As part of its 10-year vision, TransLink is exploring a new 16.7-mile light-rail system to connect points in Surrey, British Columbia.Photo – TransLink
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The Greenbrier Cos. Inc. has acquired a majority stake in Turkish rail-car manufacturer Rayvag Vagon Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. Based in Adana, Turkey, Rayvag also provides rail-car repair and parts services. The acquisition will extend Greenbrier's continental reach and enable Greenbrier Europe to acquire new rail-car customers and serve existing ones that operate along the nearly 5,500-mile Turkish rail system. The freight transportation sector in Turkey is "growing quickly," with the country's government committed to modernizing its existing rail system, Greenbrier officials said in a press release. Financial details of the acquisition were undisclosed.
GE Transportation's planning pilot project at the Port of Long Beach, California, is underway, GE announced Thursday. Over the next two months, the port's stakeholders will use GE's Port Optimizer™ software to access data that will enable them to move cargo containers more efficiently, GE officials said in a press release. The software provides better advanced notice of cargo arrival, along with equipment availability data, labor and other resources. Three of the port's six container terminals are involved: the Long Beach Container, Total Terminals International and the International Transportation Service. The system debuted at the Port of Los Angeles last year.
Imports at the nation's major retail container ports have set two new records this summer and are expected to set another this month, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released yesterday by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.
The records are due in part to rising retail sales and retailers rushing to bring merchandise into the country ahead of proposed new tariffs on products from China, according to an NRF press release.
For the first six months of 2018, serious crimes on the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's (GCRTA) system were down nearly 60 percent compared with the same period in 2016.
That's according to the results of a recent safety audit evaluating crime rates over the past two years.
The third and final phase of the Middle Harbor Terminal redevelopment project at the Port of Long Beach, California, is underway and on track to be completed on time and on budget, port officials announced earlier this month.
The port's construction budget for Middle Harbor is nearly $1.5 billion. The first two phases totaled $1 billion; the cost of the final phase is $470 million, according to a port news release.
The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) has requested a government mediator to settle a negotiation dispute with its maintenance employees union.
The request follows the creation of a select committee and an "increased pace of meetings" since the end of June, STM officials said in a press release. To date, 77 negotiation meetings have been held. In addition, there was a strike in early May over the use of overtime.
The Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) has named Sam Cotton senior manager of safety and operations. He succeeds Mike Long, who has accepted a position with the Federal Railroad Administration.
Cotton will manage the safety culture assessment program, which is a voluntary, onsite process that evaluates railroad safety. The five-to-10-day process is non-punitive and confidential. It includes an online survey of staff, discussions with management and observations of the railroads' daily practices.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a preliminary report of a BNSF Railway Co. train that derailed June 22 in Iowa, which resulted in a crude-oil spill.
The report details the initial facts in the investigation, which is ongoing.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) in January will begin a $350 million project to modernize the 28-year-old Blue Line, the agency's oldest rail line.
Work on the light-rail line will include improvements to signaling, tracks, overhead wires and several stations. In addition, crews will build four new crossover tracks to reduce service interruptions.
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Late last month, we announced the agenda for RailTrends® 2018, which will be held Nov. 29-30 at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York City. RailTrends is presented by Progressive Railroading.
MTA Metro-North Railroad tomorrow will begin installing positive train control (PTC) equipment on the New Canaan Branch.
Crews will install a radio case, antenna and ancillary pieces for the wayside data radio.
Bruce Landsberg has been appointed vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Landsberg, who joined the board this week, is past president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute and has held management positions with FlightSafety International and Cessna Aircraft Co.
The Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. (CGB) announced yesterday it has completed a $32 million expansion of its soybean processing plant at the Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon.
Announced in fall 2016, the project more than doubled the size of the plant, which opened at the port in 1997. The expansion was designed to increase service for Indiana's soybean farmers, as well as increase product supply for agribusiness customers, CGB officials said in a press release issued by the Ports of Indiana.
Amtrak yesterday released renderings of the interior of its new Acela Express fleet that will operate on the Northeast Corridor.
Scheduled to enter service in 2021, the trains will feature leather seats with integrated in-seat lighting and personal electrical outlets and USB ports.
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New Jersey Transit's board yesterday adopted a $1.46 billion capital program for fiscal-year 2019 that includes projects to improve and expand its rail system.
The program allocates funds for state-of-good-repair work on transit stations and infrastructure, positive train control installation and other safety initiatives, NJ Transit officials said in a press release.
The repair process is expected to take more than a year, acccording to an internal review.Photo – Federal Transit Administration
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) will need to pull 548 of its new 7000-series rail cars from service to address wire crimping defects, according to a recent internal review.
This year's story of U.S. rail traffic growth continued into week No. 31, with railroads logging a 4.2 percent increase in carloads and intermodal units over the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.
Total carloads for the week ending Aug. 4 were 279,907 units, up 3 percent, while U.S. intermodal volume for the week was 291,088 containers and trailers, up 5.4 percent, compared with the same week in 2017, AAR officials said in a press release.'
Job description: Responsible for driving business development opportunities — including with ports, short lines and other project proponents — in addition to supporting opportunities for operating efficiency and optimizing CN's cohabitation with passenger railways. Currently the project manager for the Milton Logistics Hub, a new CA$250 million intermodal terminal being developed in the Toronto area.
Education: Degree in civil engineering, McGill University