Railroad News

On Aug. 26, global infrastructure investor First State Investments (FSI) announced it reached an agreement with investment manager Steel River Infrastructure Partners to acquire Patriot Rail and Ports, which owns 12 short lines operating across 14 states. Terms were not disclosed.

“The short-line sector, providing essential transportation services to industrial regions in the United States, is a strong fit with First State’s long-term infrastructure investment strategy and mandate,” said John Ma, director of the Sydney, Australia-based FSI infrastructure team, in a prepared statement.

Trinity Industries Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Timothy Wallace will retire after the company's board identifies a successor, Trinity officials announced in a press release. The board will consider internal and external candidates. Wallace has worked for Trinity for 44 years and became CEO and president in 1999. 

PowerRail Inc. was awarded a multiyear $1.9 million contract from New Jersey Transit to manufacture passenger rail car journal adapter boxes. PowerRail division Cooper Bearings specializes in new and remanufactured bearings and journal boxes for locomotives, passenger rail cars and light-rail vehicles, PowerRail officials said in a press release. 

The Canadian government will invest CA$153.7 million in three projects aimed at increasing capacity at the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia, Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced yesterday.

The first project, which involves building a double-track bridge across the Zanardi Rapids, is designed to increase rail capacity on key rail routes and accommodate growth in imports and exports at the port. Trains will be able to arrive and depart simultaneously across the expanded bridge, Transport Canada officials said in a press release.

The North County Transit District's (NCTD) board has requested funding from the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) to support the purchase of two trainsets for the Coaster commuter-rail line in San Diego.

NCTD needs the additional trainsets in order to increase from 22 to 42 Coaster trips during weekdays. An increase would mean trains would arrive every 30 minutes during peak periods and every 60 minutes during non-peak periods, NCTD officials said in a press release. 

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan yesterday announced crews have completed installation of the first segment of light-rail track for the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration’s (MTA) Purple Line, which will run from Bethesda to New Carrollton, Maryland.

Purple Line Transit Partners, the private-sector organization that's designing and building the $5.6 billion project, broke ground on the line in 2017. 

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has approved a recovery plan for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit's (HART) passenger-rail project, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) announced yesterday.

Approval of HART's plan was key to receiving $744 million in federal funding that the FTA was withholding until it was confident in HART's plan for containing costs and minimizing further delays in the city's construction of a 20-mile elevated passenger-rail system.

R. J. Corman Railroad Co. announced today it has finalized a long-term agreement to lease and operate a short line from the City of Childersburg Local Redevelopment Authority, CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway.

The newly formed R. J. Corman Railroad Co./Childersburg Line is a 13.32-mile line in Coosa Pines, Alabama, southeast of Birmingham, company officials said in a press release.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) are soliciting public comment on the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and other draft documents related to the proposed Long Bridge project.

A public hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 22 and public comments on the documents will be accepted until Oct. 28, according to an FRA announcement.

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Progressive Railroading recently asked the honorees of the 2019 Rising Star Awards what they think will be the most important trend or trends to affect railroading over the next 10 years. Because they are considered by their peers to represent the industry's leaders of tomorrow, their answers to this question may be instructive for today's leaders and decision-makers.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's (VTA) board today will consider a tentative labor contract with members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265.

VTA staff will recommend the board approve a three-year ATU labor agreement, which was ratified on Aug. 29. Alternatively, the board may instruct staff to continue negotiations, according to the labor contract agreement.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday announced it had removed three safety recommendations from its "Most Wanted List" of transportation safety improvements after the board's concerns that led to the recommendations were adequately addressed.

The three listed items were related to pipeline safety, which the NTSB said were improved through recommendations that called for better inspection programs, records and documentation of natural gas systems, as well as procedures to mitigate risks identified during management of change operations.

MTA Long Island Rail Road earlier this week resumed service of 14 trains that were previously canceled or rerouted during Amtrak’s infrastructure renewal project at New York Penn Station in New York City.

The repair and rebuild work reduced LIRR’s train activity at the station to 260 daily trains during rush hour. On Sept. 3, the LIRR restored its number of trains operated during rush hour to 274, a 5.4 percent increase, LIRR officials said in a press release.