Railroad News

Norfolk Southern Corp. posted strong growth and best-ever operating results for operating ratio and income from railway operations last week, the Class I reported late last week in releasing its 2018 annual report online.

For the year, the company achieved an all-time-best operating ratio of 65.4 percent, the third consecutive year of improvement; grew total railway operating revenue 9 percent year-over-year to $11.5 billion; and increased income from railway operations 12 percent to $4 billion, a record.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has named Patrick Foye chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). 

Foye was named MTA president in August 2017 and previously served on the board from 2010 to 2012. Prior to joining the MTA, Foye was executive director of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for six years.

Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) officials and Mayor Rahm Emanuel marked the completion of the $17 million Belmont Blue Gateway project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony late last week. 

The Belmont Blue Gateway project is part of the $492 million Your New Blue (YNB) program to modernize and improve the O’Hare brand of the CTA's Blue Line. 

Railroad Software has added bridge inspection software to its TrackAsset application, according to a company press release. The electronic capture of bridge inspections will enable users to visualize bridge details and perform annual inspection in real time.

Penn Machine, which manufacturers wheels and axles for transit and railroad applications, added two Honor Seiki vertical turning centers to the machining facility in Blairsville, Pennsylvania, according to a Penn Machine press release. The turning centers assist with turning wheels up to 44-inches in diameter, as well as with live tool drilling, threading and probing.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) will rename the Yawkey Station on the Framingham/Worcester commuter-rail line to Lansdowne Station, effective April 8.

Following the name change of a municipal road near the station, the MBTA selected Lansdowne as the station’s new name, MBTA officials said in a press release.

A slowing domestic economy will result in a moderate uptick in container imports through 2019 following last year's record-high cargo growth, according to experts at the Port of Long Beach's 15th annual Pulse of Ports Peak Season Forecast held earlier this week.

About 500 people attended the event, which brought together speakers from all segments of the shipping and goods movement industry to discuss the cargo outlook for 2019, the latest economic trends and their impact on the San Pedro Bay port complex.

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has partnered with 2M Alliance to begin serving the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia, port authority and DP World Prince Rupert Inc. announced yesterday.

ZIM service made its inaugural call at the port on March 27, when ZIM containers arrived on the Maersk Altair vessel. CN serves the port.

The Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority (PNRRA) this week was awarded a $400,000 state grant for engineering services needed to continue track and structure construction for a passenger-rail restoration project. 

The Commonwealth Financing Authority awarded the Local Share Account grant to allow the Scranton-to-New York City Lackawanna Cut-Off passenger-rail restoration project's construction to continue, according to a PNRRA press release. 

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is making $4 million available to help fight human trafficking and other crimes on public transit, the agency announced today.

As part of the FTA's new Human Trafficking Awareness and Public Safety Initiative, the agency is issuing two "notices of funding opportunity" (NOFOs) for $2 million each to prevent human trafficking and other crimes from occurring on public transit, including rail.

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s nine-member board re-elected Dennis Clough as president and Charles Lucas as vice president earlier this week. 

Clough, who is the mayor of Westlake, Ohio, joined the board in 1999. He served as the board's president since 2018.

GO Transit commuter-rail service will expand in the greater Toronto and Hamilton area on April 8, Ontario government officials announced earlier this week. 

Mid-day weekday service on the Stouffville Line will be extended to three stations in Markham, Ontario, and new weekday morning trip options will be available between the Bramalea GO station in Brampton, Ontario, and Union Station in Toronto, according to a government press release.

Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) and state government officials earlier this week recognized a decade of "partnership" with Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia.

Kia is one of the largest customers at the Port of Savannah, from which the automaker has shipped nearly 350,000 20-foot-equivalent container units (TEUs) over the past 10 years, according to a GPA press release.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is calling for applications to its professional development program through May 3. 

Leadership APTA is a year-long program designed to develop and support managers and leaders aspiring to hold senior and executive leadership positions in the public transportation industry.

Canadian Pacific and CN will serve two new high-efficiency grain elevators that G3 Canada Ltd. has plans to build near Irricana and Stettler County, Alberta.

Both facilities will have a capacity of 42,000 metric tons and a railway loop track that can accommodate a 150-car unit train, according to a G3 press release.

GoTriangle's board yesterday voted unanimously to discontinue the $2.7 billion Durham-Orange light-rail transit project, following Duke University's refusal last month to sign a cooperative agreement that would have allowed the project to proceed.

The project would have built a 17.7-mile light-rail system to connect Chapel Hill and eastern Durham, North Carolina. Acting on GoTriangle President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Mann's recommendation, the board voted to recommend that the cost-sharing partners in Durham and Orange counties and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization discontinue the project.