Railroad News

Americans took more commuter-rail trips last year than they did in the previous year, but overall ridership on commuter-, heavy- and light-rail systems was down slightly by 0.41 percent (based on passenger trips) in 2018, according to the American Public Transportation Association’s latest annual ridership report, which was issued in April.

Transdev North America has hired Andre Zardini as chief information officer and promoted DeeDee Hanc from vice president of human resources to chief human resources officer, the company announced last week.

Zardini has 20 years of information technology leadership experience in large- and medium-sized organizations in several industries, Transdev officials said in a press release.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) crews today began the final stage of work to replace two century-old rail bridges in East Hampton, New York, at North Main Street and Accabonac Road. 

LIRR will raise the vertical roadway clearance of the bridges with the installation of single span steel bridge structures to allow trucks to safely pass underneath the bridges.

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) board yesterday elected Paul Wageman chair and Michele Wong Krause, vice chair.

Wageman has been a member of DART's board since in 2012. He is a past chairman of the North Texas Tollway Authority and is a shareholder at Dallas law firm Winstead PC, DART officials said in a press release.

New Jersey Transit will resume weekday off-peak, one-seat Raritan Valley Line (RVL) train service to New York Penn Station beginning Nov. 4, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced yesterday.

The commuter-rail service was suspended in September 2018 to allow NJ Transit to install positive train control equipment on its rail fleet, according to a press release issued by Murphy’s office.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Managing Editor

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is seeking public opinion on accessibility issues related to the Tamien intermodal station in San Jose, California, to help shape the final design of a transit-oriented development (TOD) scheduled for construction near the station in 2020. 

The Tamien Station TOD is a project between VTA and developer UrbanCo-Tamien LLC, to develop nearly 7 acres of property near the station, which serves the VTA light-rail and Caltrain commuter-rail systems.

The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA) has experienced major streetcar service disruptions since the partial collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel under construction near Canal Street on Oct. 12.

Crews were working on the hotel when a portion of the building collapsed, killing at least two and injuring more than 19 people. One person remains missing. The cause of the building collapse is under investigation, local media reported.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's (PennDOT) Office of Public-Private Partnerships is accepting unsolicited proposals for transportation projects from the private sector through Oct. 31.

The proposals apply to PennDOT-owned projects and infrastructure and should address innovative ways to deliver transportation projects related to rail, ports, bridges, roads and aviation, PennDOT officials said in a press release.

Railway Interchange, the largest exhibit and technical conference for the North American railroad industry, announced last week that total registered attendance for the biennial event reached 8,450, up 3.4 percent from the 2017 event's attendance.

Held Sept. 22-25 in Minneapolis, the conference featured 746 exhibitors at the indoor and outdoor exhibits, up from 738 in 2017 and setting a new record, Railway Interchange officials said in a press release.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) last week announced that 113 police officers graduated from the Port Authority Police Department’s Police Academy class. 

The new officers bring the department's force to 2,169 officers, the highest staffing level in port history, PANYNJ officials said in a press release. 

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., senior associate editor

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) late last week elected Nuria Fernandez as chair and Jeffrey Nelson as vice chair during the organization's TRANSform Conference being held in New York City.

Fernandez is general manager and chief executive officer of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority in San Jose, California. Nelson is GM of the Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District in Moline, Illinois.

Amtrak today added an additional train on the Pacific Surfliner service to provide a 13th round-trip between Los Angeles and San Diego.

The new train will depart from Los Angeles at 1:15 p.m., arriving in San Diego at 4:12 p.m, while an existing train will depart San Diego at 5:25 p.m. and arrive in Los Angeles at 8:34 p.m.