Railroad News

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) plans to hold events May 3 and 4 to mark the 80th anniversary of LA Union Station.

The events will include cultural displays, concerts, guided tours, arts and crafts, model train exhibits, train memorabilia, live music and family activities.

Last year, total ridership reached an all-time high for TransLink, while overcrowding remained a key issue, according to a 2018 Transit Service Performance Review (TSPR).

The annual TSPR measures the agency's ridership, cost, reliability, on-time performance and crowding across all transit modes. TransLink uses the review's findings to identify service improvement opportunities.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) yesterday announced Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin has resigned. He will continue to serve in the role until his contract expires in mid-August.

Reiskin assumed the post in July 2011. Prior to joining SFMTA, he was director of the Department of Public Works for the city and county of San Francisco.

Port of Los Angeles officials last week proposed the creation of a "cyber resilience center" with port stakeholders, including railroads.

Port officials convened a stakeholder working group — including representatives from railroads, ship lines, marine terminal operators, trucking companies and labor unions — to discuss closer collaboration to address potential cybersecurity threats.

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) today reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 78 cents, an 11.4 percent increase over the same period in 2018 despite severe winter weather and flooding in North America.

The severe weather resulted in a 9 cent, or 10 percent reduction, in diluted EPS versus first-quarter guidance, said G&W Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jack Hellmann in a press release.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation yesterday announced the approval of 27 freight-rail improvement projects and their state share of funding.

"Keeping goods and services moving across Pennsylvania's more than 5,000 miles of freight track is vital to the state's economy," said Wolf in a press release. "These investments in our rail infrastructure will continue to support business development and create new jobs throughout the state.

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Despite extreme and prolonged cold temperatures that prompted shorter trains in portions of the first quarter, CN registered solid financial results with strong top-line growth in the period, the Class I reported yesterday.

United Rail Inc. has appointed former Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Daniel Elliott III to its board.

Elliott is a partner at Conner & Winters, a Washington, D.C., law firm. He was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve two terms on the STB, and was designated chairman for both terms until January 2017.

The Port of Longview, Washington, recently approved a measure to spend up to $250,000 on a rail expansion and infrastructure redevelopment study.

KPFF Consulting Engineers Inc. will conduct the study. The port's strategic business plan includes several redevelopment projects, including an expansion and reconfiguration of its rail networks, the redevelopment of a berth and relocation of its main office.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) President Dorval Carter Jr. late last week announced the completion of track improvements on the Red Line at Addison Station.

The nearly $4 million project was preparatory work for the $2.1 billion Red and Purple Modernization Program's (RPM) first phase. Work crews replaced worn track components on the Red Line, the CTA’s busiest rail line. Completed on time and on budget, the project also eliminated a slow zone and improved poor track conditions that could lead to future slow zones, CTA officials said in a press release.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is seeking public feedback on its proposed fiscal-year 2020 capital budget and FY2020-2031 capital program.

Two public hearings will be held today; the public can submit comments about the proposals online.

CN is now offering a mobile app for trucking companies that use certain CN intermodal terminals in Canada.

Known as ModalPass, the mobile app is aimed at making navigating CN intermodal terminals faster for trucking partners, according to the Class I’s website.

The next phase of MTA New York City Transit's (NYCT) L project began late last week as planned, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced. The work involves the reconstruction of the Canarsie Tunnel on the L Line.

An improved construction plan will avoid a complete tunnel shutdown, with regular weekday and peak hour service maintained for 90 percent of the line's riders, and weekday and peak-hour service unchanged, MTA officials said in a press release. Total demolition of a concrete structure has been reduced by 99 percent in the new plan, and alternate subway and bus services will be offered throughout the construction process, they said.

Rail-car orders in first-quarter 2019 totaled 9,663 units compared with 19,995 units at the end of the fourth quarter and 10,348 in first-quarter 2018, according to statistics from the Railway Supply Institute's American Railway Car Institute Committee (ARCI).

First-quarter deliveries came in at 13,171 units compared with 13,462 in Q4 and 13,098 for the same year-ago period.

Secure Rail today announced a new presenter and session added to this year's conference, which will be held May 1-2 in Orlando, Florida.

On May 1, Jonathan Lamb of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will join a panel of speakers to kick off the conference with a discussion on the current state of the rail industry as it relates to security. Lamb is the freight-rail team lead for the Plans, Policy and Engagement Office of the TSA's Surface Division.

U.S. Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.), Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) and Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) earlier this month toured rail supply companies’ facilities and discussed legislative topics of interest to the rail industry, according to trade associations that hosted the events.

Last week, Comer toured Stella-Jones Corp.'s tie plant in Fulton, Kentucky. The facility's 70 employees process more than 1 million ties annually, according to a press release issued by the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) and Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA), which helped organize the event. Stella-Jones is a member of both associations, as well as the Railway Tie Association.