Railroad News

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) yesterday resumed full testing along the forthcoming G Line commuter-rail route.

This phase of the testing process focuses on communication and signaling systems, as well as the communication of traffic and rail signals at crossings, RTD officials said in a press release.

The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC)/RT&S Contractor Safety Awards recipients were announced in a Jan. 2 e-mail, with a record of 65 companies winning awards.

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The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending December 30, 2017, as well as volumes for December 2017 and all of 2017.

President Trump's administration has cast doubt on the amount of federal funding available for the proposed construction of a new Hudson River railroad tunnel that connects New York and New Jersey.

In a letter obtained by Crain's New York Business, Federal Transit Administration Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams informed New York and New Jersey officials late last week that a "50/50" agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the two states to share the cost for the proposed "Gateway" tunnel project is "non-existent."

House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) announced in an interview yesterday that he will not run for another term in Congress.

Shuster, whose term as chairman of the committee would expire at the end of this year, told the Washington Examiner that he wants to work with the Trump administration on getting an infrastructure bill passed in Congress this year.

BRIGHTLINE, Florida's new private passenger operator, has announced that it will launch an introductory service between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach during the week of Jan. 8.

Brightline next week will launch introductory passenger-rail service between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The company is working toward operational readiness by training staff and testing equipment, Brightline officials said in a press release late last week.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is urging Class Is, intercity passenger railroads and state and local transit agencies to implement positive train control (PTC) by the congressional deadline of Dec. 31.

In letters to railroad executives, Chao said the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is concerned that many of the nation's railroads are behind in implementing the federally mandated PTC technology by the Dec. 31 deadline.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 2, 2018 – Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads (AAR), issued the following statement on House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster’s (R-PA) announcement that he would not seek reelection.

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver, Colo., has resumed testing on its G Line as of today, emphasizing the evaluation of its communication and signaling systems.

Federal Transit Administration Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams outlined a series of concerns regarding an updated financial plan for the Hudson Tunnel project in a letter to New York State Director of Budget Robert Mujica on Dec. 29.

Metro Transit has rolled out a new feature for its mobile app that enables customers to text the agency about suspicious or unwanted behavior on trains and buses.

Using the "Text for Safety" function, riders can directly contact Metro Transit staff, who can respond by text and send police if needed, agency officials said in a press release.

Smart Sand, Inc. has completed construction of its unit train capable rail facility in Byron Township, Wis., and moved its first unit train via Union Pacific on Dec. 26.

"With construction completed, we now have the capacity for several hundred railcars and the optionality to ship unit trains on both the Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific railroads from our flagship Oakdale, Wisconsin mining operation," stated Charles Young, CEO of Smart Sand.

Calgary Transit this month completed renovations to the interior of the Rundle and Marlborough light-rail stations.

The agency modified the stations' layout to improve the flow of pedestrian traffic and installed new floor tiles, benches and wall panels. In addition, Calgary Transit improved station lighting, upgraded communication systems and installed more closed-circuit television cameras.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) on Wednesday announced it awarded an $8.6 million contract to LoDuca Associates Inc. to build two new elevators at the Murray Hill Station in Queens, New York.

The hydraulic elevators will comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, LIRR officials said in a press release.

Canadian government officials have announced funding for the Peterborough-Toronto Freight-Rail Analysis project.

The Canadian and Ontario governments each will contribute up to CA$65,000 toward the project, according to an Infrastructure Canada press release.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy earlier this week announced that 11 projects in towns and cities across the state will receive $15 million to support transit-oriented development (TOD) projects.

The funding package includes $1,847,000 for the construction of a retaining wall and surface parking lot across from an Amtrak station in Windsor Locks.

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

CN and Canadian Pacific have exceeded their maximum grain revenue entitlements for crop year 2016-2017, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) ruled last week.

CN's grain revenue of CA$808,213,784 was $5,773,741 above its entitlement of $802,440,043; and CP's grain revenue of CA$725,457,448 was $1,078,947 above its entitlement of $724,378,501, CTA officials said in a press release.