Railroad News

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) on Friday sent a letter to numerous U.S. mayors highlighting the freight-rail industry's business and external relations efforts, including its economic impact, safety record and technological gains.

The letter cites freight railroads' ongoing work to install positive train control and references the AskRail app that was developed with the International Association of Fire Chiefs. Available to qualified first responders in the case of an emergency, AskRail can be used to learn the contents of rail cars involved in an accident.

The Port of Long Beach, California, last week released a draft environmental study on Toyota Logistics Services' proposed reconfiguration of its Pier B auto facility, including new power and fueling infrastructure.

The study found that the project would have no significant impacts on the environment. The public can submit comments on the draft study until July 10.

Brightline late last week announced the appointment of four new executives, including a former Amtrak officer.

The company named Jeff Swiatek chief financial officer; Ravneet Bhandari, chief commercial officer; Michael Cegelis, executive vice president of infrastructure development; and Jeff Schappert, senior VP of technology.

CN plans to spend about CA$130 million this year to bolster infrastructure in Manitoba, including an expansion of Symington Yard in Winnipeg.

The yard project calls for building or extending a dozen tracks to help improve the efficiency of handling rail cars from Canada and the United States, CN officials said in a press release.

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday announced plans to allocate nearly $1.5 billion in proposed grants for 26 projects through the new Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) discretionary grant program.

INFRA grants "support the Trump Administration’s commitment to fix the nation’s crumbling infrastructure by creating opportunities for all levels of government and the private sector to fund various upgrades," USDOT officials said in a press release. Moreover, the grant program encourages innovative approaches to improve the necessary processes for constructing significant projects and increases accountability for projects that are completed, they added.

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

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is partnering with GPS software company Waze on an effort to boost grade crossing safety. As part of the initiative, Waze has integrated crossing warnings into its app at 10 locations along MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). The warnings eventually will be integrated into all 296 LIRR crossings, MTA officials said in a press release. Crossing safety remains an area of concern as motorists — some of whom may be using GPS devices —inadvertently turn onto tracks instead of parralel roadways, agency officials added. Year to date through May 22, there have been two crossing accidents and 21 reports of cars on LIRR tracks.

Peerless Electronics Inc. has agreed to distribute a new product line from Sensata-Crydom, which offers solid-state relay products for the rail, maritime and automotive industries. Peerless' reach into multiple vertical markets will make Sensata-Crydom products "more readily available to more companies than ever before," said Peerless Electronics President William Gallucci in a press release.

U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, earlier this week toured Geismar-Modern Track Machinery Inc.'s new plant in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Sanford also met with company officials and other industry representatives for a discussion of public policy issues. The tour and meeting was organized by the National Construction & Maintenance Association (NRC) and the Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA). Geismar-MTM is a member of both organizations.

The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and U.S. Maritime Alliance Ltd. (USMX) have reached a tentative agreement on a six-year master contract, the organizations announced earlier this week.

The current USMX-ILA contract expires Sept. 30. The new agreement is subject to ratification by members of both groups.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) later this month will halt service along a portion of its Newburyport/Rockport commuter-rail line to advance work on the Gloucester drawbridge replacement project.

From June 18 through Aug. 31, buses will replace four inbound and four outbound trains between the Rockport and West Gloucester stations.

Rangeland Energy III LLC announced this week the launch of operations at its South Texas Energy Products System (STEPS) terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The company also announced it will start loading diesel into rail cars for a "leading refined products customer." Kansas City Southern will deliver the diesel to third-party terminals in Mexico, Rangeland officials said in a press release.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) has appointed Maurice Henderson II chief operating officer, effective July 16.

He currently serves as chief of staff and director of strategic initiatives for Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, Oregon. Before he joined the mayor's office, Henderson was assistant director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has scheduled three symposiums on topics related to positive train control (PTC), with the first to be held June 15 in Washington, D.C.

The June 15 symposium aims to bring together the FRA's PTC experts and all 41 railroads that are federally mandated to implement PTC systems. Discussions will focus on the statutory requirements for the Dec. 31 deadline and answers to industry questions.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday announced $241 million in grants for 23 projects aimed at improving freight mobility throughout the state.

Rauner made the announcement at the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis’ intermodal facility in East St. Louis. The switching railroad will receive $1.93 million to re-establish a previously existing track alignment that will eliminate conflicts with four nearby grade crossings, according to a press release issued by Rauner's office. The railroad will contribute $500,000 to complete the work.

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

We announced this late last month and I'm very happy to share the news in this space: Progressive Railroading and RailTrends® have named Association of American Railroads President and CEO Ed Hamberger the 2018 recipient of the Railroad Innovator Award. The award recognizes an individual’s outstanding achievement in the rail industry.

Duos Technologies Group Inc. has opened an engineering and operations center in Jacksonville, Florida. The facility will be used primarily to test Duos' proprietary intelligent technologies and sub-systems. The site includes offices and an assembly area for pre-staging projects prior to field deployment, Duos officials said in a press release. The expansion was needed to meet "significant current and anticipated" revenue growth, said Duos Chief Executive Officer Gianni Arcaini.

Representatives of the InnoTrans conference, which will be held in Berlin, announced yesterday that 22 transportation companies have signed on to present products and services at its supporting program. Fourteen of those companies are from outside Germany, including firms from China, Dubai, Kazakhstan, Japan, South Korea and Ukraine. PKP, Poland's state-run rail network, will be represented in hall 16 — marking the first time at InnoTrans that a transportation company will occupy an entire hall. The supporting program will run during InnoTrans' main exhibition to be held Sept. 18-21. At the 2016 InnoTrans, there were nearly 3,000 exhibitors from 60 countries.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) yesterday urged the U.S. Department of Transportation and Department of Energy to finalize volatility standards for crude oil before it's shipped by rail.

His request follows the release of new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showing that the amount of crude oil moving by rail to U.S. Northeast refineries is growing. In March, refineries in the region used about 3.1 million barrels of oil, which is the most used since early 2017, according to a press release issued by Schumer's office.

The Atlanta Streetcar will change hands on July 1, when the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) takes ownership of the system from the city of Atlanta.

The agency also will assume day-to-day operations of the 2.7-mile circular route, MARTA officials said in a press release.

U.S. railroads' intermodal volume outpaced carload traffic growth in May, logging 6.6 percent and 3.2 percent increases, respectively, compared with the same month last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

In May, U.S. railroads originated intermodal 1,398,203 containers and trailers, an increase of 86,010 units compared with the same month a year ago. U.S. railroads also originated 1,319,420 carloads — up 41,078 units  — compared with May 2017, according to an AAR press release.

San Francisco Bay Area residents on Tuesday passed a toll increase to fund $4.45 billion worth of transit and highway improvements, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) announced yesterday. The vote was held during California's statewide primary elections.

Fifty-four percent of residents in a nine-county area approved the Regional Measure 3, which will increase tolls on the region's seven state-owned toll bridges. The measure required a simple majority to pass, MTC officials said in an update yesterday.