Railroad News

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) earlier this week announced it has extended the completion date for the Central Subway project to summer 2021. 

The project, which would extend the Municipal Railway mostly underground from South of Market to Chinatown in San Francisco, was originally scheduled to enter revenue service this year. 

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) earlier this month announced winners of its President's Awards for outstanding safety performance in the association's Central and Pacific regions.

"The recipients of our President’s Award lead our industry in safety, striving each and every day to value safety above all competing priorities,” said ASLRRA President Chuck Baker in an ASLRRA newsletter. "Their impressive performance, with either zero reportable accidents, or the best safety rate below the industry average per man-hour of operations, has led the way to record levels of safety performance for the short line industry.”

The Alaska Railroad Corp. (ARRC) has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) from entities interested in pursuing a public-private partnership to replace the aging passenger dock and cruise terminal in Seward, Alaska.

The RFQ, which asks interested parties to describe their capabilities and concepts, stems from an extensive Seward Marine Terminal expansion planning project in 2016-17. The effort resulted in a master plan for developing the railroad's Seward Reserve, including docks, terminal facilities and uplands, ARRC officials said in a press release.

The Metropolitan Council yesterday announced that it has awarded the Aldridge-Parsons Joint Venture a $194.4 million contract to build and install systems for a 14.5-mile extension of the Green light-rail line in Minneapolis. 

The contact calls for installation of overhead catenary lines, traction power and communication systems on the Southwest Light-Rail Transit (SWLRT) project, which will connect Eden Prairie to downtown Minneapolis and serve 16 stations in 2023.

In mid-August, U.S. Class Is employed 139,284 workers, down 1.01 percent from mid-July and down 5.98 percent from mid-August 2018, according to Surface Transportation Board employment data.

On a month-over-month basis, all employment categories logged decreases. They were executives, officials and staff assistants, down 0.68 percent to 7,703 employees; professional and administrative, down 0.97 percent to 11,319; maintenance of way and structures, down 0.3 percent to 31,629; maintenance of equipment and stores, down 1.24 percent to 24,627; transportation (other than train and engine), down 0.92 percent to 5,515; and transportation (train and engine), down 1.35 percent to 58,491.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) board earlier this week adopted preferred alternatives for the planned high-speed rail (HSR) routes in Northern California. 

The board's action means the authority can move that portion of the project into the development phase, CHSRA officials said in a press release.

U.S. freight-rail traffic dropped 4.8 percent to 526,734 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending Sept. 24 compared with the same period a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Carload traffic dipped 6.1 percent to 252,310 during the week, while intermodal volume fell 3.5 percent to 274,424 containers and trailers, AAR officials said in a press release.

Septentrio is providing global navigation satellite system receivers to Wabtec Corp. for its GoLINC™ mobile data center platform operating onboard freight locomotives. The receivers are designed to provide precise positioning information and will be installed on locomotives and on position reference modules along 30,000 miles of track, Septentrio officials said in a press release. 

Appalachian Railcar Services LLC (ARS) has appointed Michael Obertop chief commercial officer to lead sales and business development. Obertop has over 13 years of experience in the rail-car industry, ARS officials said in a press release. Previously, he was vice president of sales and business development for Cad Railway Industries and senior VP of sales and marketing for GBW Railcar Services LLC. He also served for nine years in various roles at American Railcar Industries.

TransLink SkyTrain riders have weighed in on potential interior layout options for the new fleet of rail cars coming to the Expo Millennium Line in 2023. Slightly more than half of SkyTrain riders have indicated support for forward-facing seating and more flexible-use spaces, TransLink officials said in a press release.

Earlier this year, TransLink surveyed 13,500 riders to prepare for the design and procurement of 200 SkyTrain rail cars that will replace aging Mark I cars and support a fleet expansion, TransLink officials said in a press release.

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and Distress Centers of Greater Toronto last week launched a new program providing support to those who witness suicides and suicide attempts in the subway.

Distress Centers' trained volunteers will visit subway stations in the days following a suicide or an attempted suicide to be available to people who may have witnessed or been affected by that event on their commute, TTC officials said in a press release.

Ottawa city officials late last week announced the opening of the O-Train’s Confederation Line, marking the expansion of light-rail across Ottawa, Ontario.

The Confederation Line is a 7.7-mile light-rail line connecting 13 stations from Tunney's Pasture in west Ottawa to Blair Station in the east. Construction began in 2013.

OmniTRAX Inc.'s Great Western Railway of Colorado LLC (GWR) will provide direct rail service to a new Intersand America Corp. plant that will be built in the Great Western Industrial Park (GWIP) in Windsor, Colorado, OmniTRAX announced yesterday.

Intersand is a global cat litter producer. Its planned 46,000-square-foot production, packaging and distribution facility will be the company's first U.S. location and the latest addition to GWIP.

Compiled By Pat Foran, Editor

By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor

Starting Sept. 23, Amtrak will provide exclusive amenities on the inaugural trip of its nonstop Acela service between New York City and Washington D.C.

The two-hour and 35-minute service will include complimentary coffee, tea, water and a light snack, as well as an at-seat cashless cart service offering a limited menu of snacks and beverages. Phone-charging kits will be offered for sale.

Northern Lines Railway (NLR) has put into service two recently renovated GP15 locomotives to provide customers with more reliable service.

The locomotives have 12-cylinder engines that consume less fuel than the 16-cylinder engines in the GP9 units they replace, NLR said in blog posted yesterday.