Railroad News

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Managing Editor

Sound Transit earlier this week announced it has drafted a plan to connect bus service to the Link light-rail Red Line at the Northgate Station when it opens in 2021.

Drafted in collaboration with Community Transit and Smohomish County officials, the plan proposes a restructuring of current bus service to serve the Northgate station, providing connections to the University of Washington and downtown Seattle.

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

Alaska Gov. Michael Dunleavy announced this week he's accepted the resignation of former Gov. Bill Sheffield and awarded him the title chairman emeritus of Alaska Railroad Corp.'s board in appreciation of his dedication to the railroad.

"Over the years, Gov. Sheffield has provided invaluable leadership and expertise to assist the board in weathering harsh economic realities and making the changes necessary to ensure the survival of the railroad as a tool for economic development in the state," said Dunleavy in a press release.

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) a nearly $12.6 million grant for the Port Authority Transit Corp. (PATCO) Franklin Square Station reopening project, the authority announced earlier this week.

The $30 million project calls for rehabilitating the Franklin Square rail station in Philadelphia, which has been shuttered since 1979. The project involves improvements to the station’s civil, structural, mechanical and electrical systems, DRPA officials said in a press release.

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) recognized several railroads for outstanding safety performance in 2018 at the association's annual Southern Region meeting held Nov. 11-13 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Recipients of the ASLRRA President's Award are industry leaders that strive to value safety above all competing priorities each day, said ASLRRA President Chuck Baker in the association's Nov. 13 newsletter.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) this week unveiled its proposed 2020 operating and capital budgets for public review and comment.

The authority is proposing a $3.4 billion operating budget and a $3.6 billion capital budget, which includes $413 million for projects at the Port Authority-Trans Hudson Corp. (PATH) commuter railroad.

U.S. freight-rail traffic got off to a slow start this month. Railroads logged 515,269 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Nov. 9, down 5.9 percent compared with the same week in 2018, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Carloads for the week totaled 248,905 units, down 5.1 percent, while intermodal volume totaled 266,364 containers and trailers, down 6.7 percent.

Alstom has delivered the first Coradia Stream trains to Trenitalia in the Italian regions of Veneto and Liguria. Veneto will receive a total of 31 trains and Liguria will obtain 15 trains. Deliveries will continue into 2020, Alstom officials said in a press release. The Coradia Stream is a single-deck electric multiple unit designed for regional lines. The Coradia Stream consumes 30 percent less energy than the previous train generation, officials said.

Tideworks Technology Inc. announced it will create an intermodal division located in Jacksonville, Florida. The intermodal division will enable the company to dedicate resources and continue investing in the research and development of new products and services for the global rail industry, Tideworks officials said in a press release. Mark Bromley was appointed vice president of intermodal to lead the division and oversee the testing, deployment and support of intermodal products and services. As part of the expansion, the company plans to relocate its existing Jacksonville office to a new location by Dec. 31 and hire additional staff focused on intermodal customers, technology and sales.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) yesterday announced that design-build contractor Archer Western Herzog will begin field construction Nov. 18 on the Silver Line, a future 26-mile regional rail line between Plano, Texas, and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. 

Initial work will consist of removal of abandoned rail along the right-of-way from the Dallas North Tollway in Addison to west of Synergy Park Road in Richardson, as well as relocation of AT&T utilities along Hillcrest Road from north of McCallum Boulevard to south of Wester Way.

Trinity Metro and the city of Fort Worth, Texas, have partnered to improve transit in the region by developing three possible scenarios that will inform a future 20-year transit master plan.

The scenarios in the "Transit Moves Fort Worth" plan summarize ways in which transit can be made more convenient to use by developing high capacity transit services, improving and expanding existing services and improving accessibility. 

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday designated Arizona & California Railroad (ARZC) as the Class I’s 2019 Short Line of the Year for a commitment to “safety, service, growth, investment and velocity.”

 A Genesee & Wyoming Inc. subsidiary, ARZC operates a 205-mile line running between Matthie, Arizona, and Cadiz, California. The railroad works with BNSF operating teams in Barstow, California, and Phoenix to handle 20,000 units of overhead traffic annually, BNSF officials said in a press release.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced $900 million in federal grants will be awarded to 55 surface transportation infrastructure projects in 35 states under the fiscal-year 2019 Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Discretionary Grants program.

The grants were awarded on a competitive basis to projects with a significant impact on their local or regional communities, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) officials said in a press release.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) yesterday called on the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to withdraw its "fatally flawed" proposed rate review rule.

In comments filed with the board, AAR officials said the proposed rule is unlawful.

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

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) General Manager Bob Powers yesterday issued an apology to a rider who was handcuffed by BART police for eating a sandwich on a train platform.

BART policy asks riders not to eat or drink on the BART system. On Nov. 9, a BART police officer stopped a rider who was eating on the platform of BART's Pleasant Hill Station in San Francisco. After declining to show identification when asked for it, the rider cursed and made homophobic slurs at the officer, then was handcuffed and led away.