Railroad News

Milwaukee streetcar system The Hop has introduced a new real-time app aimed at improving the rider experience.

Developed by TransLoc Inc., the TransLoc Rider app provides real-time positioning of all streetcars along the route and vehicle arrival time estimates for each station. Riders also can receive alerts when a streetcar is nearing a particular station or when service is impacted or delayed.

Port Authority Transit Corp. (PATCO) will mark its 50th anniversary tomorrow by rolling back fares to 1969 prices.

On Feb. 15, 1969, PATCO completed its first trip from Lindenwold, New Jersey, to Center City in Philadelphia. From 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. tomorrow, fares will cost 30 cents to 60 cents, depending on the destination.

Compiled By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Managing Editor

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Managing Editor

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Managing Editor

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) in January named Chuck Baker president. He assumed the post Feb. 4.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Associate Editor

Passing a permanent extension of the 45G short-line tax credit. Maintaining existing truck size and weight restrictions. Introducing a comprehensive infrastructure package that includes funding priority for freight and passenger rail. Shoring up the federal Highway Trust Fund. Continuing existing "balanced" regulations for freight railroads.

For the U.S. rail realm, this year’s legislative priorities — passing a permanent extension of the 45G short-line tax credit, maintaining existing truck size and weight restrictions, keeping the regulatory playing field “balanced” for freight railroads — are, for the most part, of the usual-suspect variety, as Senior Associate Editor Julie Sneider reports in this month’s cover story. But rail advocates have a few other concerns they’ll be talking about with lawmakers and their staffers — including the potential monitoring of railroads that implement precision scheduled railroading (PSR).

Last month, Railway Supply Institute Vice President of Government Affairs Nicole Brewin told Sneider she’d heard rumblings that congressional hearings could be in the offing on such topics as PSR. We heard similar comments about oversight interest in PSR late last fall during our annual RailTrends summit.

By Michael Popke

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., editor

Will business be better this year than it was last year? Will it be about the same? Worse? What are the key issues facing the rail finance and leasing sector in 2019? 

Late last month, Amtrak awarded an $850 million contract to Siemens Mobility for 75 diesel locomotives as part of the railroad’s plan to replace its aging national network fleet.

nVent:
ERIFLEX

nVent offers an array of products, including nVent ERICO Cadweld, which is used for making exothermic welded connections on track. The company also offers the nVent ERIFLEX product line for electrical conduction and low voltage power distribution (AC/DC power conversion). Used across a range of industries, ERIFLEX products provide "unique advantages that are ideal for railways electrical systems, both onboard and trackside," the company said in an email.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Associate Editor

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Editor

In our January 2018 issue, I wrote a column about E. Hunter Harrison’s passing — a big news story at the time since he had died Dec. 16, 2017. But by doing so, I didn’t get to share what had been the top news stories of 2017, at least according to our Daily News readers. So, I’ll get back to what I hope will become an annual tradition by relaying what I’ll call the Top 18 from ’18. These are the 18 Daily News stories that our ProgressiveRailroading.com readers clicked on the most often last year, ranked in order of total page views. It shouldn’t be surprising that items on Amtrak, CSX, Union Pacific Railroad, precision scheduled railroading (PSR) — or even Canadian Pacific’s holiday train — proved to be popular. Without further ado, here are the Top 18 from ’18, including the dates they ran:

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Managing Editor

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Associate Editor

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Paul Wiedefeld plans to issue several key recommendations to the agency’s board this week, including a fiscal-year 2020 operating budget proposal that calls for no fare hikes and an effort to increase rail service.

Wiedefeld is seeking board approval to expand rush-hour service with more frequent trains later in the morning and evening; charge a flat $2 fare for all weekend Metrorail trips; extend the Yellow Line to Greenbelt to double rush-hour service at nine stations; operate all Red Line trains to Glenmont to double rush-hour service at an additional three stations; lengthen all trains to eight cars; and enhance the value of Metro unlimited rail and bus and passes.

As of mid-September, U.S. Class Is employed a total 148,171 workers, up 0.02 percent compared with mid-August and up 1.02 percent compared with the same month in 2017, according to Surface Transportation Board data.

Four of six employment categories reflected decreases on a month-over-month basis. Categories that logged decreases since mid-August were executives, officials and staff assistants, down 0.54 percent to 8,414 employees; professional and administrative, down 1.04 percent to 11,852; maintenance of way and structures, down 0.36 percent to 32,493; and transportation (other than train and engine), down 0.67 percent to 5,662.

American Railcar Industries Inc. (ARI) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to merge with a subsidiary of ITE Rail Fund LP in a transaction valued at $1.75 billion.

The merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter. ITE Rail Fund is managed by ITE Management LP.