Railroad News

The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) earlier this month awarded a three-year transit service operation and fleet maintenance contract to Transdev Services Inc.

Transdev was selected to operate and maintain transit service for RTA’s streetcar, bus, ferry and paratransit services for about $79 million annually.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) will establish a short-line department at the national division level, union officials announced last week.

The new department will expand the union's ability to organize new members in the United States. The department also will better serve current members from "very small divisions" that work for short lines by providing assistance from the national division during contract negotiations and with other matters.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) last week announced that seven MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) stations and four MTA Metro-North Railroad stations will be made accessible under the American with Disabilities (ADA) Act following approval of the New York agency's 2020-2024 capital plan in October.

Currently, 105 of LIRR’s 124 stations are ADA-accessible, with an additional three stations — Nostrand Avenue, Murray Hill and Floral Park — undergoing construction to make them accessible.  

The California Debt Limit Allocation Committee's board last week approved the issuance of $300 million in tax-exempt, private equity bonds as part of Virgin Trains USA's proposal to build a high-speed passenger-rail line from Las Vegas to Southern California.

The board's vote followed a committee staff recommendation that the company, which is backed by Fortress Investment Group's private equity funds, receive half of its bond request now, contingent on it submitting an economic development plan, Bloomberg reported last week.

U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio) this week visited Ashland Railway’s Mid-Ohio Rail Terminal transloading facility and Mansfield Railport warehouse in northcentral Ohio.

Balderson joined other local officials to learn more about the short line’s operations and impact on the region, Ashland officials said in a press release.

The city of New Westminster, British Columbia, earlier this week joined Operation Lifesaver Canada (OL) and HUB Surface Systems to launch a program with the goal to reduce facilities and injuries at grade crossings.

OL will identify locations where rail safety decals can be installed to raise public awareness about the need to exercise caution around grade crossings.

Caltrain earlier this week announced it has installed a rail bridge at 28th Avenue in San Mateo, California, marking the second rail bridge to be constructed this summer as part of the $180 million 25th Avenue grade separation project.

In July, Caltrain installed a rail bridge over 25th Avenue, and is now preparing for its third and final rail bridge across 31st Avenue in the coming weeks. Crews also will continue work on the mechanically stabilized earth walls that will hold up the track between bridges.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has awarded the Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport) an additional $35.3 million in funding for the Jacksonville Harbor deepening project.

The funding will be used toward the second phase of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contract B, which will deepen the project's next 2.5 miles, port officials said this week in a press release.

Canadian Pacific on Sept. 18 presented G3 Pasqua with the Class I's 2018-19 crop-year Elevator of the Year Award.

CP presents the award annually to the grain elevator that achieves high volumes from a single loading point while consistently demonstrating efficient rail-car loading and a strong commitment to safety, CP officials said in a press release.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday issued safety recommendations to Class Is and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) as a result of the agency's ongoing investigation into a fatal accident involving two Union Pacific Railroad trains in Wyoming last year.

The Oct. 4, 2018, accident occurred when a UP train collided with the rear of a stationary UP train in Granite Canyon, Wyoming. The engineer and conductor of the striking train were killed; three locomotives and 57 rail cars of the striking train and nine rail cars of the stationary train derailed, according to an NTSB report.

Power surges most often occur in the form of direct lightning strikes or when overhead high-voltage transmission lines are hit by lightning. Surges can cause considerable damage to rail infrastructure and equipment, as well as wreak havoc on rail networks.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) earlier this week announced it has extended the completion date for the Central Subway project to summer 2021. 

The project, which would extend the Municipal Railway mostly underground from South of Market to Chinatown in San Francisco, was originally scheduled to enter revenue service this year. 

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) earlier this month announced winners of its President's Awards for outstanding safety performance in the association's Central and Pacific regions.

"The recipients of our President’s Award lead our industry in safety, striving each and every day to value safety above all competing priorities,” said ASLRRA President Chuck Baker in an ASLRRA newsletter. "Their impressive performance, with either zero reportable accidents, or the best safety rate below the industry average per man-hour of operations, has led the way to record levels of safety performance for the short line industry.”

The Alaska Railroad Corp. (ARRC) has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) from entities interested in pursuing a public-private partnership to replace the aging passenger dock and cruise terminal in Seward, Alaska.

The RFQ, which asks interested parties to describe their capabilities and concepts, stems from an extensive Seward Marine Terminal expansion planning project in 2016-17. The effort resulted in a master plan for developing the railroad's Seward Reserve, including docks, terminal facilities and uplands, ARRC officials said in a press release.

In mid-August, U.S. Class Is employed 139,284 workers, down 1.01 percent from mid-July and down 5.98 percent from mid-August 2018, according to Surface Transportation Board employment data.

On a month-over-month basis, all employment categories logged decreases. They were executives, officials and staff assistants, down 0.68 percent to 7,703 employees; professional and administrative, down 0.97 percent to 11,319; maintenance of way and structures, down 0.3 percent to 31,629; maintenance of equipment and stores, down 1.24 percent to 24,627; transportation (other than train and engine), down 0.92 percent to 5,515; and transportation (train and engine), down 1.35 percent to 58,491.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) board earlier this week adopted preferred alternatives for the planned high-speed rail (HSR) routes in Northern California. 

The board's action means the authority can move that portion of the project into the development phase, CHSRA officials said in a press release.

U.S. freight-rail traffic dropped 4.8 percent to 526,734 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending Sept. 24 compared with the same period a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Carload traffic dipped 6.1 percent to 252,310 during the week, while intermodal volume fell 3.5 percent to 274,424 containers and trailers, AAR officials said in a press release.

Septentrio is providing global navigation satellite system receivers to Wabtec Corp. for its GoLINC™ mobile data center platform operating onboard freight locomotives. The receivers are designed to provide precise positioning information and will be installed on locomotives and on position reference modules along 30,000 miles of track, Septentrio officials said in a press release. 

Appalachian Railcar Services LLC (ARS) has appointed Michael Obertop chief commercial officer to lead sales and business development. Obertop has over 13 years of experience in the rail-car industry, ARS officials said in a press release. Previously, he was vice president of sales and business development for Cad Railway Industries and senior VP of sales and marketing for GBW Railcar Services LLC. He also served for nine years in various roles at American Railcar Industries.