Railroad News

Alstom this week presented its first Prima T8 AZ8A electric freight locomotive to Azerbaijan Railways. Capable of towing up to 9,000 tons, the eight-axle unit is based on the KZ8A locomotives in service in Kazakhstan. The company presented the Prima T8 locomotive at its site in Astana, Kazakhstan, where 40 units are being manufactured by Alstom joint venture EKZ. In 2014, Azerbaijan Railways awarded EKZ a contract to build 50 locomotives, including 10 Prima M4 AZ4A passenger locomotives.

French industrial battery manufacturer Saft this year is marking its 100th anniversary. The company provides specialized batteries for transportation, energy storage and Internet of Things applications. Saft serves more than 3,000 customers worldwide, and has research centers in France and the United States, company officials said in a press release.

Brightline has partnered with nonprofit Talent4Change to sponsor a program aimed at increasing public awareness of rail safety.

Known as "BUZZitFORWARD," the program would provide free haircuts and mentoring for underprivileged youth and the homeless who take Brightline's rail safety pledge or complete a brief tutorial on rail safety, Brightline officials said in a press release.

Port Everglades in Broward County, Florida, is nearing the end of the design phase of its plan to install three new super post-Panamax container-handling gantry cranes.

The port's Chief Executive Officer Steven Cernak has issued a second notice to proceed to begin manufacturing the cranes, which are valued at $13.8 million each. They are being manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. Inc. of China (ZPMC), according to a Broward County press release.

Californians in November will vote on whether to repeal the state's gas tax increase and vehicle fees that are slated to provide billions of dollars for transportation projects over the next few years.

The initiative was added to the ballot after petitioners collected more than 585,000 signatures, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this week.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) board yesterday chose a 9.2-mile light-rail line as its preferred alternative for the East San Fernando Valley transit corridor project.

The line would connect the Orange Line bus-rapid transit station on Van Nuys Boulevard to a Metrolink station in LA's Sylmar neighborhood. Metro's staff determined that light rail would be faster, provide more capacity and better serve the community than a bus rapid transit line, agency officials wrote in a blog post.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) yesterday announced a six-month pilot project aimed at increasing light-rail safety in downtown San Jose, California.

The project calls for installing railings along Second Street between San Fernando and San Carlos streets to help delineate the sidewalk from the trackway, VTA officials said in a press release.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has recommended that Transport Canada update railway employee qualification standards to address gaps in training and regulatory oversight for workers in critical safety positions.

The TSB's recommendation stems from its investigation into a June 2016 incident involving an uncontrolled movement of rolling stock at MacMillan Yard near Toronto.

[Editor's note: This story was updated at 11:02 a.m. CDT to include comments from KCS officials.]

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) National President Dennis Pierce and BLET Texas Mexican Railway (Tex-Mex) General Chairman Chris Heise yesterday rejected a plan by Kansas City Southern Railway to replace U.S. crews with Mexican crews in Laredo, Texas, setting the stage for a BLET strike on the Tex-Mex starting July 9.

Mississippi's Jackson County Board of Supervisors has approved $4.7 million in funding to support the Mississippi Export Railroad's rail upgrades.

The money will be used to build 3.2 miles of rail-car storage, passing and field repair space, railroad officials said in a press release.

North American rail volume for 12 U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 749,390 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending June 23, resulting in a 3.3 percent increase in traffic compared with the same week a year ago, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported this week.

U.S. carloads for the week rose 2.5 percent to 268,464 units, while intermodal volume jumped 4.9 percent to 288,876 containers and trailers compared with the same week in 2017.

Amtrak yesterday issued a request for information (RFI) for coach cars, trainsets and self-propelled units that could replace its current Amfleet I equipment.

The equipment includes single-level passenger cars used primarily on routes east of the Mississippi River, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

Getzner USA Inc. has opened its first North American production facility in Decatur, Illinois. The plant manufactures rail and construction products, including elastic bearings for rail traffic. The facility is expected to lead to new opportunities for the company in the rail industry, said Getzner USA President Andreas Denk in a press release. Austria-based Getzner Werkstoffe, the firm's parent company, has been active in North America for more than two decades, and established headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2013.

TRC has acquired Vali Cooper & Associates Inc., a California-based infrastructure firm that manages transportation, water, wastewater, utility and facilities projects. Vali Cooper's clients include the California Department of Transportation, Bay Area Rapid Transit and municipalities, private entities and utilities across California. With the acquisition, TRC now has almost 600 employees in California, company officials said in a press release. Terms of the transaction were undisclosed.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy announced $1 million in state grants to fund projects that will return blighted areas to productive use.

The funds are being awarded by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development through the recently launched Brownfield Area-Wide Revitalization Grant program. This is the second round of grants being awarded under the program.

The $320 million Virginia International Gateway (VIG) expansion project recently passed the halfway mark, the Port of Virginia announced last week.

To mark the occasion, Gov. Ralph Northam joined state and port officials for an up-close look at the project, which is expected to wrap up in late spring 2019, port officials said in a press release.

This fall, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter-rail riders will be able to pay fares onboard with a credit or debit card.

A new mobile point-of-sale system has been tested and refined. It will be expanded to include all conductors over the next two months, according to a press release issued by Keolis Commuter Services, the MBTA's commuter-rail operator.