Railroad News

MTA Metro-North Railroad last month hosted its third annual Safety Excellence Awards to highlight company-wide initiatives and recognize groups and individuals for their safety efforts.

The railroad’s maintenance-of-way “housekeeping initiative” on the North White Plains section of the Harlem Line earned a safety excellence award in the company-wide initiatives category. As part of the program, employees found more than 200 ways to enhance the railroad’s safety and productivity. Due to the success of the initiative, similar endeavors are now being rolled out throughout the railroad, Metro-North officials said in a press release. 

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) earlier this week began adding more service at some Red and Yellow Line stations.

Red Line trains will now run end to end between the Glenmont and Shady Grove stations in Maryland instead of some trains turning back at Silver Spring Station. 

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's (GCRTA) board on Wednesday approved a measure to enter negotiations with large transit system veteran India Birdsong to become the authority's next chief executive officer and general manager.

If appointed, she would succeed Joseph Calabrese, who stepped down as CEO in September 2018 after 18 years in the top post. Interim CEO Floun'say Caver then would return to his prior role as chief operating officer and deputy GM of operations.

U.S. railroads remained in a rut last month. June was the fifth-straight month that their carloads and intermodal traffic declined on a year-over-year basis.

U.S. roads last month originated 1,023,394 carloads, down 5.3 percent, and 1,075,974 containers and trailers, down 7.2 percent compared with June 2018 figures, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Wabtec Corp. announced that Rafael Santana will succeed retiree Ray Belter as president and chief executive officer. Santana joined Wabtec earlier this year as president and CEO of the company’s freight segment following the merger of Wabtec and GE Transportation, where he served as president and CEO. Santana has 25 years of commercial, product management and executive leadership experience, including more than 10 years in the transportation industry.

The Greenbrier Cos. reported net earnings of $15.2 million, or 46 cents per diluted share, and revenue of $856.2 million in its third fiscal quarter, which ended May 31. Greenbrier received orders for about 6,500 new rail cars valued at $730 million in the quarter. The orders span a range of car types from diverse customers, Greenbrier officials said in a press release. Greenbrier's backlog of 26,100 units valued at $2.7 billion provides cash flow into fiscal-year 2020, they said.

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) earlier this week announced plans to build two new traction power substations in downtown San Francisco. 

A combination of the upgraded power system, installation of a new train control system and the addition of more rail cars will allow the agency to increase the number of trains from 23 to 30 that travel between San Francisco and Oakland, California, through the Transbay Tube during peak hours, BART officials said in a press release.

Representatives from Port Freeport, Union Pacific Railroad and other organizations held a ribbon cutting ceremony June 28 to mark the first-phase completion of the $21 million Parcel 14 Rail Development project at the Houston-area port.

On a 250-acre site adjacent to State Highway 36, the port broke ground in August 2017 on the project, which involved the construction of about 21,000 linear feet of track. The work included building a 6,000-foot lead track from a UP mainline that crosses the highway to three, 5,000-foot ladder tracks.

The National Mediation Board (NMB) has installed Linda Puchala as chairman. She will lead the board through June 30, 2020, with Gerald Fauth and Kyle Fortson continuing to serve as members.

Puchala was confirmed as an NMB member in May 2009 and previously served as chairman from May 2009 through June 2009; July 2011 through June 2012; July 2013 through June 2014; and July 2016 through June 2017. She received her most recent Senate confirmation in November 2017.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Pollack, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) General Manager Steve Poftak and other dignitaries attended a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday for the South Coast Rail project's first phase.

The more than $3 billion project calls for restoring commuter-rail service between Boston and Massachusetts' South Coast, with stops in New Bedford, Fall River and Taunton. The $1 billion first phase includes extending Middleborough Line service to New Bedford and Fall River; reconstructing 17.3 miles of the New Bedford mainline and 11.7 miles of the Fall River secondary; upgrading the Middleborough secondary track from Pilgrim Junction to Cotley Junction covering 7.1 miles; building two new layover facilities; and constructing six new stations.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) has requested entry into the engineering phase of the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program for its double-track project along the South Shore Line in northwest Indiana. 

NICTD has already completed the development phase of CIG, which includes an environmental review and an analysis of project alternatives for installing a second mainline track from Gary to Michigan City, Indiana.

The Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission has contracted CIBC Capital Markets to help oversee the divestment of the province's crude-by-rail program and the transition of that business to the private sector.

Although the future of crude by rail in Alberta is "very bright," that business will continue to grow without government interference, said Alberta Minister of Energy Sonya Savage in a statement issued late last week.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) yesterday released staff recommendations of the preferred alternatives for the planned high-speed rail (HSR) routes in Northern California. 

The authority recommends that the San Jose-to-Merced section of the route include a blended configuration between San Jose and Gilroy in the existing Union Pacific Railroad corridor before continuing to a dedicated HSR alignment through Pacheco Pass in Santa Clara County.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) will suspend weekend service on the Green Line between Crenshaw and Redondo Beach stations to begin testing rail system software on the connection between the Green and Crenshaw/LAX lines.  

Beginning July 12, the service will be suspended every Friday night, then resume every Monday morning until work is completed sometime in the fall. The whole process may take more than 10 weekends, LA Metro officials said in a press release.

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor recently handled two large rubber-tire gantry (RTG) cranes that were destined for CSX's Chicago-area intermodal terminal in Bedford Park, Illinois.
 
It was the first time in its nearly 50-year history that the port processed such large cranes, Ports of Indiana officials said in a press release. Designed to hoist loads up to eight containers wide, the RTG cranes will replace two older units at the CSX terminal, which handles domestic and international freight.

"Our proximity to Burns Harbor allowed us to receive our cargo quickly and efficiently," said Tom Tisa, head of marketing and strategic development for CSX. "The new cranes are uniquely suited to support our evolving intermodal operations."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of Harris County’s (METRO) board last week approved funding for security-related initiatives, including the addition of 20 part-time metro police officers. 

The new positions will report in various police units, including rail, patrol, criminal investigation and K-9. 

The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina Railroad Co. (NCRR) claiming it refused to produce public documents for review under the North Carolina Public Records Act.

The law center had requested records from NCRR relating to the proposed Durham-Orange light-rail project, which Go Triangle cancelled earlier this year.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) and Portland Oregon Metro have opened a public comment period to gather feedback on a proposed MAX light-rail tunnel under downtown Portland.

As a first step, the agencies need to determine the necessary studies and resources to create a tunnel from Lloyd Center to Goose Hollow in Southwest Portland. To do so, public comments will aid the agency in identifying opportunities, challenges and viable alternatives for additional study, TriMet officials said on the project website. 

The Tri-Valley – San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority’s board last week released a feasibility study for Valley Link, a proposed commuter-rail service that would connect the San Joaquin Valley communities in California with Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) and Altamont Corridor Express’ (ACE) systems.

The report includes alignment options; an overview of stations and facilities; system integration options with BART and ACE; proposed vehicle technology; projected capital and operating costs; a funding and financing plan; and a recommendation for project management and delivery.