Railroad News

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) today unveiled a flood protection project for rail operations facilities on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens.

Crews will construct a perimeter flood wall, flood gates and a new compressor building within the protected site, NYCT officials said in a press release.

Congress passed a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill on Thursday, March 22. The president signed the legislation (even though his Twitter activity suggested otherwise) to avoid a government shutdown, but noted his displeasure saying there were elements of the legislation he was not happy about.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York City Transit has announced a flood protection project in the Rockaways intended to strengthen subway infrastructure and make it more resilient in the face of future storms.

Amtrak has begun posting a quarterly "report card" that rates how long its trains are delayed while traveling on host freight railroads' tracks.

The majority of Amtrak's network operates on track owned, maintained and dispatched by freight railroads. Amtrak delays on host railroads are caused primarily by freight railroads that require passenger trains to wait so that freight trains can operate first, Amtrak officials said in the report card.

Georgetown Rail Equipment Co. Executive Chairman Chris Aadnesen has retired after a four-decade career in the rail industry.

He joined the GREX board in 2003, served as chairman from 2007 to 2010 and served as vice chairman from 2010 through 2013. He was elected executive chairman in 2013.

The city of Phoenix has awarded a $305 million contract to Bombardier Transportation for an extension of the PHX Sky Train automated people mover system at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

The agreement covers a 2.5-mile extension to the airport's rental car center, along with two new stations, an expansion of the system's maintenance facility and the supply of 24 Innovia APM 200 vehicles.

Chris Aadnesen is retiring as Executive Chairman of the Georgetown Rail Equipment Company (GREX) board of directors, following a long and distinguished railroad industry career, including 15 years at GREX.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) this month and next will hold a series of town halls via telephone to share details about the FasTracks transit expansion program and other projects underway.

RTD will host 15 telephone town halls, one for each RTD district. The calls will enable RTD's board and staff to speak with members of the communities that the agency serves, RTD officials said in a press release.

The first of Georgia Ports Authority's (GPA) four new neo-Panamax cranes came online this week, bringing the port's operating fleet to 27.

The crane started work yesterday on a Hapag Lloyd container vessel capable of carrying 13,300 20-foot-equivalent units. Crane operators moved 2,700 containers on and off the ship during its time at the Port of Savannah, GPA officials said in a press release.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) on Monday shared details of its performance improvement plan.

The plan outlines nearly 60 actions the railroad will take to boost service reliability, seasonal preparedness and customer communications.

Amtrak will rename its train station in Rochester, New York, after the late U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, the railroad announced yesterday.

The station will be renamed as a dedication to the congresswoman's career in public service and commitment to leading several projects in northern New York, including the station's development, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

Crossties capable of data collection will be the development focus of a new partnership between technology and consulting firm Indra and Greenrail, an Italian producer of eco-sustainable crossties.

The two companies have signed an agreement to study the technical and economic viability of the development of a model of sustainable smart crosstie with capabilities of collecting, processing and sending real-time data to railway traffic control centers.

Two teams have qualified to bid on a project to design, build, finance, operate and maintain an express rail system between downtown Chicago and O'Hare International Airport.

The two eligible teams are O'Hare Xpress LLC and Elon Musk's infrastructure firm The Boring Co. The O'Hare Xpress team consists of Meridiam, Antarctica Capital LLC, JLC Infrastructure, Mott MacDonald and First Transit.

Amtrak will rename its Rochester Intermodal Station the "Louise M. Slaughter Intermodal Station in Rochester," U.S. Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) announced this week.