Railroad News

A dip in intermodal volume led to a 1.1 percent decline in total U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Feb. 23 compared with the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

U.S railroads moved 522,630 carloads and intermodal units during the week. Of that, carload volume was 256,954 units, up 2 percent, but intermodal volume was 265,676 containers and trailers, down 3.9 percent compared with 2018's levels.

Amtrak will provide a $3 million matching grant to help upgrade track on its Southwest Chief route in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, the railroad announced yesterday.

The announcement follows the passage of the federal government's fiscal-year 2019 Appropriations Act, which included funding for Amtrak and intercity passenger rail.

RailWorks Corp., a rail track construction and maintenance company, announced it will restructure its leadership team into two divisions: large projects and track maintenance and service group. Led by John Young, the large projects division will focus on large-scale track construction and signal projects for railroads and transit operations. Young has over 20 years of experience in heavy civil works projects for the U.S. Army and several contractors. Led by 30-year railroad industry veteran Richard Carney, the track maintenance and service group division will be responsible for growing the company's regional and maintenance business, as well as the maintenance of way division. Promotions following the restructure include Jason Lauffer from vice president of business development to chief strategy officer, and Glenn Hartick to vice president of procurement. Chris Maynard joins RailWorks subsidiary HSQ Technology as senior vice president. Maynard has 20 years of experience in IT at Siemens Mobility. 

Cubic Corp., Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s technology service provider, appoints Kevin Eagan to senior vice president and chief digital officer. In this role, Eagan will oversee the new contactless fare payment system — coming to New York City subway riders in March — that is designed to replace metro fare cards by 2023. Eagan has 30 years of executive leadership experience at IBM and Microsoft in new product development, IT modernization and creation of digital business models.

The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (Cap Metro) board recently approved a $36.8 million contract with Jay-Reese Contractors Inc. to build a new downtown MetroRail station in Austin, Texas.

Construction on the station — which will be situated on the Red Line running between Austin and Leander — is slated to start in April. Completion is scheduled for early 2021.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) today has reopened for service one of two tracks through Westbury, New York, that had been closed last night following a fatal collision involving two trains and a motor vehicle.

The incident occurred during rush hour when two LIRR trains traveling in opposite directions crashed into a car that had driven around lowered gates and onto the tracks. Three people who were in the car were killed and at least seven passengers on the trains were injured, according to The New York Times.

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday announced it will invest $105 million this year on capital expenditures in Montana.

Consisting mostly of planned maintenance, the plan calls for more than 840 miles of track surfacing and/or undercutting work, as well as the replacement of 55 miles of rail and close to 110,000 ties. 

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) and American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) joined other organizations earlier this week in asking Congress to oppose legislative language that would increase maximum truck size or weight limits on federal highways.

In a Feb. 25 letter, the organizations also called on lawmakers to oppose legislative language that would allow bigger trucks in individual states through pilot programs.

Watco Cos. LLC announced yesterday that Allan Roach, senior vice president of global strategy, will retire from full-time duties on Thursday.

Since joining Watco in 2005, Roach's main focus has been on improving and developing the company's marketing and business development teams. He has led or influenced many of the company's growth initiatives, Watco officials said in a press release.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio yesterday unveiled a 10-point plan to reorganize the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and create "dedicated and sustained" funding streams for the agency.

The proposal includes the governor and mayor's endorsement of congestion pricing.

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver has rebranded its Call-n-Ride microtransit service to FlexRide. 

FlexRide allows commuters first- and last-mile connections to rail stations. The connections can be booked using a new mobile app, reducing the call-ahead booking time from an hour to 10 minutes before departure, RTD officials said in a press release.

United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) announced this morning they've gone on strike at the former GE Transportation locomotive plant in Erie, Pennsylvania, less than a day after the plant became part of Wabtec Corp.

The strike involves UE Locals 506 and 618, which represent 1,700 workers at the Wabtec facility, according to a UE press release.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) partnered with the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) to expand its Metro Bike Share network by 40 stations and expand into central Los Angeles. 

The expansion is an effort to improve first and last mile journeys for Metro riders. Station locations, which can be viewed on the Metro website, were based on community feedback and input from neighborhood organizations.

The Transportation Technology Center Inc. (TTCI) has named Karalyn Moreira as executive director of business development.

Moreira joins TTCI after spending the past seven years as commercial director for Scomi Engineering Bhd in Brazil. Prior to that work, she served stints as director of business development operations at HKM Solucoes Tecnologicas in Brazil and director of finance and administration at EC Technologies Inc. in San Antonia, Texas.

Tutor Perini Corp. has been contracted to construct two large transit projects this year on the West and East coasts. 

Tutor Perini's joint venture, Tutur Perini/O&G, has received a notice of intent to take on the $1.4 billion design and construction of two new subway stations as part of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) Purple Line Extension Section 3 Stations project. 

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) will resume construction of its Green Line light-rail extension project, temporarily closing threes bridges in Somerville, Massachusetts starting March 22.

The Green Line Extension (GLX) project includes infrastructure improvements and widening efforts to accommodate light rail tracks and rights of way, which will lead to three bridge closures, MBTA officials said in a press release.

New York City subway performance has improved since the launch of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) Subway Action Plan in 2017, agency officials announced today. 

The subway logged its best on-time performance and the fewest number of delays in four years, they said in a press release.

United Rail Inc. has acquired the New England Southern Railroad (NES) in Concord, New Hampshire.

United Rail, a short line consolidator and owner of the SmartRail brand for electronic precision railroading and brand licensor, announced the acquisition today.