Railroad News

Province of Ontario officials last week announced they are advancing a public-private partnership (PPP) to modernize GO Transit’s Mimico Station in Toronto’s Etobicoke district.

The province signed a letter of intent with Vandyk Group of Cos. to help develop the project. GO Transit’s owner Metrolinx and the Vandyk Group will negotiate the construction of the redeveloped station.

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday issued its latest corporate responsibility and sustainability report, which highlights the railroad’s progress in 2017 on implementing sustainable practices, engaging employees and connecting with communities.

The Class I used Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Guidelines — a globally recognized reporting framework for environmental, social and governance performance — to relay its most vital sustainability-related issues, BNSF officials said in a press release. The Class I last year conducted a materiality assessment to help guide the development of the report, seeking feedback from numerous internal and external stakeholders on the most impactful areas associated with operating in a safe, responsible and sustainable manner.

Amtrak, Union Station Redevelopment Partners and Chicago city officials on Sunday announced the next phase of improvements that will be made at Chicago Union Station.

The work will include the addition of a new entrance on Clinton Street that will open the west side of the Amtrak-owned station’s Headhouse for development as a food court and retail space. 

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) today reported third-quarter net income of $69.6 million, or $1.16 per diluted common share, compared with net income of $50.2 million, or 80 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Also in the quarter, operating revenue rose 4.6 percent to $603.3 million; operating income jumped 16.4 percent to $127.8 million; and adjusted operating income climbed 14.3 percent to $130.5 million compared with last year's third-quarter financial results, according to a G&W press release. Adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 51.9 percent to $1.23.

CN today announced it reached an agreement to acquire The TransX Group of Cos., one of Canada’s largest and oldest transportation companies.

TransX provides various transportation and logistics services, including intermodal, truckload, less than truckload and specialized services. The 55-year-old company will continue to be based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and operate independently, CN officials said in a press release.

The Greenbrier Cos. Inc. and Saudi Railway Co. (SAR) last week announced they signed an agreement to both invest and generate investments totaling $270 million in Saudi Arabia’s rail industry. The companies plan to establish a joint venture to execute rail projects and supply rail cars in Saudi Arabia’s freight-rail market. Greenbrier and SAR aim to establish a multimodal business centered on creating and maximizing existing and new rail routes for freight movement throughout Saudi Arabia and, ultimately, the Gulf Cooperation Council region, according to a press release. Greenbrier also announced that in its fourth fiscal quarter ended Aug. 31, it generated revenue of $689.2 million and net earnings of $30.9 million. New rail-car deliveries totaled 6,000 units in the quarter, and the company’s backlog reached 27,400 units valued at $2.7 billion.

An Alstom-led Gibela joint venture recently inaugurated a train manufacturing facility in Dunnottar, South Africa. It is the largest and most advanced train manufacturing plant in Africa, Alstom officials said in a press release. The facility will produce a modern fleet of 580 six-car X’Trapolis Mega commuter trains over the next 10 years for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, they said. The first train is expected to roll off the assembly line by 2018’s end.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) last week approved construction authorization from the Ohio Rail Development Commission directing Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co. (W&LE) to upgrade a rail crossing in Crawford County.

The project calls for W&LE to install lights and gates at the East Main Street/State Route 103 crossing in New Washington. The railroad is directed to complete the work by Oct. 24, 2019, PUCO officials said in a press release.

The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) is launching a workforce recruitment campaign this week as part of an effort to hire several hundred employees by 2020.

The employees will play a "key role" in implementing STM's major mobility projects and operating its rail and bus networks, agency officials said in a press release.

The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) has named Steven Abrams executive director. He will succeed Jack Stephens, who will retire when his contract expires Dec. 31.

Abrams served on SFRTA's board from 2010 until he resigned in May to enter  the search process for the executive director position. He was chairman from July 2012 to June 2014, and again from July 2017 to June 2018.

G3 Canada Ltd. on Friday announced plans to build a primary grain elevator near Carmangay, Alberta.

To be served by Canadian Pacific, the state-of-the-art facility will feature the same high-efficiency technology as the company’s other new elevators on the Prairies, which can load 134-car trains in a few hours on a loop track, G3 Canada officials said in a press release. The new elevator will have a storage capacity of 42,000 tons.

The Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad (R&N) last week announced its intention to appeal a county court’s decision that granted summary judgment to the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority (JRA) regarding the solicitation of an operating agreement for the authority’s short lines.

R&N challenged the first phase of a request for proposals (RFP), which was issued by the JRA in 2014 seeking qualified operators for its rail lines.

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Paul Wiedefeld plans to issue several key recommendations to the agency’s board this week, including a fiscal-year 2020 operating budget proposal that calls for no fare hikes and an effort to increase rail service.

Wiedefeld is seeking board approval to expand rush-hour service with more frequent trains later in the morning and evening; charge a flat $2 fare for all weekend Metrorail trips; extend the Yellow Line to Greenbelt to double rush-hour service at nine stations; operate all Red Line trains to Glenmont to double rush-hour service at an additional three stations; lengthen all trains to eight cars; and enhance the value of Metro unlimited rail and bus and passes.

U.S. representatives continued to make the rounds of rail suppliers hosting plant tours and policy discussions this month. Reps. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Brian Mast (R-Florida) recently visited rail suppliers' facilities in Kentucky, Wisconsin and Florida.

Barr visited R. J. Corman's headquarters in Nicholasville, Kentucky, on Oct. 19. The company's rail group serves all seven North American Class Is, many regionals and short lines, and dozens of industries that use rail.

A California interregional policy board recently formed to study ways to improve passenger-rail service along the state's Central Coast.

Five agencies announced this week they had signed a memorandum of understanding to establish themselves formally as the Coast Rail Coordinating Council (CRCC). They are: the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments; Santa Barbara County Association of Governments; Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission; Transportation Agency for Monterey County; and Ventura County Transportation Commission.

Rail-car orders in the third quarter totaled 24,972 units compared with 23,788 units in the second quarter and 10,348 units in the first quarter, according to quarterly rail-car statistics released earlier this week by the Railway Supply Institute's American Railway Car Institute Committee. In third-quarter 2017, orders totaled 8,671 cars.

Car deliveries in Q3 declined to 11,221 units versus 13,071 units in the second quarter and 13,098 units in the first quarter. But they were slightly higher than the 11,015 cars delivered in third-quarter 2017.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) yesterday announced it reached a settlement agreement with the city of Shafter, California, to dismiss litigation over the final environmental impact report (EIR) and statement for the Fresno-to-Bakersfield portion of the authority’s high-speed rail (HSR) program.

The agreement demonstrates the commitment between both parties to work together to bring HSR service to the state’s Central Valley, CHSRA officials said in a press release.

The U.S. Coast Guard is soliciting public comments on BNSF Railway Co.'s plans to build a movable rail bridge across Salmon Bay west of the Ballard Locks in Seattle.

The proposed structure would replace an existing bascule bridge that spans the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The bridge is a critical link to BNSF's network to the north, south and east, according to the Class I’s "Inside Track" newsletter. Thirty to 40 trains cross the century-old bridge daily, including Sounder and Amtrak passenger trains.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced this week that California and Oklahoma have obtained federal certification of their transit-rail State Safety Oversight (SSO) programs.

Federal law requires states with transit-rail systems to obtain FTA certification of their SSO programs by April 15, 2019.

An investor group headed by private investment firm Equity Group Investments (EGI) that includes International Rail Partners LLC (IRP) recently pooled more than $200 million to help IRP form RailUSA LLC.

The new subsidiary already is helping IRP acquire regionals and short lines. In August, RailUSA completed its first acquisition: Grenada Railroad LLC, which operates a 206-mile line between Memphis, Tennessee, and Canton, Missouri. In cooperation with the North Central Mississippi Regional Railroad Authority, RailUSA plans to restore and re-open the 87-mile southern portion of the Grenada line, which has been closed since 2011.