By Mike Choat, chairman, National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association Inc.
Happy New Year to everyone in the railway community and the best of luck in getting off on the right track for the 2020 construction and maintenance season!
The Orange County Transportation Authority's (OCTA) board yesterday selected Steven Jones as chair, and Andrew Do, vice chair, to guide transportation improvement projects and public transit in Orange County, California.
Jones is mayor of Garden Grove, and served as OCTA vice chair in 2019. A board member since 2013, he has served in leadership roles on the authority’s transit and finance and administration committees.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) last week announced its 2020 targeted construction goals for the Purple Line Extension project.
In order to remain on schedule to complete the project in 2023, crews this year must tunnel west to Wilshire/La Cienega Station and add 3,280 more feet of tunnels; finish piling for the Wilshire/Rodeo Station; complete early utility relocation in Westwood; and start piling for the Westwood/UCLA Station, LA Metro officials said in a project newsletter.
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) General Manager Bob Powers last week named Ed Alvarez chief of police and tasked him with immediate changes to increase officer presence on trains.
Yesterday, Alvarez dedicated a newly created team of 12 BART police officers to be stationed on trains and platforms during nights and weekends. The officers will supplement a future deployment of 10 police staff — known as ambassadors — tasked with preventing and deescalating problems on trains.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy last week signed legislation that will require railroads to remove obstructive vegetation near grade crossings.
The new law aims to increase safety for trains, motorists and pedestrians crossing railroad tracks, Murphy administration officials said in a press release.
U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-Va.) have written to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in support of Virginia's joint application with Amtrak for matching funds to improve passenger-rail service.
Virginia is pushing for funding under the USDOT's Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program to retire many of Amtrak's existing rail cars, many of which are more than 40 years old.
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Tony Hatch is an independent transportation analyst and consultant, and program consultant for Progressive Railroading’s RailTrends® conference. Email him at
“What is our most valuable asset? The network!”
MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) awarded a $245.8 million contract to L.K. Comstock & Co. to install communications-based train control (CBTC) signaling on the Eighth Avenue ACE line.
The CBTC system will replace the current fixed-block train control system to enable NYCT to more precisely detect train location, allowing more trains per hour to operate, NYCT officials said in a press release.
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An amalgamation of 390 railroads — some of which are more than a century old — BNSF will mark its 25th anniversary on Sept. 22.Photo – BNSF Railway Co.
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An amalgamation of 390 railroads — some of which are more than a century old — BNSF will mark its 25th anniversary on Sept. 22.Photo – BNSF Railway Co.
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The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (JPB), Caltrain’s governing body, last week elected Dave Pint chair, and Dev Davis, vice chair.
Pine represents the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, and Davis represents the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA).
The Regional Transportation District of Denver’s (RTD) board last week selected five finalists for interim general manager and chief executive officer.
The five candidates, who were chosen from 40 applicants from across the country and underwent preliminary interviews, are:
South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) handled 2.44 million 20-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) in calendar-year 2019, a 5 percent increase over 2018.
The 2019 TEU total resulted in the port authority achieving the best calendar year in its history, SCPA officials said last week in a press release.
Trinity Metro last week marked the first anniversary of the TEXRail commuter-rail line, which operates from downtown Fort Worth, Texas, to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport.
The line logged ridership of 545,345 people in its first year of operation, which launched Jan. 10, 2019. December was a record-setting month, with 51,217 passengers and trains on-schedule 99 percent of the time, Trinity Metro said in a press release. The previous record for paid ridership was 44,741 passengers in November.
After a year of fluctuations driven by uncertainty over trade with China, volume at U.S. major retail container ports is expected to return to its usual seasonal patterns during the first few months of 2020, the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates reported late last week.
NRF officials will be "more confident" after President Donald Trump signs a partial trade deal with China on Jan. 15, said Jonathan Gold, NRF's vice president for supply chain and customs policy, in a press release.
A new feasibility study by the GoTriangle transit agency estimates a commuter-rail system operating 40 trains each weekday between Garner and Durham, North Carolina, would cost $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion to construct and carry 7,500 to 10,000 riders per day.
The 37-mile commuter-rail line would connect the cities of Raleigh, Cary and Durham, as well as Research Triangle Park. The new study, called the Greater Triangle Commuter Rail Study, is evaluating infrastructure recommendations, cost estimates and ridership projects, according to a post on GoTriangle's website.
MTA New York City Transit has withdrawn 298 Bombardier R179 rail cars from service as a result of reported door problems that could indicate a systemic problem with the cars.
On Dec. 24, 2019, a train operating on the C Line reported door trouble and lost propulsion, as it is designed to do so. Crews resolved the issue by isolating and shutting down the door, then removing the train from service, NYCT President Andy Byford said, according to a published transcript from a press conference held on the fleet withdrawal.