Railroad News

Amtrak yesterday released renderings of the first of the diesel-electric locomotives that will replace the current fleet on its national network, including long distance and many state-sponsored routes.

Five of the first six locomotives will be painted in Amtrak's current Phase VI scheme and one will be painted to recognize the 50th anniversary of Amtrak's service launch next year. The red chevron at the rear of the ALC-42 is an homage to Amtrak's original Phase 1 livery, which also had a red chevron on the side. A final livery will be unveiled later as part of a fleet-wide plan, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

OmniTRAX Inc. is working with the Calumet Area Industrial Commission (CAIC) to launch the Rail-Ready Sites program at the Chicago Rail Link (CRL).

OmniTRAX and CAIC are marketing existing rail-served sites along the CRL and working to add more, OmniTRAX officials said in a press release.

A Federal Transit Administration grant to help pay for the construction of a 14.5-mile Southwest light-rail line in downtown Minneapolis advanced to Congress for approval this week, local news sources reported yesterday. 

If approved, the $929 million grant would contribute to the Metropolitan Council’s $2 billion light-rail project to link downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The line is under construction and slated to open in 2023, according to the Star Tribune.

USA Rail Terminals has been acquired by Alpenglow Rail in partnership with Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure (CC&L Infrastructure), the companies announced yesterday.

Financial terms were not disclosed in a press release.

U.S. freight-rail combined carload and intermodal volume declined 9.3 precent to 2,337,977 units in July compared with the same month last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

U.S. railroads hauled 1,042,017 carloads last month, down 17.6 percent, and 1,295,960 containers and trailers, down 1.4 percent. 

Elizabeth Graham, 39
Senior counsel
Union Pacific Railroad

Nominator’s quote: “In 2019, Elizabeth graduated from UP’s Leadership Development Program, where she collaborated to develop an online application that assisted transportation managers with identifying unnecessary cross-haul moves between terminals. … She is a member of LEAD, which is a women’s initiative employee resource group focused on issues critical to empowering and supporting women at Union Pacific. Elizabeth also volunteers as a mentor for the UP Emerging Leaders Program, which seeks to develop young employee leaders with high leadership potential.” — Beth Whited, Union Pacific Railroad

SunRail last week installed the first of 11 sensor-activated alert signs at a railroad crossing in downtown Orlando, Florida. 

When a vehicle remains stopped on tracks for more than three seconds, a new LED sign that reads “Do not stop on tracks” will activate and begin flashing to inform drivers that their current behavior is dangerous and potentially hazardous.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) late last week announced nearly $5 million in grants to fund four new Tier 1 University Transportation Centers (UTC) to advance research and education programs that address critical transportation challenges.

From 67 grant applications, the department selected and awarded grant funds to:
• Highly Automated Transportation Systems Research, $1.9 million to Ohio State University, in consortium with the University of California-Irvine, University of Texas at Austin and the University of Cincinnati;
• Communications Technology and E-Commerce Effects on Travel, $1 million, to Northwestern University in consortium with the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Texas at Austin;
• Implications of Accessible Automated Vehicles and Mobility Services for People with Disabilities, $1 million, to the University of Pittsburgh in consortium with Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, The Catholic University of America; and
• Strategic Implications of Changing Public Transportation Travel Trends, $1 million, to Georgia Institute of Technology, in consortium with the University of Tennessee, the University of Kentucky and Brigham Young University.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) this month will designate employees at rail stations to promote mask-wearing compliance and social distancing on the rail system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One to two "social distancing coaches" will be assigned per station across the system through Aug. 27. Two days per week the staff members will be located at the 69th Street Transportation Center, Frankford Transportation Center, and 15th Street Station on the Market-Frankford Line.

XpressWest, a proposed project to construct a high-speed rail line that would operate between Southern California and Las Vegas, has been awarded $200 million in private activity bonds from the Nevada State Board of Finance, a business newsletter reported yesterday.

The Nevada award comes after a California committee, overseen by California Treasurer Fiona Ma, awarded the project $600 million of private activity bonds in April. To raise additional funds for the project, both state allocations allow the company to sell up to four times the value of the awards as tax-exempt bonds to private investors, according to the Southern California Partnership for Jobs newsletter, which cited a report in Forbes.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) awarded the SW Equity Coalition a $1.2 million grant to fund transit-oriented development (TOD) along a proposed light-rail route in Portland, Oregon’s Southwest Corridor. 

The grant was awarded as part of the FTA’s Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development Planning. 

Illinois will provide $40 million through the Rebuild Illinois capital plan toward a public-private partnership that will construct a new inland port in Cairo at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, Gov. JB Prtizker announced yesterday.

The state immediately will grant $4 million to the Alexander-Cairo Port District to fund final engineering, permitting and site preparation for the new port, state officials said in a press release.

Canadian Pacific today announced it hauled more Canadian grain and grain products in the 2019-2020 crop production year than in the railroad's 139-year history.

In total, CP moved 29.52 million metric tons (MMT) this crop year, exceeding last year's record of 26.77 MMT by 10 percent, company officials said in a press release.

Seth Friend, 31
Plant manager
CSX Corp.

Nominator’s quote: “Seth has become a strong contributor to railroad safety and efficiency. He implemented new work progression and manpower utilization technology practices that have established his shop as the CSX standard for efficient operations.” — Jamie Boychuk, CSX

LTK Engineering Services hired David Genova as director of transit advisory services. Genova is former general manager and chief executive officer of the Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD). He retired from RTD last year after nearly 26 years. In his new role, Genova will share his expertise to bridge the gap between the firm’s technical experts and the firm’s transit executive clients, LTK officials said in a press release.

Harsco Corp. released its Environmental, Social & Governance Report highlighting its sustainability accomplishments in fiscal-year 2019 and the first half of 2020. In that time, Harsco launched 22 new environmental solutions, saved over 5 million metric tons of carbon emissions through the environmental division, and recycled almost 19 million tons of materials. In addition, Harsco Rail introduced the TX16 production and switch tamper, which offers "significantly" lower fuel consumption per mile of tamped track and a reduced carbon footprint, company officials said in a press release.

The Reading & Northern Railroad (R&N) will start running passenger trains Aug. 14 under its Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway banner in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.

The trains will depart from the Jim Thorpe station on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Riders are required to wear a mask on board trains, and extra rail cars will be added to the schedule to allow physical distancing between riders, railroad officials said in a press release.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has opened the application period for 2020 Rail Transportation Assistance Program (RTAP) and Rail Freight Assistance Program (RFAP) grant funds.

The RFAP provides financial assistance for freight-rail infrastructure projects. The program's intent is to preserve essential freight-rail service where economically feasible and preserve or stimulate economic development through the generation of new or expanded freight-rail service.