Railroad News

BNSF Railway Co. is challenging in federal court an Oklahoma law that requires railroads operating in the state to minimize blocking grade crossings for longer than 10 minutes without good reason, an Oklahoma newspaper reported today.

The suit, which the Class I filed yesterday in Oklahoma City, targets Oklahoma's elected corporation commissioners and two cities' police departments that have cited the railroad for violations so far, The Oklahoman reported.

BNSF Railway Co. is challenging in federal court an Oklahoma law that requires railroads operating in the state to minimize blocking grade crossings for longer than 10 minutes without good reason, an Oklahoma newspaper reported today.

The suit, which the Class I filed yesterday in Oklahoma City, targets Oklahoma's elected corporation commissioners and two cities' police departments that have cited the railroad for violations so far, The Oklahoman reported.

Next month, TransLink will host Rail-Volution 2019, a transportation and community development conference, in Canada for the first time. 

The conference will be held Sept. 8-11 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The event will feature city planning experts and speakers from transportation network companies, who will address topics such as transit expansion and mobility options, TransLink officials said in a press release. 

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) last week issued $335 million of its capital grant receipt revenue bonds to help finance the construction of the Mid-Coast Trolley, a trolley extension between the downtown area and University City in San Diego. 

This transaction will accelerate SANDAG’s receipt of a $1 billion grant from the Federal Transit Administration under the Capital Investment Grant program, SANDAG officials said in a press release.

Alaska Railroad Corp. yesterday announced it has restored freight and passenger service north of Anchorage following several days of suspension due to a retaining wall failure and forest fires.

Regularly scheduled overnight freight service between Anchorage and Fairbanks resumed Aug. 20, and passenger service resumed Aug. 21, railroad officials said in a press release.

U.S. freight-rail traffic continued to fall in the United States during the week ending Aug. 17, with railroads logging a 5.2 percent decrease in carloads and intermodal units compared with the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week were 264,564 units, down 4.9 percent, while intermodal volume was 273,053 containers and trailers were down 5.4 percent.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec’s Minister of Transport Francois Bonnardel earlier this week announced that CA$3.3 billion in total government funding will be contributed to establish a public transit network in Quebec City. 

The planned network would extend over 34 miles and include a 14-mile tram line, two new bus lines and improvements to the current bus system, according to a press release issued by Trudeau's office. 

After a 32-year career at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), General Manager Jeffrey Knueppel will leave the agency on Dec. 31.

Knueppel is choosing not to renew his contract, which expires at year's end, so that he can retire and spend more time with his family, SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said this morning.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) yesterday announced more than $272 million in grant funding to 10 rail projects through the department's State of Good Repair Program.

The grants will help 10 states pay for projects that will help to repair and rehabilitate railroad infrastructure, FRA officials said in a press release.

Audra Rodgers, 39
Rail structure lead, U.S.
AECOM

Nominator’s quote: “Being a project manager is a demanding job, especially when you are in the first 10 to 15 years of your career. However, Audra makes it look effortless, with an ability to combine her engineering knowledge with client management, team engagement and financial accountability. Audra makes other engineers want to do their best work while empowering her team members with confidence. These traits in a project manager are impossible to teach, which makes them so much more valuable when found.” — Alanna Strohecker, AECOM, 2015 Rising Star

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and 3rd Track Constructors crews later this week will begin installation of a new rail bridge and underpass tunnel to eliminate a grade crossing at Covert Avenue in Long Island, New York.

The crossing will be reconstructed to provide a two-lane grade-separated underpass with a pedestrian sidewalk, LIRR officials said in a press release.

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Ideally, when people see a problem, they do something about it before things get out of hand. But we don’t live in a perfect world, or work in a perfect industry, and sometimes it takes a crisis to shock people into acting.

It still may be summer, but it's not too early for Kansas City Southern to roll out the 2019 schedule for its 19th annual Holiday Express train.

The six-car festive train will depart Nov. 27 from Shreveport, Louisiana, on this year's tour, which will stop in 20 communities in five U.S. states on 25 dates. The route will end Dec. 22 at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri.

It still may be summer, but it's not too early for Kansas City Southern to roll out the 2019 schedule for its 19th annual Holiday Express train.

The six-car festive train will depart Nov. 27 from Shreveport, Louisiana, on this year's tour, which will stop in 20 communities in five U.S. states on 25 dates. The route will end Dec. 22 at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri.

G3 last week marked the opening of its new high-efficiency grain elevator on a CN line in Maidstone, Saskatchewan.

Similar to the company's other modern grain elevators across western Canada, the new facility features fast truck-unloads and a railway loop track that can load a 150-car train, G3 officials said in a press release.

G3 last week marked the opening of its new high-efficiency grain elevator on a CN line in Maidstone, Saskatchewan.

Similar to the company's other modern grain elevators across western Canada, the new facility features fast truck-unloads and a railway loop track that can load a 150-car train, G3 officials said in a press release.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) yesterday announced that India Birdsong will become the authority’s next chief executive officer and general manager, effective Sept. 16.

GCRTA’s board yesterday unanimously approved Birdsong’s contract, which has been under negotiation since early July after a 10-month nationwide candidate search. 

On the 50th anniversary of a deadly train collision in Connecticut, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and other government officials yesterday called on railroads to finish the job of implementing positive train control (PTC) to prevent similar collisions and other fatal rail incidents.

The NTSB issued its first PTC recommendation as a result of its investigation into the August 1969 accident, which killed four people and injured 43 others. The accident occurred when two Penn Central commuter trains collided just north of the Hoyt Street crossing on the New Canaan branch near Darien, Connecticut.