Railroad News

U.S. railroads managed a busy week of traffic ending March 17, with carloads up 7.5 percent to 263,352 units and intermodal volume up 12.7 percent to 273,986 trailers and containers compared with the same week a year ago.

For the week, U.S. rail traffic grew 10 percent to 537,338 carloads and intermodal units compared with volume in the same week in 2017, according to the Association of American Railroads' (AAR) data.

Metra's board yesterday approved a $29.4 million contract to renovate and expand the mechanical shops that house its rail-car and locomotive rehab programs.

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Rolls-Royce Power Systems and Force Motors have signed an agreement to form a joint venture to be known as Force MTU Power Systems Pvt. Ltd. The joint venture will produce Motor engine and Turbine Union's (MTU) 10- and 12-cylinder Series 1600 units, which are suitable for power generation and rail underfloor applications, Rolls-Royce officials said in a press release. Under the agreement, the joint venture will build a dedicated manufacturing facility in Chakan, India. Besides manufacturing Series 1600 units, the joint venture also will build Series 1600 generator sets for the Indian and global markets. The joint venture will handle sales and service of Series 1600 generator for users in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, while Rolls-Royce Power Systems will handle sales and service elsewhere in the world.

Schneider has completed its conversion to a company-owned and -managed chassis fleet with the purchase of more than 15,000 intermodal container chassis over the past four years. The new equipment is among the investments and improvements the company is deploying to deliver "truck-like service" in the intermodal market, Schneider officials said in a press release. The chassis conversion is expected to drive consistent and cost-efficient shipping, increase availability, decrease downtime and boost safety, they said. Schneider also plans to add intermodal containers to its network, as well as drivers, chassis and tractors to support shippers' needs.

Amtrak exceeded its diesel fuel conservation goal by more than 2.4 gallons and saved about 3 billion kWh of energy by using its latest-generation ACS-64 locomotives in fiscal years 2016 and 2017.

That's according to Amtrak's FY2016-17 sustainability report, which was released on Monday. The report focuses on the railroad's environmental, financial and social sustainability efforts, including modernizing the customer experience, reducing fuel and energy use, and growing revenue through increased ridership. The document reflects Amtrak's performance from Oct. 1, 2015 through Sept. 30, 2017.

G3 Canada Ltd. yesterday announced plans to build two new grain elevators, one in Alberta and the other in Saskatchewan.

The new grain elevators will be served by Canadian Pacific and CN.

GE Transportation has completed the first of 100 locomotive modernizations for Norfolk Southern Railway in 2018 and has received an order to modernize 80 Canadian Pacific locomotives this year, the manufacturer announced yesterday.

President Donald Trump has designated Ann Begeman as chair of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), the White House announced yesterday.

Begeman, a Republican, is serving her second five-year term on the board, following her nomination by President Barack Obama on Dec. 7, 2016, and her unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 9, 2016.

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) detailed a slate of nearly 60 actions it will take to improve the railroad's performance through a new initiative called the LIRR Performance Improvement Plan (PIP).

Officials said the PIP involves virtually every department of the railroad and concentrates on improving three aspects of operations: service reliability, seasonal preparedness and customer communications.

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) detailed a slate of nearly 60 actions it will take to improve the railroad's performance through a new initiative called the LIRR Performance Improvement Plan (PIP).

Officials said the PIP involves virtually every department of the railroad and concentrates on improving three aspects of operations: service reliability, seasonal preparedness and customer communications.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has released a draft environmental impact report for a project aimed at reducing the time it takes for its Red and Purple line subway trains to turn around at LA Union Station.

The project calls for widening the tunnel entrance to the subway between the Division 20 subway yards and Union Station, along with adding switches, track and other necessary infrastructure.

Two teams have been chosen to compete for work to design, build, finance and operate Chicago's O'Hare Express operating system.

Two teams have been chosen to compete for work to design, build, finance and operate Chicago's O'Hare Express operating system.

Two teams have been chosen to compete for work to design, build, finance and operate Chicago's O'Hare Express operating system.

Positive train control (PTC) systems are operating on about 56 percent of freight railroads' route miles that are required to be governed by PTC systems, up from 45 percent in third-quarter 2017 and 16 percent on Dec. 31, 2016, the Federal Railroad Administration announced yesterday.

Passenger railroads have made less progress, with PTC systems in operation on 24 percent of required route miles as of Q4 2017 — the same as in Q3 2017, FRA officials said in a press release.

The mayor of Quebec City, Mr Régis Labeaume, in the presence of Quebec province's premier Mr Philippe Couillard and the president of Capital Transport Network (RTC) Mr Rémy Normand, has unveiled a $C 2.9bn ($US 2.22bn) plan to expand the city's public transport network, as the existing bus-based system is at maximum capacity in several locations.

The mayor of Quebec City, Mr Régis Labeaume, in the presence of Quebec province's premier Mr Philippe Couillard and the president of Capital Transport Network (RTC) Mr Rémy Normand, has unveiled a $C 2.9bn ($US 2.22bn) plan to expand the city's public transport network, as the existing bus-based system is at maximum capacity in several locations.

The mayor of Quebec City, Mr Régis Labeaume, in the presence of Quebec province's premier Mr Philippe Couillard and the president of Capital Transport Network (RTC) Mr Rémy Normand, has unveiled a $C 2.9bn ($US 2.22bn) plan to expand the city's public transport network, as the existing bus-based system is at maximum capacity in several locations.