Railroad News

Canadian railroads remain on track to meet greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets set by the rail industry and the federal government, according to the latest Locomotive Emissions Monitoring (LEM) Program report.

Released by the Railway Association of Canada (RAC) this week, the report summarizes the railroads' progress in 2015 toward reducing GHGs and criteria air contaminants from locomotives operating in Canada. The document also highlights initiatives that the rail industry has taken to reach its emissions reduction goals.

Class Is employed 145,952 workers in the United States as of mid-November, down 0.27 percent since mid-October's employment figure and down 3.66 percent compared with mid-November 2016's level, according to Surface Transportation Board data.

Four out of six employment categories reflected workforce decreases in November compared with October's levels. Those categories were executives, officials and staff assistants, down 0.07 percent to 8,211 employees; professional and administrative, down 0.12 percent to 12,182; maintenance of way and structures, down 0.63 percent to 33,059; and transportation (train and engine), down 0.37 percent to 60,200.

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has completed a $3.9 million project to replace the State Route 7 bridge over Norfolk Southern Railway tracks in Worcester.

Work began in March and was completed in November. Construction of the new multi-girder bridge was expedited and completed in one construction season, NYSDOT officials said in a press release.

An Amtrak Cascades derailment near DuPont, Washington, last month caused $40.4 million in damage, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) preliminary accident report.

Issued yesterday, the report provides a few additional details about the fatal accident, which occurred Dec. 18 on the inaugural run of a new bypass on the Amtrak Cascades service between Seattle and Portland, Oregon.

Metra last week issued a request for proposals (RFP) for new or remanufactured locomotives to start replacing its aging fleet.

CSX has completed the first phase of its new operating plan, which has produced performance metrics that show a "remarkable rate of positive change," President and Chief Executive Officer James Foote said in a Jan. 3 letter to the Surface Transportation Board.

The letter was sent to the board in response to its Dec. 14 request for information on the Class I's progress in restructuring its operations by implementing the precision scheduled railroading (PSR) concept. The board asked for an update on the company's progress in five areas: car order fulfillment, local service performance, car trip plan performance, communication with customers and service in the Chicago area.

Progress Rail on Tuesday closed on its acquisition of ECM S.p.A., an international provider of rail signal solutions and technologies. Based in Italy, ECM will join Progress Rail's existing signal division. ECM's investment in research and development in recent years makes it an "attractive complement" to Progress Rail's current signal portfolio, Progress Rail officials said in a press release. ECM's products include power supplies, LED signal lights, axle counters and work site protection. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

IMC Cos. has acquired the drayage and depot operations of H&M Terminal Transport, which now will operate under the name H&M Intermodal Services. The acquired firm operates at six locations and employs 140 drivers. The acquisition is aimed at boosting IMC's presence in the northeastern United States, company officials said in a press release. Financial terms for the acquisition were not disclosed. IMC now claims more than 2,100 U.S. employees.

Metrolinx has chosen five "prequalified operators" for its Regional Express Rail (RER) project, the agency announced late last month.

The selected firms are eligible to participate as operators on applicant teams for the project's upcoming design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) procurement process.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to study options for a potential subway extension from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood.

The line would run through an underwater tunnel to a new station in Red Hook, according to a press release issued by Cuomo's office.

Lighthouse Resources Inc. yesterday filed a federal lawsuit against the Washington state government for blocking the mining company from developing a coal export terminal along the Columbia River.

Filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Washington, the lawsuit details the company's allegations that state officials violated the U.S. Constitution and federal law by "unreasonably denying and refusing to process permits to develop a brownfield site on the river where an existing state lease allows coal exports."

Amtrak tomorrow will kick off the next round of track renewal projects at New York Penn Station.

The bulk of the infrastructure renewal work in 2018 will occur on weekends, with the entire project slated to wrap up on May 28, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

U.S. rail traffic for all of 2017 rose 3.4 percent to 27,489,960 carloads and intermodal units compared with traffic in 2016, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Carload traffic for the year climbed 2.9 percent to 13,478,126 units in 2017, while intermodal traffic increased 3.9 percent to 14,011,834 units for the year compared with 2016, according to an AAR press release.

The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Cap Metro) in Austin, Texas, on Jan. 7 will add six train trips along the Red Line to help alleviate crowding on trains.

The agency will add three morning trips and another three in the evening, Cap Metro officials said in a press release. The agency also will adjust the schedules for the five bus routes that serve the Leander and Downtown train stations.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) in 2017 "nearly completed" mining twin tunnels for the Regional Connector light-rail project, agency officials announced in a blog post.

The tunnels run from the city's Little Tokyo neighborhood to the financial district, according to the post summarizing progress on the project. Each tunnel measures about 5,700 feet in length and is made of 1,140 pre-cast concrete rings.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) in 2017 "nearly completed" mining twin tunnels for the Regional Connector light-rail project, agency officials announced in a blog post.

The tunnels run from the city's Little Tokyo neighborhood to the financial district, according to the post summarizing progress on the project. Each tunnel measures about 5,700 feet in length and is made of 1,140 pre-cast concrete rings.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) yesterday resumed full testing along the forthcoming G Line commuter-rail route.

This phase of the testing process focuses on communication and signaling systems, as well as the communication of traffic and rail signals at crossings, RTD officials said in a press release.

President Trump's administration has cast doubt on the amount of federal funding available for the proposed construction of a new Hudson River railroad tunnel that connects New York and New Jersey.

In a letter obtained by Crain's New York Business, Federal Transit Administration Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams informed New York and New Jersey officials late last week that a "50/50" agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the two states to share the cost for the proposed "Gateway" tunnel project is "non-existent."