Railroad News

Amtrak has reached a master development agreement with Penn Station Partners to redevelop and expand Baltimore Penn Station, the railroad announced yesterday.

Under the agreement, Amtrak will invest up to $90 million on station improvements to accommodate an increase in passengers and to improve their experience at the station, according to an Amtrak press release.

U. S. Rail Holdings late last month filed two new motions with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to stop an out-of-service Nickel Plate Railroad corridor in Indiana from being converted into a recreational trail. U. S. Rail wants to reactivate rail service on the line. 

In December 2018, the STB authorized three Notices of Interim Trail Use to the cities of Fishers and Noblesville, and Hamilton County, Indiana, to pursue rail banking on three connected portions of a 37-mile rail line, according to the filed motion. 

The Saint-Laurent Council in Montreal earlier this week asked the Montreal Agglomeration Council and Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund to modify its original Reseau metropolitan express (REM) light-rail concept in order to build an extension between the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport-based station and the VIA Rail Canada Inc. and Exo intermodal stations.

The REM project would consist of a high-frequency autonomous, electric light-rail transit system between the airport, downtown Montreal as well as interconnections within the Montreal metro system. It will include 26 stations. 

New York state lawmakers early this week approved a fiscal-year 2020 state budget plan that calls for Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) reforms, and includes a "congestion pricing" program that would provide a new source of revenue to the transit agency.

Under congestion pricing, motorists will be charged a toll entering the city's most congested streets. The goal of the charge is to help reduce traffic congestion, while generating revenue for MTA.

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) yesterday issued its 2020-2024 Rail Crossing Safety Improvement Plan, which calls for more than $250 million in funding to help local communities and railroads pay for safety improvements at hundreds of locations.

The plan proposes funding from the state's Grade Crossing Protection Fund (GCPF) to help cover the cost of 17 highway-rail bridge projects, four pedestrian rail bridge projects, 253 grade crossing warning device projects and low-cost improvements at 500 crossing locations, ICC officials said in a press release.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) officials yesterday marked the completion of a $172 million rail maintenance facility in the Southwestern Yard that will serve the future Crenshaw/LAX light-rail line near Los Angles International Airport.

Light-rail vehicles will be maintained and inspected at the 115,000-square-foot facility. Other work to be performed there includes body repairs, painting, storage, cleaning and washing. 

U.S. rail traffic continued its slump in March, falling 5.2 percent to 2,022,934 carloads and intermodal units compared with volumes in March 2018, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

U.S. carload volume for the month dipped 8.9 percent to 957,144 units versus a year ago, while intermodal levels dipped 1.5 percent to 1,065,790 containers and trailers.

SNC-Lavalin subsidiary TransitNEXT has secured a $663 million deal with the city of Ottawa to design, build and finance the Trillium light-rail extension project, which will extend the route from the Greenboro Station to a new terminal west of Limebank Road in Ottawa, Ontario. SNC-Lavalin will maintain the new extension, as well as assume responsibility for long-term maintenance of the existing Trillium Line, according to a companty press release. Construction of the extension will be completed in 2022.

SYSTRA has been selected by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority to lead the transit technology evaluation component of Project Connect, according to a press release. Project Connect includes short-term enhancement projects and investments into a high-capacity transit system serving the Austin, Texas, community. SYSTRA will also lead system integration, testing and commissioning in later phases of the project.

The Rail Passengers Association (RPA) has presented a coalition of six U.S. senators with the Golden Spike Award for their efforts to save the Amtrak Southwest Chief corridor, the association announced yesterday.

The award was presented to U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.).

Virginia's Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) is soliciting public input on rail and other transportation projects that have been recommended for funding.

CTB will host nine meetings in April and May, according to a CTB press release. Community members may participate by attending the public meetings or submitting comments online, by email or mail.

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has posthumously recognized the late Steve Cernak with the Distinguished Service Award.

Cernak was chief executive officer and director of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He died last month after fighting pancreatic cancer. He was 63.

The Reading & Northern Railroad announced yesterday the promotions of Daren Geschwindt to vice president of distribution services and Dustin Berndt to vice president of motive power.

Berndt joined the Port Clinton, Pennsylvania-based railroad in 2000, when he started in the locomotive shop. In 2012, he was named assistant VP of motive power in recognition for his work to improve the locomotive fleet. Along with the engine house crew, Berndt ensures the safety and efficiency of the fleet, according to a company press release.

Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver's G Line — which will operate Denver, Adams County, Arvada and Wheat Ridge — will officially open April 26.

The 11-mile, eight-station electric commuter rail line will connect passengers from the western-most station to Union Station in downtown Denver in 25 minutes, according to an RTD press release.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is offering its more than 48,000-square-foot headquarters in Washington, D.C., for development under a long-term ground lease. 

WMATA will retain ownership of the property, which it will vacate by December 2022, and move its headquarters to a building the transit authority purchased last year near L’Enfant Plaza, WMATA officials said in a press release.

The West Coast Railway Association (WCRA) will receive $985,000 from the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund to acquire and renovate a former British Columbia Railway workshop to support a heritage railway's preservation in Squamish, British Columbia, Canadian government officials announced last week. 

The funding will help WCRA to maintain, protect and preserve its historic collection of locomotives and rail cars, according to a Department of Canadian Heritage press release.

The City of Muskogee Foundation has awarded a $3 million economic development grant that will be used to match federal funds to pay for the Port of Muskogee's rail modernization project.

The grant represents more than half of the funding the Muskogee City-County Port Authority needs to pay its share of the $11.58 million project, according to the Muskogee Phoenix.