Railroad News

The Central Maine & Quebec Railway (CMQ) has named Chad Mowery vice president of operations and J. Wesley Logan, general manager operations.

Mowery's promotion from general manager to his new role was effective Jan. 1. He joined CMQ in March 2015 after 16 years in transportation, engineering and mechanical management positions with railroads owned by short-line holding company RailAmerica and its successor, Genesee & Wyoming Inc.

The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Cap Metro) board in Austin, Texas, late last week named Randy Clarke president and chief executive officer.

The board is expected to approve Clarke's contract on Jan. 29, according to an agency press release.

A Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Red Line train yesterday derailed outside the Farragut North Station in Washington, D.C.

The train of 7000-series rail cars was carrying 60 passengers when it derailed at about 6:30 a.m. No injuries were reported. Investigators believe a break in the rail caused the derailment, WMATA officials said on Twitter.

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After spending 10 years as a human resources executive with H.J. Heinz & Co., Les Dakens joined CN in 2001 as senior vice president of people. During his interviews with the railroad’s leadership team, Dakens met Hunter Harrison, then CN’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

The Denver Regional Transportation District's (RTD) board has elected Doug Tisdale chair for 2018.

Tisdale, who is the former mayor of Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, currently serves as president of law firm Tisdale & Associates LLC.

U.S. Reps. Donald Payne (D-N.J.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) are calling on U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and the Trump administration to commit to funding the Gateway project to build a new passenger-rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey.

In a letter sent to Chao last week, the lawmakers disputed Deputy Federal Transit Administrator Jane Williams' claim last month that the U.S. Department of Transportation did not have an agreement with New York and New Jersey state officials to share in the project's multi-billion-dollar cost.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) has laid the final 5 miles of rail for its double-track project, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced late last week.

The $387.2 million project calls for adding a second track on LIRR's line between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma, New York. With just one track along that 18-mile stretch at present, the LIRR can only operate a limited number of trains and lacks operational flexibility during disruptions.

Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson last week presented a status report to Oregon and Washington state officials on the railroad's plan for responding to last month's deadly derailment of an Amtrak Cascades train near DuPont, Washington.

Among its actions and plans, Amtrak is taking the lead in organizing a meeting of key decision-makers involved in implementing positive train control (PTC) in the area where the derailment occurred, Anderson said in a letter to the states officials. Those decision-makers include Amtrak, Sound Transit, host railroads and the Washington and Oregon departments of transportation.

Metra's new train station in Romeoville, Illinois, will open Feb. 5.

The station will be the first new stop on the Heritage Corridor Line since the railroad's formation in 1984, Metra officials said in a press release. Additionally, the station will be the first new stop on any Chicago-area Metra line since 2011.

Following a deadly Amtrak Cascades derailment in Washington state last month, a bill has been introduced in Congress to accelerate positive train control (PTC) implementation.

Introduced by U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), the proposed Positive Train Control Implementation and Financing Act (H.R. 4766) would give railroads until Dec. 31, 2018, to implement PTC and would prevent the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) from granting extensions to railroads that want more time to implement the crash-prevention technology.

Nate Asplund has succeeded James Hertwig as president and chief executive officer of Florida East Coast Railway.

Asplund, who assumed his new role on Jan. 8, most recently served as president and CEO of the Red River Valley and Western Railroad (RRVW), a regional railroad serving North Dakota and Minnesota, FEC Railway officials said in a post on the company's website.

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Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner trains have resumed service between Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, California, following deadly mudslides that shut down tracks.

Trains now are serving Ventura, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Goleta, San Luis Obispo and all other stations on the route, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

The Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) yesterday announced its 2018 roster of board members.

Adriene Bailey was elected to her second term as chairman, while Michael Wilson was named vice chairman.

CSX Corp. announced yesterday that it will host its investor and analyst conference March 1 at the InterContinental New York Barclay in New New York City.

CSX President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Foote and members of the senior management team will outline how the precision scheduled railroading model will "positively transform CSX's operations, improve customer service and drive long-term value creation for shareholders," company officials said in a press release.