Railroad News

Ridership on Charlotte Area Transit System's (CATS) LYNX Blue Line light-rail service increased 48 percent in March compared with the same 2017 period, thanks in large part to last month's opening of a 9.3-mile extension, according to a CATS press release.

Service for the LYNX Blue Line extension began on March 16 and also contributed to a 6 percent year-to-date increase in light-rail ridership over the same 2017 period.

CSX yesterday announced Vice President of Mechanical Brian Barr will assume the new role of senior VP of engineering and mechanical. He will continue to be responsible for the mechanical department while now leading the engineering team.

VP of Engineering Ricky Johnson will remain in that role and report to Barr, who will report to Executive VP of Operations Ed Harris.

Harsher-than-normal winter weather in the first quarter, including extremely low temperatures in Canada in February, put the deep freeze on CN’s financial results.

Q1 revenue was flat at $3.2 billion while operating income fell 16 percent to $1 billion, net income tumbled 16 percent to $741 million and operating expenses ballooned 9 percent to $2.2 billion compared with first-quarter 2017 results (all figures are in Canadian dollars).

Harsher-than-normal winter weather in the first quarter, including extremely low temperatures in Canada in February, put the deep freeze on CN’s financial results.

Q1 revenue was flat at $3.2 billion while operating income fell 16 percent to $1 billion, net income tumbled 16 percent to $741 million and operating expenses ballooned 9 percent to $2.2 billion compared with first-quarter 2017 results (all figures are in Canadian dollars).

CSX Corporation has announced the appointment of Brian Barr, vice president of mechanical, to serve as the company's new senior vice president of engineering and mechanical.

Union Pacific (UP) plans to invest $2.1 million to strengthen Montana's transportation infrastructure in 2018.

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) this summer will install four elevators at its Astoria Boulevard Station on the N and W rail lines in Queens.

The project includes a pair of street-to-mezzanine elevators, as well as another two mezzanine-to-platform elevators. The installation of the street elevators will require the complete demolition and reconstruction of the station mezzanine, which will be raised to reduce strikes by trucks on the road below. 

VIA Rail Canada Inc. late last week released a report highlighting its sustainability efforts in 2017.

Last year, the railroad provided 4.39 million trips, marking a 10.5 percent increase over 2016’s total. As ridership increased, VIA Rail logged a 34 percent drop in greenhouse-gas emissions since 2015, railroad officials said in a press release.

As of mid-March, U.S. Class Is employed 145,105 workers, up 0.2 percent compared with mid-February’s level, but down 2.8 percent compared with mid-March 2017's count, according to Surface Transportation Board data.

Only two of six employment categories reflected workforce increases on a month-over-month basis. They were transportation (train and engine), up 0.8 percent to 60,297 employees, and maintenance of way and structures, up 0.6 percent to 32,433 workers.

Nathan Henderson, who served the Class I, contracting and supply segments of the industry during his 20-year rail career, died April 18 from an apparent heart attack. He was 43.

From 1998 through 2011, Henderson worked at CSX, rising to the position of division manager before joining R. J. Corman Railroad Group, where he spent the next six years. At R. J. Corman, he held a variety of senior executive positions, including president of R. J. Corman Railroad Services Co.; and chief commercial officer, vice president of material sales, and VP of sales and marketing of R. J. Corman Railroad Group.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) last week opened a new south terminal at the Red Line's 95th/Dan Ryan Station on the city's South Side.

The completion of the terminal marked a milestone in the $280 million project to rebuild the station, which is one of the agency's busiest, CTA officials said in a press release.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is retiring the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program name and will award the $1.5 billion available in discretionary grant funding as Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Discretionary Grants.

Stephen Kambol has been has been tapped to serve as a senior project manager for WSP USA's Seattle office.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Friday announced a new infrastructure project funding program that will supplant the popular Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program.

The USDOT published a notice of funding opportunity for interested parties to apply for $1.5 billion in discretionary grants through the new Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) transportation grant program. The BUILD grant program will replace the TIGER program, which was introduced in 2009.

Union Pacific (UP) has announced it will invest $6 million to enhance Minnesota's transportation infrastructure this year.

Laura McNichol has been named senior vice president of government and industry relations at Watco Companies.

McNichol joined Watco in January 2017 as vice president of government and industry relations and is based in Washington, D.C. Watco said she will lead the company's public policy efforts on the 45G shortline tax credit, seeking funding for the nation's inland waterway system in support of Watco's terminal and ports' customers and protecting the industry against damaging policies, such as efforts to increase truck size and weight limits.

Rep. Scotty Perry (R-PA-4), a member of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, joined representatives from Aaron Enterprises Inc., Genesee and Wyoming Inc., and other Pennsylvania businesses on April 20 for a tour and discussion of transportation policy at Aaron Enterprises' facility.

Canadian Pacific late Friday negotiated its way out of a strike two unions were set to launch shortly after midnight. The Class I reached an agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Train & Engine (TCRC) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which planned to begin a work stoppage at CP at 12:01 a.m. on April 21.

Per a recommendation from federal mediators, Canadian Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labor Patty Hajdu directed the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to administer a ratification vote on each of the railroad’s final offers to the TCRC and IBEW, CP officials said in a press release. The parties didn’t release any details on the pacts. The TCRC and IBEW represent 3,000 conductors and 360 signal maintainers at CP, respectively.

Nathan Henderson, executive vice president of Midwest Pacific Rail Net & Logistics and managing partner and chief operating office of North America Rail Partners, LLC, died April 18, 2018.

Henderson, 44, began his rail career with CSX in 1998 and moved up to division manager before joining R. J. Corman Railroad Group in 2011 as vice president of operations. He served as vice president of material sales, vice president of strategic sales and marketing and chief commercial officer at R. J. Corman Railroad Group before being named president of R. J. Corman Railroad Services in January 2017.