 billion by those customers. The investment is expected to create nearly 2,000 new customer jobs in the railroad's service area and generate more than 147,000 carloads of new rail traffic, according to an NS press release.

Norfolk Southern Railway has assisted 75 customer facilities in locating or expanding operations along the Class I's rail lines in 2017.

The 54 new and 21 expanded facilities owned by NS customers represent an investment of $1.1 billion by those customers. The investment is expected to create nearly 2,000 new customer jobs in the railroad's service area and generate more than 147,000 carloads of new rail traffic, according to an NS press release.

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker signed an order establishing the governor's Commuter Rail Advisory Task Force on Jan. 9.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation's (NCDOT) rail division has chosen Dewberry to provide general rail engineering support.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has formed a partnership with FairMarkIT to help modernize the agency's procurement processes.

The firm will assist the MBTA as it moves from a combination of electronic and paper systems to a web-based operation, Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) officials said in a blog post.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) Board of Directors has elected its new 2018 chair and vice chair.

TNW Corp. has hired Joey Evans as the company's director of customer success.

The job involves directing all revenue car accounting operations, as well as planning and implementing strategies to generate additional revenue.

Sunnie House, vice president and Western regional manager for North America Rail for Parsons, has been appointed Chair of the California Transportation Foundation (CTF) Board of Directors.

The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad Co. Inc. (DL) last year logged a record 8,572 revenue carloads over the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority's regional-rail system, the authority reported yesterday.

The number surpasses the previous record of 8,048 cars handled in 2015 and is indicative of economic growth among the 20-plus industries served by the DL in northeastern Pennsylvania, said Larry Malski, authority president, in a press release.

A 40 percent increase in its anthracite coal business helped propel Reading & Northern Railroad (R&N) to its most successful year in history, company officials announced last week.

In 2017, the R&N handled 31,175 carloads and revenue of nearly 15 percent over 2016's levels.

​​The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending January 6, 2018.

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 415,862 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.6 percent compared with the same week last year.

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker yesterday issued an executive order to establish a task force to study the feasibility of establishing commuter-rail service between Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.

The nine-member Commuter Rail Advisory Task Force will study initial and ongoing capital costs, expected operating costs, potential ridership, a recommended governance structure and the economic benefits of a rail service.

Amtrak has appointed Ken Hylander to serve as executive vice president and chief safety officer.

Trump administration officials and a bipartisan group of senators yesterday held talks about the $1 trillion infrastructure package that the president is expected to propose in the coming weeks.

Although few details were released, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wy.) called the meeting a "great opportunity to discuss the Trump administration's plans for upgrading America's aging highways, bridges, ports and dams."

Amtrak has hired Ken Hylander as the railroad's executive vice president and chief safety officer. A former aviation industry executive, Hylander most recently served as chairman of the Flight Safety Foundation and previously was chief safety officer at Delta Airlines.

Hylander, who will report directly to Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson, will be responsible for implementing a safety management system (SMS) at Amtrak.