Railroad News

A trio of rail advocacy groups, the Rail Passengers Association (RPA), the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), are joining forces to make one thing clear: Railroad tracks are no place for pedestrians, cars and bicyclists.

Citing recent fatal incidents in Florida, what the groups call "an unhelpful political campaign targeting the Brightline rail service" and a local group's suggestion that using tracks as walking paths is a normal activity, have prompted the joint focus on safety around railroad tracks.

The Snead Family, responsible for founding several Georgetown, Texas, businesses, including a quarry, a railroad and a rail solution company, was honored at an event held Jan. 29 at Georgetown Rail Equipment Company (GREX).

GREX Executive Chairman Chris Aadnesen hosted the gathering outside the historic GREX Business Car 400, which recently made the move to its permanent home at GREX's headquarters. Attendees included members of the Snead family, employees of the quarry, railroad and GREX businesses, as well as local officials. Aadnesen said the event was a way to thank the Snead family for their contributions to the rail industry and the Georgetown community.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has released and is taking public comment on the new draft of its Massachusetts State Rail Plan.

The draft outlines Massachusetts' priorities and proposed plans for the next two decades of passenger and freight rail investments, officials said.

Texas Central, which is planning to build a privately-funded 240-mile, 200 mph railway linking Dallas with Houston, has selected the site for its station in Dallas and says it has reached an agreement with developer Jack Matthews, which owns the site.

The terminal will be built on a largely-vacant 24.3-hectare plot alongside an existing railway south of Dallas' Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Centre in the revitalised Cedars neighbourhood, near the highway interchange between Interstate 30 and Interstate 35.

CN has been recognized as a global leader on environmental issues by CDP, the nonprofit organization that runs the global disclosure system to help investors, businesses, states and cities manage their environmental impacts.

CDP named CN to the Supplier A List of 100 companies that meet disclosure criteria for their actions to address climate change.

CN has been recognized as a global leader on environmental issues by CDP, the nonprofit organization that runs the global disclosure system to help investors, businesses, states and cities manage their environmental impacts.

CDP named CN to the Supplier A List of 100 companies that meet disclosure criteria for their actions to address climate change.

The Association of American Railroads, American Public Transportation Association and Rail Passengers Association have come together to emphasize rail-crossing safety following two recent fatalities on Brightline's new passenger-rail line in South Florida.

The associations issued the message after some lawmakers and anti-rail groups called for investigations and new regulations after the deaths.

New York & Atlantic Railway (NYA) has begun screening and treating employees for obstructive sleep apnea, the short line announced yesterday.

Nearly 40 NYA locomotive engineers and conductors in New York City and Long Island, New York, will be screened for the disorder. Employees diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea will receive treatment under the support of the railway's medical team, NYA officials said in a press release.

An ACS Group/Hochtief-led consortium has been selected as recommended developer for a $US 1.95bn public-private partnership (PPP) project to build an automated peoplemover at Los Angeles International Airport and operate it for 25 years.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) board late last week adopted the Twenty-Eight by '28 plan, which calls for completing 28 transportation projects ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who also serves as Metro's chair, first announced the initiative at the agency's September 2017 board meeting. At his direction, Metro staff developed the draft candidate list for projects to be completed before the upcoming Olympics.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee yesterday announced that he has accepted the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council's recommendation to reject a permit for  Vancouver Energy's proposed crude-oil terminal.

Inslee's decision followed a lengthy evaluation by the council, which voted in November 2017 to deny a permit for Tesoro Savage Petroleum Terminal LLC — also known as Vancouver Energy — to construct and operate an energy distribution terminal at the Port of Vancouver in Washington state. The terminal would have been located on the Columbia River.

For Immediate Release

Anti-Rail Campaign Puts Agenda Above Public Safety ​

WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 29, 2018 –  In light of recent tragic incidents in Florida—and an unhelpful political campaign targeting the Brightline rail service—the Rail Passengers Association, the Association of American Railroads and the American Public Transportation Association are coming together to educate the public on the importance of safe behavior around railroad tracks: it is never ok to use tracks as walking paths, and tracks should only be traversed using properly marked grade crossings.​

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) will oppose proposals that call for cutting public transportation and intercity passenger-rail programs to fund a national infrastructure initiative, the association announced last week.

APTA President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas issued a statement last week after a White House representative outlined a plan at the U.S. Conference of Mayors that called for cutting existing funding for public transit infrastructure to pay for a national infrastructure program.

Valley Metro late last week announced two additions to its management team.

The agency named Brad Cummings chief procurement officer and Phil Ozlin manager of information technology (IT).

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has unveiled a new program that provides refunds for late trains and buses.

Known as the Rush Hour Promise, the program will credit riders' SmarTrip cards for future travel if a trains or buses are more than 15 minutes late.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's (SEPTA) board late last week adopted the recommended locally preferred alternative from the King of Prussia rail project's draft environmental impact statement.

The board made the selection after evaluating more than 30 alternatives for a new rail connection between the existing Norristown High Speed Line and destinations in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Cindy Sanborn, the first woman to hold a senior operating executive role at a Class I railroad, and who was unceremoniously axed by the late E. Hunter Harrison in a messy management purge at CSX, has joined Union Pacific as Regional Vice President Transportation-Western Region, effective Feb. 16, 2018.

Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad (CSS) aims to expand business opportunities under a lease of 5 miles of track from CN in Gary, Indiana.

Effective last week, the lease of track is designed to improve the interchange between CSS and CN, as well as provide shipping options for customers through a higher frequency of service, CSS owner Anacostia Rail Holdings announced in a press release.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) last week announced its preferred alignment for the proposed Red Line rail extension, which calls for extending the route from 95th Street to 130th Street.

The chosen route would begin at 95th Street and run along the west side of Union Pacific Railroad tracks from Interstate 57 to 109th Street. Then, the route would cross UP tracks and run along their east side until crossing the Metra Electric tracks near 119th Street.