Railroad News

Some of Caltrain's electric trains now in production at Stadler Rail's Salt Lake City plant have passed several structural tests, the railroad announced last week.

The truck — which holds the propulsion motor, wheel and axle of the train— underwent structural and fatigue endurance tests with successful results. The rail car shell also underwent a squeeze test, which verifies the strength of the rail cars under various stressors, including twisting, bending and external pressure, Caltrain officials said in a project newsletter.

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) crews last month began early construction at 19th Street/Oakland Station in Oakland, California, in preparation for a major station modernization project.

On Jan. 25, crews constructed secure equipment storage areas at the station. In the coming months, crews will begin to renovate restrooms, install LED lighting, expand the fare area, install an elevator, repair tile and expand interior bike parking, BART officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific Railroad announced last week that it has launched a developer portal that allows shippers to access relevant railroad data within their own business platforms.

Driving the service are application program interfaces (APIs), which allow computer applications to interact with each other to pass data or perform actions, UP officials said in an announcement on the company website.

BNSF Railway Co. will spend $3.4 billion on capital expenditures this year, down from the $3.57 billion the Class I budgeted in 2019.

This year's plan emphasizes maintaining network infrastructure as well as expansion projects designed to meet customer demand, BNSF officials said last week in a customer notification.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) last week reopened the improved Magnolia Park Transit Center in Houston.

The 27-year-old transit center was upgraded to include new security cameras, 10-foot-wide sidewalks and ramps to increase accessibility, a larger station canopy, a central plaza, wayfinding signage, additional parking spaces and bike facilities. 

Metro Transit-St. Louis announced it will station contracted security guards from G4S Secure Solutions across its rail system beginning April 1, two months later than initially planned.

Metro Transit and the Bi-State Development Board last year approved a contract with G4S to provide security services for the agency last year. Initially, the security services were to begin Feb. 1, however the agency extended the deployment date to accommodate more time for hiring, background checks and training efforts, Metro Transit officials said in a press release.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) last week reopened the Nostrand Avenue Station in Brooklyn, New York, after a more than two-year, $28 million renovation project.

The rebuilt two-track elevated station features two elevators, four staircases, platform canopies, tactile warning strips and digital train departure information displays.

The Amtrak Downeaster service achieved a record ridership of 574,404 passengers in 2019, a 7.8 percent increase from the previous record ridership set in 2017, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority announced late last week.

The service, which operates from Brunswick, Maine, to Boston, logged record ridership growth in nine out of the 12 months of last year, authority officials said in a press release.

Durfee Avenue in Pico Rivera, California, will be closed for the next 27 months starting today as part of the $107.8 million grade separation project being constructed by the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG).

Located north of Whittier Boulevard and south of Beverly Boulevard, the grade separation effort is part of the Alameda Corridor-East (ACE) project, a program of 19 roadway-rail grade separations and safety improvements along the high-volume transcontinental ACE freight-rail corridor.

VIA Rail Canada last week issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) to pre-qualify interested general contractors for a construction project to upgrade VIA Rail’s rail maintenance facilities in Montreal and Toronto. 

The project calls for construction of new maintenance facilities and upgrading existing ones to accommodate a future fleet of 32 Siemens train sets to be delivered in 2022, VIA Rail officials said in a press release.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) union that represents CN's train conductors and yard crews in Canada has ratified collective agreements with the railroad, CN announced late last week.

The three-year agreements are retroactive to July 23, 2019, and provide wage increases and benefit improvements for 3,200 conductors, CN officials said in a press release.

Alfred Benesch & Co. added four senior project managers to its rail division to help deliver grade crossing solutions. Rick Campbell, Nicole Jackson, Tim Oster and Kurt Anderson have decades of combined expertise in freight- and transit-railroad signal preemption; crossing diagnostics; quiet zone implementation and railroad signal design, Benesch officials said in a press release.

The Top Employers Institute recognized Alstom as a top European employer in France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Belgium and the United Kingdom. The Top Employer designation certifies a company’s dedication to providing the best working environment for employees through progressive human resources practices, Alstom officials said in a press release. To select a company for recognition, the institute performs an independent audit of talent strategy, workforce planning, on-boarding procedures, professional and leadership development practices, performance management, compensation, career management and culture.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) earlier this week entered into a five-year, $3.3 million agreement with Penn Medicine to rename the University City rail station in West Philadelphia.

The station was renamed to Penn Medicine Station. 

The Kansas City Streetcar Authority recorded 2,228,942 riders in 2019, a 5.5 increase compared with 2018's ridership level. 

In 2019, streetcar ridership was highest on the weekends, authority officials said in a press release.

Dallas-Fort Worth transit agencies together will launch a regionwide survey next month to gauge ridership demand and patterns on the region's rail system. 

The survey is funded by the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) and Trinity Metro.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) earlier this week announced eight of its 2019-20 "Most Wanted" list of transportation safety improvement recommendations have been implemented.

The recommendations included one addressing emergency response to railroad hazardous materials events, which was issued to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Two New York state lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require all freight trains to have a minimum of two-person crews.

State Senate Bill S7151 was introduced earlier this month by State Sen. Timothy Kennedy (D) and a companion bill was introduced by State Assemblyman William Magnarelli (D), according to a press release issued by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLET).

The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE) partners announced this week that CSX has selected Mathewson Right of Way Co. to provide right-of-way acquisition services for two projects that are part of the 75th Street Corridor improvement project.

Mathewson will serve a portion of the Forest Hill Flyover project and the 71st Street grade separation project, CREATE officials said in a press release.