Railroad News

Metra last week released a new schedule for the Electric Line between downtown Chicago and southern suburbs that was made necessary by positive train control (PTC) implementation. 

The new schedule — which will take effect when the line is restored to full service following the COVID-19 pandemic — allows Metra crews more time to initialize the PTC system before each trip.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Federal Railroad Administrator Ronald Batory late last week formally announced $1 billion in federal funding for Amtrak to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Congress approved the funding last month as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The Port of Long Beach has been awarded a $14.5 million federal grant to help fund the Terminal Island Wye Track Realignment Rail Project, which when completed will move trains in and out of the port faster, reduce locomotive idling and improve safety, port officials announced late last week.

The project will "dramatically" improve rail efficiency throughout the port complex, especially on Terminal Island, which is home to the California port's largest container terminal, Pier T, port officials said in a press release. The project calls for construction of new tracks and an enhanced triangular rail junction where long trains can be turned and staged.

The Greenbrier Cos. Inc. reported $623.8 million in revenue for the second quarter of its fiscal-year 2020, a decrease of $125.6 million from the prior fiscal quarter due to fewer deliveries. Adjusted net earnings were $15.3 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, excluding $1.7 million of integration related expenses from the American Railcar Industries acquisition. Greenbrier also received 8,500 rail car orders, valued at over $185 million, in the second quarter of FY2020.

The Govia joint venture has obtained an 18-month government contract to continue operating the Southeastern railway network in England. Govia — a joint venture between Keolis and Go-Ahead Group — has operated the high-speed rail route since 2006. 

The Delaware River Port Authority has awarded Skanska USA a $195 million contract to rehabilitate the Benjamin Franklin rail and vehicle bridge connecting Philadelphia to Camden, New Jersey. 

Construction on the 3,500-foot suspension bridge — which carries seven lanes of traffic and two rail lines — began in February and is scheduled to be completed in December 2024.

The Carrollton City Council in Texas earlier this week approved an agreement for the first building within the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Trinity Mills Station urban development.

The 125,000-square foot, six-story structure will serve as the marquee building within DART and the city's transit-oriented development (TOD), which involves 26 acres around Trinity Mills Station. 

The North Carolina State Ports Authority earlier this week announced the Port of Wilmington is ready to accept the world's largest container ships calling on U.S. East Coast Ports, now that the second phase of the port's turning basin expansion project has been completed.

The project widened the turning basin in the Cape Fear River form 1,400 feet to 1,524 feet. The additional feet allows 14,000 20-foot-equivalent unit (TEU) vessels to safely and efficiently turn around in the Wilmington Navigational Harbor, port authority officials said in a press release. 

More than two dozen Texas state lawmakers are asking the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to end a private company's work on a Dallas-to-Houston high-speed rail line that would pass through the Brazos Valley.

In a letter to USDOT officials, the state representatives claim that Texas Central Partners, the company that has proposed the rail line, "simply does not have the financial resources required or expertise employed to continue with this project," The Eagle news outlet reported yesterday.

Estimates indicate that imports last month at major U.S. retail container ports dropped to their lowest level in five years, according to the Global Port Tracker report released this week by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.

Imports are projected to remain significantly below normal levels through early summer, as the coronavirus pandemic continues, NRF officials said in a press release.

Members of the Delaware General Assembly yesterday introduced a resolution to add regional rail service options between Newark, Delaware, and Perryville, Maryland.

Co-sponsored by State Rep. Ed Osienski (D-Newark) and State Sen. Stephanie Hansen (D-Middletown), the resolution would direct the Delaware Department of Transportation (DDOT) to work with Amtrak and surrounding states to strengthen regional rail service in the corridor, Delaware Public Media reported.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on U.S. freight-rail traffic is growing, with the number of carloads and intermodal containers and trailers transported during the week ending April 4 tumbling 15.9 percent to 429,095 units compared with volumes logged in the same week a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Total carloads for the week plunged 16.2 percent to 210,911 units, while intermodal volume dropped 15.7 percent to 218,184 containers and trailers.

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Governments, transit-rail agencies and railroads have been spending the past several weeks responding to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Keolis appointed Marc Berthod executive director of communications and Jean Ghedira, executive director of marketing and new mobilities. Berthod previously served in communication director roles at Keolis, Keolis Lyon and Sytral. Ghedira previously served as deputy chief executive officer of customers and services at SNCF Reseau and as director of communications at Keolis.

London Transport Awards honored Cubic Transportation Systems with the Excellence in Technology award for its collaboration with the Rail Delivery Group to increase the delivery of mobile barcode tickets throughout the United Kingdom. Cubic was responsible for supplying and installing barcode readers for the project. The awards recognize excellence and progress on innovative transport initiatives, Cubic officials said in a press release.

Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) Chair Angie Rivera-Malpiede last month was recognized for professional achievement and leadership in transportation by the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO). 

COMTO’s Celebrating Women Who Move the Nation Award recognizes women executives in the U.S. transportation industry who have provided inspirational leadership by opening career pathways for women, RTD officials said in a press release.

Sound Transit this month is soliciting public opinions on an updated plan for incorporating bus connections to light rail when the 4-mile Northgate Link light-rail extension opens in 2021 in Seattle.

The updated proposal includes increased trip frequency, longer operating hours on select bus routes, and more transfer options to light rail at Northgate Station, Sound Transit officials said in a press release.

A CSX train derailment and subsequent bridge collapse in May 2018 in Virginia was caused by a subgrade fill failure of the track structure that displaced ballast, resulting in a cross-level deviation of the track significant enough to allow a wheel climb derailment, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined.

The NTSB yesterday announced the probable cause of the May 19, 2018, incident, which occurred in Alexandria, Virginia.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) are asking Congress for an immediate emergency injection of nearly $50 billion to offset an estimated 30 percent loss in state transportation revenue over the next 18 months.

AASHTO leaders asked in an April 6 letter to congressional leaders that the next emergency relief and economic recovery legislation include an immediate $49.95 billion in flexible federal funding to help ensure state departments of transportation (DOTs) "can operate and maintain their systems without disruption and allow current transportation projects and plans to continue."

Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI) announced four new state program leaders: Jeffrey Bennett in Washington, D.C.; Colin Smith, Montana; Toni Clithero, Vermont; and Tracey Lamb, Virginia.

Bennett, chief of transit at the District Department of Transportation and a 2018 Progressive Railroading Rising Star, became the District of Columbia's Operation Lifesaver program lead when it restarted earlier this year. 

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has begun a project to replace the Route 3 Bridge over Conrail and New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW) tracks, and the ramp from Route 3 west to Route 495 east in North Bergen, New Jersey.

The $24.8 million project is federally funded through a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant issued in 2018. The project will address the bridge's poor condition and geometric deficiencies, NJDOT officials said in a press release.

The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) has named Ronald Tindall Jr. president. He succeeds Mike McCarthy, who retired at the end of March.

Previously, Tindall was compliance officer at Trans-Global Solutions Inc.. Prior to that, he spent 20 years at Union Pacific Railroad, where he started as a brakeman, conductor and engineer.