Railroad News

Matthew Bell, 31
Rail government affairs consultant

Nominator’s quote: “Over the past four years, Matt led, managed or participated in every aspect of the operations of the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC), including membership, directory formulation, conference logistics, safety regulation meetings, safety awards and committees, grassroots events, finances and government affairs.  In 2018, Matt led the NRC’s grassroots effort, which included 20 grassroots events — an 82 percent increase from the prior year.” — David Bergstrom, Ragnar Benson Construction

The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police Department recently swore in 12 police officers, four community service officers and emergency preparedness manager Jody Traversaro. 

The latest additions bring the department's hiring totals for the year to 33 officers and 12 community service officers, compared with the 24 officers and 10 community service officers who were hired last year, BART officials said in a press release.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) yesterday announced that it received the American Public Transportation Association's Gold Award for Safety.

The railroad was recognized for its incident prevention task force that includes a senior safety officer and a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) police officer who combat trespassers, illegal debris dumping and encroachment along tracks systemwide, LIRR officials said in a press release.

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) announced two new Tier 4-compliant locomotives completed trials and now are in service at its California Northern Railroad Co. (CFNR) subsidiary.
 
The locomotives were built by Knoxville Locomotive Works and purchased in part with $3.7 million in grant funding from California’s Bay Area Air Quality Management District, a regional agency responsible for protecting air quality in the nine-county San Francisco Bay area.
 
Featuring high-efficiency, 12-cylinder MTU engines, the 2,400-horsepower diesel locomotives use selective catalytic reduction technology to meet Tier 4 air emission requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, G&W officials said in a press release.

The units are expected to provide fuel savings of 25 percent and cut carbon dioxide and oxides of nitrogen emissions by 80 percent compared with the two circa-1976 locomotives they replaced, the officials said.

TransLink last week released cost estimates and three development options for a proposed SkyTrain line extension from Surrey to Langley, British Columbia. 

The full proposed extension would run nearly 10 miles from the King George Station in Surrey to a future Langley Terminal, and would include eight stations and 55 vehicles. The estimated project cost is CA$3.12 billion. Annual operating and maintenance costs would total CA$32.4 million, offset by estimated annual fare revenue of CA$21.3 million per year starting in 2035, TransLink officials said. 

U.S. Class Is as of mid-June employed 141,360 people, down 1.1 percent from mid-May's level and down 4 percent from June 2018's count, according to Surface Transportation Board (STB) data.

Only one of six workforce categories posted a gain versus mid-May's total: professional and administrative staff, which rose 1.5 percent to 11,453. The categories showing declines as of mid-June were maintenance of equipment and stores, down 2 percent to 25,367; transportation (train and engine), down 1.5 percent to 59,363; executives, officials and staff assistants, down 0.8 percent to 7,756; maintenance of way and structures, down 0.8 percent to 31,864; and transportation (other than train and engine), down 0.2 percent to 5,567.

Progressive Railroading yesterday honored 25 people chosen as the Rising Stars of the North American railroad industry at a recognition dinner held in conjunction with the American Association of Railroad Superintendents Annual Meeting in Norfolk, Virginia. 

Twenty of the 25 Rising Stars attended and were presented their award from Progressive Railroading Senior Associate Editor Julie Sneider. 

Norfolk Southern Railway yesterday announced the transition to its new TOP21 operating plan earlier this month went smoothly.

The phase one roll out in July's first week in the merchandise network resulted in a seamless changeover with minimal impacts to customer service and network operations, NS officials said in a press release. The first phase focuses on the carload and automotive networks.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan yesterday announced the state will receive a $125 million Infrastructure For Rebuilding America Program grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation that will enable the long-planned Howard Street Tunnel project to start soon in Baltimore.

To be conducted in partnership with CSX, the more than $450 million project calls for eliminating height restrictions in the 121-year-old tunnel to allow double-stack trains to move to and from the Port of Baltimore. The work will create double-stack clearance in the tunnel and under 22 bridges between Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Cathrin Banks, 34
President
Maryland and Delaware Railroad Co.

Nominator’s quote: Progressive Railroading’s editorial staff nominated Banks for the Rising Stars Award for being one of the youngest women in the United States to be put in charge of running a railroad.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's (GCRTA) board last week finalized funding for repairs to stabilize a retaining wall on the Red Line between the West 117th-Madison and West Boulevard-Cudell stations in Cleveland.

The board ratified a change order to the project's construction contract for an additional $650,000, bringing the project’s total cost to $1.3 million, GCRTA officials said in a press release.

The Santa Maria Valley Railroad (SMV) marked its 108th anniversary on July 11.

The 14-mile short line operates in Guadalupe, California, and serves Santa Maria and the Santa Maria Valley. SMV interchanges with Union Pacific Railroad in Guadalupe and provides transloading, rail-car storage, track repair and other services.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) won the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) 2019 Innovation Award for its GoPass mobile ticketing application. 

The Innovation Award recognizes a public transit agency that demonstrates innovative concepts in public transportation. Entries this year needed to show how the transit system demonstrated excellence between 2016 and 2018, DART officials said in a press release.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) recently appointed Roland Hackl vice chairman for a five-year term, effective July 2.

Hackl has served Teamsters Canada for the past 27 years, including a stint as vice president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference from 2015 to 2019. He was involved in countless collective bargaining and interest arbitration cases, and represented the union before the CIRB and at virtually all levels of provincial and federal courts, Teamsters Canada officials said in a press release.

Aeroports de Montreal (ADM) last week held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction on the Reseau Express Metropolitain (REM) metro station at the Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

The station construction is expected to be completed by 2023, ADM officials said in a press release. 

Longtime railroader and Morristown & Erie Railway Inc. (M&E) leader Wesley "Wes" Weis died July 13. He was 78.



Weis was president and chief executive officer of the M&E. He also was the founder and CEO of Mikab Corp., which provides project management and general contracting services for cellular/PCS, microwave and tower installations.



Pioneer Railcorp has announced that its shareholders approved a previously announced merger agreement with BRX Transportation Holdings LLC through which BRX will acquire all outstanding shares of Pioneer's Class A common stock. 


Formed by Brookhaven Capital Partners, Related Infrastructure and Stephens Capital Partners LLC, BRX will pay Pioneer stockholders $18.81 per share in cash. The deal excludes and cancels shares held by Pioneer subsidiary Heartland Rail Investments LLC.



Terry Atkinson, 39
General director of marketing and sales
Union Pacific Railroad

Nominator’s quote: “His team is responsible for leading several key initiatives to drive industry leading customer experience and develop creative solutions to promote growth in rail transportation. As a leader, Terry displays a high level of energy and selfless leadership by coaching and teaching his team members the key attributes of a successful and cohesive group. He has had several key accomplishments throughout his 13 years at Union Pacific.” — Beth Whited, Union Pacific Railroad

Late last month, U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) met with Lake State Railway officials to tour the short line's headquarters in Saginaw, Michigan, and discuss federal rail policy.

The tour was led by Lake State President and Chief Executive Officer John Rickoff and Vice President of Marketing and Sales Shasta Duffey. The group toured Lake State facilities and locomotives before discussing federal legislation and policy related to rail.