Railroad News

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Following a recent audit, Amtrak's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has determined that the railroad's information technology (IT) management has room for improvement if it wants to minimize the possibility and impact of IT service disruptions.

The audit evaluated Amtrak's business continuity planning and testing efforts, then compared them to private- and public-sector IT management controls standards issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and ISACA, according to the OIG report, which was released this week.

Duos Technologies Group Inc. has reached a software license and application models agreement with an undisclosed Class I transportation and logistics company. The pact covers the development and licensing of 17 artificial intelligence-based detection algorithm models aimed at monitoring potential defects on rolling stock at rail inspection portals. The agreement will enable rail operators to deploy algorithms to "force-multiply and streamline" their inspection processes, said Duos Chief Operating Officer Noel Heiks in a press release.

E-J Electric Installation Co. has obtained a subcontract for systems, electrical and transmission line work from the design-build team for MTA Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) third-track expansion project, which broke ground this week. The expansion calls for adding 9.8 miles of third track along the railroad's Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville, New York. The project also includes expansion of eight existing LIRR bridges over local streets, improvements to six stations and the elimination of seven street-level grade crossings. E-J will provide upgraded signal, traction power and communication systems, company officials said in a press release.

The Jacksonville Port Authority's (Jaxport) earlier this week elected John Falconetti as chairman.

Falconetti is chairman and chief executive officer of Drummond Press, a Jacksonville print services provider. He previously served as Jaxport's chairman from 2014 to 2015.

The Durham County Board of Commissioners in North Carolina yesterday agreed to provide $57.6 million to fill a funding gap for the $2.5 billion Durham-Orange light-rail project.

The added cash was needed after the the state's General Assembly changed the funding makeup for the project earlier this summer, The Herald-Sun reported.

Canadian government officials announced CA$3.3 million in funding will be used for 18 rail safety improvements in Alberta.

The money will be used to pay for construction of fencing and other barriers along rail properties; installation of flashing lights, bells and gates at crossings; and installation of advanced train detection and crossing control systems.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) on Aug. 25 restored Muni light-rail service in its century-old Twin Peaks Tunnel following two months of rehab work.

During the tunnel closure, the agency updated tracks, walls and drainage systems to "keep up with the demands of the Muni system," SFMTA officials said in a press release. The new tracks will enable the agency to lift a speed restriction in the tunnel.

Thirty-three weeks into the year, U.S railroads’ traffic continued to mount. During the week ending Aug. 18, they moved 567,477 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.7 percent year over year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

U.S carloads increased 2.9 percent to 278,701 units and intermodal volume rose 4.4 percent to 288,776 units. Nine of 10 carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR posted a gain in the week, including grain, up 5,491 carloads to 23,404, and petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,544 carloads to 10,898. Coal carloads fell by 4,534 units to 93,248.

Yesterday, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal joined other state officials, port representatives, and business and civic leaders at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Chatsworth to officially open the Appalachian Regional Port (ARP).

Managed by the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) and served by CSX, the inland port facility will provide logistics services for customers in a four-state region and remove an estimated 50,000 trucks from local highways each year, GPA officials said in a press release. The ARP targets shippers in north Georgia, northeast Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky who seek a more efficient option to move cargo to and from the Port of Savannah, they said.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and its commuter-rail contractor Keolis Commuter Services will begin an infrastructure improvement program Aug. 25 along the Worcester Line.

The project calls for replacing 38,000 feet of rail. Expected to take eight weeks to complete, the work may cause minor delays for some weekend trains and weekday morning rush-hour trains, MBTA and Keolis officials said in a press release.

Jennifer Homendy was sworn in Monday as a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member.

The board now has all five member positions filled. The NTSB operated with four members from April 2014 to December 2017, and with three members from January to early August 2018, when Bruce Landsberg was appointed vice chairman.

Michigan has become the latest state to achieve federal certification of its transit-rail safety oversight program, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced yesterday.

States with transit-rail systems need to get their safety programs certified by April 15, 2019. Twenty-eight states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are required to obtain the certification. States that fail to meet the deadline risk losing federal transit funding.

Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad (CSS) is joining a local two-year project aimed at increasing train capacity between Gary and Michigan City, Indiana.

The railroad will work with the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) and the Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) on the project, which is designed to improve passenger-rail service between Chicago and South Bend, Indiana, and support economic growth in northwest Indiana, CSS officials said in a press release.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has not yet distributed $1.38 billion in federal funding that's been designated for transit-rail and bus projects, causing delays in transit agencies' construction plans, according to a report from Transportation for America.

The organization reported this week that the FTA has distributed about $25 million of $1.4 billion in transit-related grants that were included in the 2018 appropriations bill signed in March by President Trump.

The Canadian government will spend more than CA$335,000 to upgrade the signal system at a grade crossing in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada's Minister of Transport Marc Garneau announced this week.

The warning system for the Route 116 crossing at Benoit Road will be upgraded so it can continue managing incoming traffic from multiple directions, Transport Canada officials said in a press release.

The Greenbrier Cos. Inc. has acquired a majority stake in Turkish rail-car manufacturer Rayvag Vagon Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. Based in Adana, Turkey, Rayvag also provides rail-car repair and parts services. The acquisition will extend Greenbrier's continental reach and enable Greenbrier Europe to acquire new rail-car customers and serve existing ones that operate along the nearly 5,500-mile Turkish rail system. The freight transportation sector in Turkey is "growing quickly," with the country's government committed to modernizing its existing rail system, Greenbrier officials said in a press release. Financial details of the acquisition were undisclosed.

GE Transportation's planning pilot project at the Port of Long Beach, California, is  underway, GE announced Thursday. Over the next two months, the port's stakeholders will use GE's Port Optimizer™ software to access data that will enable them to move cargo containers more efficiently, GE officials said in a press release. The software provides better advanced notice of cargo arrival, along with equipment availability data, labor and other resources. Three of the port's six container terminals are involved: the Long Beach Container, Total Terminals International and the International Transportation Service. The system debuted at the Port of Los Angeles last year.

Imports at the nation's major retail container ports have set two new records this summer and are expected to set another this month, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released yesterday by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.

The records are due in part to rising retail sales and retailers rushing to bring merchandise into the country ahead of proposed new tariffs on products from China, according to an NRF press release.

Becca Nagorsky, 37

Job description: Leads the team that does early stage planning and preliminary design for new subway, light-rail and bus-rapid transit projects.

Education: Bachelor of Arts, McGill University; Master of Urban Planning, New York University