Railroad News

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on major U.S. retail container ports appears to be easing slightly, with projected imports remaining below last year's levels but not as much as previously forecast, the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates announced yesterday.

"The numbers we're seeing are still below last year, but are better than we expected a month ago," said NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold in a press release. "It may be too soon to say, but we'll take that as a sign that the situation could be slowly starting to improve. Consumers want to get back to shopping, and as more people get back to work, retailers want to be sure their shelves are stocked."

New Jersey Transit yesterday unveiled a strategic plan to guide the agency's decisions over the next 10 years.

Dubbed NJT2030, the plan outlines more than 100 initiatives for the agency to achieve and implement by 2030. 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) yesterday began implementing its 13-point action plan to ensure the safe return of riders as New York City’s business and industries reopened.

The action plan includes:

The majority of the California Assembly has co-sponsored legislation that directs the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to defer awarding a contract this year for the proposed high-speed rail line between Merced and Bakersfield.

The measure directs the CHSRA to not enter into certain contracts before the Legislature has considered and approved the authority's funding request for the remaining $4.2 billion in high-speed rail bond issue funds, according to a press release issued by state lawmaker Jim Frazier, who chairs the California Assembly's Transportation Committee.

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

Throughout the Railway Association of Canada’s (RAC) 103-year history, it has strived to represent the interests of both freight and passenger railroads in the world’s fifth-largest rail network. But the organization mostly has carried out that mission with an all-male board.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) last week began a two-week demolition of the Lechmere Viaduct between the Gilmore Bridge and existing Lechmere Station in East Cambridge. 

The work will further advance the relocation and reconstruction of Lechmere Station now underway as part of the MBTA’s Green Line Extension project. 

American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Chair Nuria Fernandez and President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas late last week issued a statement that pledges a commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity in the nation's public transportation industry.

The statement was issued after two "painful weeks" of protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and after 12 weeks of the industry coping with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Skoutelas explained in a letter to APTA members.

The Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. (PATH) last week reopened the World Trade Center (WTC) Station for weekend service in New York City.

The WTC Station has been closed on weekends since January 2019 to facilitate work on the tunnels below the Hudson River connecting the WTC and Exchange Place stations. The tunnels were damaged by saltwater flooding during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in San Francisco and the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) in Houston, Texas, today added rail service as ridership begins to tick up as stay-at-home restrictions are lifted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

BART has added three trains to the morning and afternoon commute on the Yellow Line between Pleasant Hill to Daly City.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) identified a number of factors that led to a broken rail and derailment of a CN train in Saskatchewan in January 2019, the agency announced last week.

On Jan. 22, 2019, a CN freight train traveling south on the Warman subdivision experienced a rough ride as it crossed over the median between divided Highway 11. A minute later, a train-initiated emergency brake application occurred as 29 loaded grain cars and a mid-train locomotive derailed. Some of the grain cars released their loads, and the locomotive caught fire but was quickly extinguished.

Caltrain’s board last week approved a nearly $43 million interim operating budget and a $19.1 million interim capital budget for the first quarter fiscal-year 2021. 

The $42.9 million interim operating budget includes a projected $8 million in farebox revenue, representing an $18.5 million decrease over Q1 farebox revenue in FY2020. This comes as the California agency grapples with a decline in ridership from 65,000 passengers per day to just 1,300 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, agency officials said in a press release.

Caltrain’s board last week approved a nearly $43 million interim operating budget and a $19.1 million interim capital budget for the first quarter fiscal-year 2021. 

The $42.9 million interim operating budget includes a projected $8 million in farebox revenue, representing an $18.5 million decrease over Q1 farebox revenue in FY2020. This comes as the California agency grapples with a decline in ridership from 65,000 passengers per day to just 1,300 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, agency officials said in a press release.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) last week granted another 60-day extension to time limits in which certain petitions for review must be filed with the Locomotive Engineer Review Board (LERB) and the Operating Crew Review Board (OCRB). 

The extension followed a second joint petition filed by two railroad unions, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD). 

Harsco Rail last month installed its 250,000th tie on the MTA Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) system. The contract between Harsco Rail and LIRR was first awarded in 2012 after LIRR decided to switch from wood to concrete ties. “Our system has benefited greatly from the installation of concrete ties, which now comprise roughly 30 percent of our mainline track miles,” said LIRR Chief Engineer Glenn Greenberg in a Harsco Rail press release.

A Class I has awarded Duos Technologies Inc. an approximately $2.1 million contract to integrate up to 100 artificial intelligence use cases into Duos’ centraco® platform. The use cases will eventually be used by the railroad in its automation-focused efforts, Duos officials said in a press release. The contract also includes a recurring service and maintenance component for the new software that's being developed. The contract will be executed by Duos subsidiary truevue360 Inc. in two phases, with half occurring in the summer and the rest expected to be completed in early 2021. 

On June 11, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) will hold two call-in public hearings to solicit comments on the supplemental draft environmental impact statement (SDEIS) for the D2 Subway Project. 

The D2 Subway Project is a proposed second light-rail line through downtown Dallas that would extend 2.4 miles from Victory Station to the Green Line along Good Latimer Expressway.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) has selected Melanie Snyder as general counsel. She assumes the role June 8.

Snyder succeeds Acting General Counsel Jenifer Ross-Amato, who temporarily filled the position after Rolf Asphaug retired in February.