Railroad News

Broward County's board of commissioners in Florida has approved a $31.4 million contract to purchase five streetcars from Siemens Industry Inc.

The units will be used on a planned  2.8-mile mile system in Fort Lauderdale, the Sun Sentinel reported Sept. 16. The board authorized purchasing five Siemens S70 vehicles for the Wave Streetcar, which is slated to open in early 2021. Construction on the $195 million project is expected to start in 2018.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) on Sept. 26 will issue $574 million worth of bonds, most of which have been deemed "sustainable," the agency announced yesterday.

Proceeds from sustainability bonds are used exclusively on projects that have environmental or social benefits.

Pan Am Railways and DP World have agreed to form a new direct intermodal service connecting the Boston market to Port Saint John in New Brunswick, Canada.

The new agreement provides a "viable alternative" to customers in the New England area, said officials representing DP World, the port's terminal operator. Port Saint John provides connections to more than 500 international destinations.

The Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) board yesterday awarded a $30.8 million contract to Walsh Construction Co. II LLC to rehabilitate and upgrade two Blue Line terminals.

The company will perform a range of improvements at the Jefferson Park and Belmont stations. The enhancements include new signage, interior and exterior painting, new LED lighting, and replacement of the bus terminal concrete and rail station platform surfaces.

The Greenbrier Cos. Inc. has built its 50,000th covered hopper rail car, the company announced today. In February, Greenbrier completed production of its 100,00th intermodal double-stack rail car. Both milestones exemplify the company's "transformation from a limited builder of specialized rail cars to a broad-based manufacturer of virtually all rail-car types," Greenbrier officials said in a press release. The company built its first covered hopper rail car more than 11 years ago. Greenbreir now builds a full line of small, medium and large covered hopper rail cars with freight-carrying capacities from 3,250 cubic feet up to 6,580 cubic feet.

Thales has closed on its acquisition of Guavus, a Big Data analytics company. The transaction is expected to help Thales address the growing needs of an "increasingly connected global ecosystem," Thales officials said in a press release. Guavus has built an industrial Big Data platform designed to be implemented across multiple new markets. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Guavus employs 250 people. Its revenue is expected to exceed $30 million for the current fiscal year, according to Thales. Thales announced plans to acquire the company in spring.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) last week opened an upgraded platform at its Hicksville Station in Nassau County, New York.

The 12-car concrete platform was demolished to make way for a new one with a translucent canopy. Crews installed energy-efficient lighting and signage, along with a new audio-visual paging system, which includes train time signs and speakers.

Caltrain has released a report to summarize and highlight its sustainability achievements between fiscal years 2010 and 2016. It’s the first time the commuter railroad has issued a sustainability report.

Over the past several years, the railroad has experienced "unprecedented ridership growth," which helps keep vehicles off the road and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in the San Francisco Bay area, Caltrain officials said in a press release.

CN officials yesterday unveiled the renamed Claude Mongeau National Training Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The Class I announced earlier this year that it would name its national employee training center after former President and Chief Executive Officer Claude Mongeau, who stepped down from his post for health reasons in June 2016.

COFCO International Ltd. (CIL) and grain cooperative Growmark Inc. have formed a new partnership that includes joint ownership and operation of a rail, barge and truck terminal on the Mississippi River in Cahokia, Illinois.

The pact includes a grain origination agreement. Additionally, Growmark will staff a grain merchandiser in CIL's St. Louis office to originate grain and service patron accounts, company officials said in a joint press release.

President Donald Trump yesterday signed a resolution that gives final approval for a safety commission to oversee the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

The resolution is the final legislative requirement before a safety oversight organization can be created for agency, The Washington Post reported.

GE and the Port of Los Angeles are expanding a pilot program launched last year to use a digital solution to keep cargo flowing more efficiently.

As a result of the pilot's success, the parties have committed to new commercial agreements worth up to nearly $12 million and extended their relationship for at least five years, GE officials said in a press release.

With California's population projected to grow by 21 million by 2050, rail transportation will be vital to the state's efficient movement of freight and people, a new research report concludes.

Titled "Rail and California Economy," the report presents case studies and analysis of freight- and passenger-rail transportation on land use, freeway congestion and the movement of commodities, and those factors' effects on the state's economy.

CN has hired Andrea Waldock Niethold to serve as the Class I's director of government affairs in Washington, D.C.

Waldock Niethold brings a wide range of transportation policy experience to her new role, CN officials said in a press release.

The Port of Manatee has already set an annual record in container volume, with two months remaining in the current fiscal year, the Florida port announced earlier this week.

During the 10-month period between Oct. 1, 2016, and July 31, 2017, the port logged 32,901 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs), significantly more than the Florida Gulf port's full-year high mark of 30,432 TEUs set in fiscal-year 2010, port officials said in a press release.

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. reported second-quarter operating revenue rose 7.8 percent to $540.4 million, while operating income increased 16.2 percent to $101.3 million compared with the same quarter in 2016.

G&W's adjusted operating income in the quarter rose 13.3 percent to $107.4 million compared with $94.7 million in Q2 2016, according to a G&W press release.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday warned rail workers of the risks of working on tracks using only a watchman or lookout to provide the train-approach warning.

Issued yesterday, Safety Alert No. 066 was prompted in part by the deaths of two rail workers who died after being struck by a train while working on track in South Dakota. The NTSB investigation into the January accident found that the sight distance used by the worker serving as the lookout was about half the distance required by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).