Railroad News

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo yesterday unveiled what he called an "aggressive action plan" to fix Penn Station, as well as related transit problems.

The governor's proposal included the creation of a task force to address "short- and long-term challenges" at Penn Station, which has been the site of two recent derailments because of track disrepair.

Port Everglades yesterday received approval from the Broward County Board of Commissioners to proceed with a $437.5 million project that will add new berths for larger cargo ships and install rail infrastructure for new Super Post-Panamax cranes.

Known as the Southport Turning Notch Extension, the project will lengthen the deepwater turn-around area for cargo ships from 900 feet to 2,400 feet. The expansion will allow for up to five new cargo berths, according to a press release issued by the Broward County, Fla., port.

American Public Transportation Association (APTA) leaders expressed disappointment yesterday that President Donald Trump's budget reaffirmed the administration's plan to phase out the Capital Improvement Grants (CIG) and eliminate the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant programs.

Trump's fiscal-year 2018 budget, unveiled yesterday, reaffirmed positions taken in an earlier outline of the budget that called for phasing out CIG and ending the TIGER grant program. APTA officials had hoped the administration would rethink those proposals by the time the actual budget was sent to Congress.

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) and its contractor Hawaiian Dredging on Friday will install a pedestrian bridge at the West Loch rail station in Waipahu, Hawaii.

The bridge will pass over the westbound lanes of Farrington Highway.  The work will begin Friday night and conclude Sunday morning.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has completed a new revenue platform at the Balboa Park Muni light-rail station in San Francisco.

The agency will continue to carry out several other pedestrian safety and security improvements at the station, including a sidewalk widening on Geneva Avenue and installation of new way-finding signs.

Watco Cos. recently hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of its new safety training center near Fairfield, Ala.

The Safety Through Awareness and Training (STAT) Center will host hundreds of Watco employees annually for standardized safety training, according to a post on the company's blog.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for rehabilitation projects at four subway stations in Manhattan.

One station is served by C line trains, while the remaining three are served by both B and C line trains.

American PetroLog LLC has completed construction of a storage and transload terminal in Venus, Texas, that will be served by BNSF Railway Co.

In January, the company acquired the assets of B&E Grain Inc. and developed the 8-acre rail site to serve customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. The terminal offers transloading and storage of bulk liquid, dry bulk and carload commodities.

The Orange County Transportation Authority's (OCTA) board yesterday approved seeking a Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) that would cover nearly half the cost to build the Orange County Streetcar project.

The board will seek an FFGA from the FTA for $148.9 million, according to an OCTA press release.

A coalition of six state attorneys general is urging the Trump administration to require all crude oil transported by rail to meet certain vapor-pressure standards.

In a letter to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the attorneys general asked the agency to take steps to minimize the risk of explosion and fire in the event of a crude-by-rail accident.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced yesterday that it has approved a $647 million Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) for Caltrain's electrification project.

The approval marked a turn from the FTA's decision in February to halt the grant. As early as last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told a U.S. Senate committee that she wouldn't sign off on the grant until Congress approved all the needed funding.

Wabtec Corp. obtained a $40 million contract to design, install, test and commission positive train control (PTC) for the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), which operates the Tri-Rail commuter-rail service in the Miami area. Under the contract, Wabtec will provide its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System (I-ETMS®) equipment for 42 locomotives and cab cars, a back-office server, wayside communications and signals, a dispatch system, training, and system integration. Installation is expected to wrap up by 2018's end. SFRTA's PTC system will be fully interoperable with all Class Is' PTC systems, Wabtec officials said in a press release.

Rockwell Collins and BNSF Railway Co. have begun conducting "beyond visual line of sight" test flights with unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones. The railroad has received authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration to perform the flights without visual observers. The operation marked the first beyond visual line of sight commercial UAS flights in the continental United States, according to a Rockwell Collins press release. During the 200-mile flights, BNSF controlled its aircraft using Rockwell Collins' control radio data link network deployed throughout the railroad's subdivision in Clovis, N.M. Such flights could help BNSF inspect tracks from afar.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) next month will conduct its final repair surge as part of its SafeTrack maintenance plan.

To complete the work, the agency on June 17 will shut down a 5-mile segment of the Red Line between the Shady Grove and Twinbrook stations in Montgomery County, Md. The work includes crosstie replacement, rail renewal and welding.

Port Manatee and Guatemala are seeking to increase the amount of imports and exports shipped between the two, representatives of the Florida port and Central American nation announced last week.

"Port Manatee is already an important hub for Guatemalan imports and exports, and we see substantial prospects for growth in this relationship," said Dunia Miranda-Mauri, Guatemala's Miami-based trade commissioner, in a press release.

New Jersey Transit's board last week approved an early action contract with PKF-Mark III Inc. for work to support the Portal Bridge replacement project.

The $14.5 million contract involves realigning a 138kV transmission pole, installing new fiber optic cable poles and building a steel bridge structure over the Jersey City Municipal Utility Authority's water main.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo yesterday asked President Donald Trump to provide emergency funding to address the "state of disrepair" at Penn Station.

In a letter to the president, Cuomo asked for federal assistance for short-term construction and transportation alternatives, and facilitation of a long-term solution to problems at the New York City station.

Ontario is moving forward with preliminary design work for a Toronto-Windsor high-speed rail route, Premier Kathleen Wynne announced late last week.

In fall, Ontario officials are expected issue a request for bids for the design needed for an environmental assessment. Ontario will invest 15 million Canadian dollars in the assessment, according to a press release issued by Wynne's office.

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) late last week joined Arkansas & Missouri Railroad (A&M) representatives for a tour of the Arkansas River Bridge.

The lawmaker visited the structure as he traveled from Fort Smith to Rudy, Ark., on one of the railroad's excursion cars. Fort Smith city officials recently applied for a federal grant to repair and rehabilitate aging rail infrastructure, including the Arkansas River Bridge.