Railroad News

Two men who helped make a difference in Michigan's rail industry will be inducted into the Michigan Transportation Hall of Honor later this month.

Robert Chaprnka and Philip Kazmierski will be among five people to be inducted at an Oct. 18 event, according to a press release issued by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).

The California High-Speed Rail Authority's board will host a meeting later this month to accept public comment on the final supplemental environmental impact report (EIR) for the Fresno-to-Bakersfield section of the state's high-speed rail system.

The authority announced late last week that the final supplemental EIR is now available. It represents a "comprehensive project-level review of the southern part of the section that runs between Poplar Avenue in Shafter and a station location in downtown Bakersfield," authority officials said in a press release.

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has chosen Rockwell Collins to assist tenant short lines in creating safety documentation for positive train control (PTC).

The selection of Rockwell Collins is the next step in ASLRRA's plan to provide services to short lines equipping for PTC. Rockwell Collins will help smaller railroads create the documentation required to obtain permission to operate over a host's PTC territory, ASLRRA officials said in a press release.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority's (MARTA) has approved a $2.7 billion transit expansion plan, marking the agency's largest transit investment in more than 40 years.

The "More MARTA Atlanta" program will fund 17 major transit projects in the Atlanta region, including construction of a new 22-mile light-rail system, two new transit centers, upgrades to existing rail stations and the introduction of bus-rapid transit service.

CSX Corp. announced late last week that Chairman Edward Kelly III will retire in January after the company releases its fourth-quarter 2018 earnings.

The board elected John Zillmer chairman, effective upon Kelly's retirement.

Each weekend this month, MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) will perform "critical work" to install communications-based train control (CBTC) signaling along the 7 rail Line.

Once installed by year's end, the CBTC system will enable the agency to provide more frequent and reliable service on the 7 Line, which currently serves about 500,000 riders each weekday between Queens and Manhattan.

GE Transportation and Australian iron-ore company Roy Hill yesterday commemorated two new pink ES44ACi locomotives in support of breast cancer patients and research. The units arrived at Roy Hill's rail terminal in Port Hedland, Western Australia, as countries around the world mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The new locomotives will join Roy Hill's existing fleet of 21 GE trains. They'll also be connected with 130 pink ore cars manufactured by China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. This is the first time GE has painted a locomotive pink, company officials said in a press release.

CIT Group Inc. has completed the sale of its European rail leasing business NACCO for net proceeds of $1.1 billion. The company's Paris-based operations and assets, including 11,000 rail cars, were sold to VTG Aktiengesellschaft in Germany, while its operations and assets in Germany and Luxembourg were sold to a consortium of buyers consisting of WASCOSA AG and a subsidiary of Aves One AG. A portion of the proceeds will be used to "optimize CIT's funding profile," including redeeming rail-car securitization in the United States, terminating the total return swap facility and repaying outstanding unsecured debt, company officials said in a press release.

The Maryland Department of Transportation's Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) today will begin redeveloping the Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) Camden Station in Baltimore.

The project calls for expanding the station's waiting area and installing new ticket vending machines, service and information displays and an MDOT MTA police force substation.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) has promoted Kimberly Sewell to executive director of its labor relations and human resources division.

For the past seven years, Sewell served as director of TriMet's legal services. Before that, she was TriMet's deputy general counsel.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and Union International des Transports Public (UITP) last week signed an agreement to work together on mutual areas of interest, the organizations announced today.

UITP is an international network of 1,500 members, which include public transportation authorities, policy makers, research institutes and the transit supply and service industry.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) yesterday re-elected Dennis Pierce to his third full term as the union's national president.

Additionally, the union elected all Advisory Board members without opposition. Their terms will begin Jan. 1, 2019, BLET officials said in a press release.

U.S. rail traffic grew 4.4 percent to 2,194,211 carloads and intermodal units in September compared with the same month a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Railroads reported 1,066,826 carloads last month, up 2.6 percent, and 1,127,385 containers and trailers, up 6.2 percent, compared with traffic logged in September 2017, according to an AAR press release.

Although many passenger railroads are close to completing equipment installation of positive train control (PTC) systems, less progress has been made on testing those systems, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced earlier this week in its latest PTC report.

Of the 28 commuter railroads required to implement PTC, 19 have initiated field testing. Only eight have started revenue-service demonstration, the GAO reported.

Texas Central has selected global construction and engineering firm Salini Impregilo — operating in the U.S. market with The Lane Construction Corp. — to lead the civil construction consortium that will build the company's proposed bullet train service between Houston and North Texas.

Yesterday's announcement is the latest milestone for Texas Central's efforts to bring a 200 mph train that would connect the state's largest population and economic regions in 90 minutes. The service would include a stop in the Brazos Valley.

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

The Maryland Department of Transportation's Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) late last week launched CharmPass, a mobile ticketing app for rail and bus services.

The app enables passengers to use smartphones to pay fares for Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) train service, as well as light-rail and subway services. The app allows 90-minute transfers between transit modes.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is seeking applications for $1 million in grant funding from its 2018 rail service improvement program.

Railroads, rail users, cities and counties are eligible to apply for the program, which is aimed at boosting freight-rail service that supports economic development, according to an MnDOT press release.

CSX this week resumed rail service to the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina, following a stoppage due to Hurricane Florence.

The first inbound train arrived at the port on Tuesday night, according to a report on Wilmingtonbiz.com.