Railroad News

Yesterday, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) began a new train-testing stage along the 10-mile Berryessa Extension running from Fremont to San Jose, California. Testing could occur up to 20 hours a day and continue for several months, according to a press release issued by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA).

VTA is overseeing construction of the Berryessa Extension, which is the first phase of BART's 16-mile Silicon Valley Extension. 

INFORMS recently honored BNSF Railway Co. with an award for pioneering and integrating operations research and analytics programs into its organization.

An international association for operations research and analytics professionals and students, INFORMS presents the award annually to recognize effective integration of operations research into organizational decision-making.

Ridership on Charlotte Area Transit System's (CATS) LYNX Blue Line light-rail service increased 48 percent in March compared with the same 2017 period, thanks in large part to last month's opening of a 9.3-mile extension, according to a CATS press release.

Service for the LYNX Blue Line extension began on March 16 and also contributed to a 6 percent year-to-date increase in light-rail ridership over the same 2017 period.

CSX yesterday announced Vice President of Mechanical Brian Barr will assume the new role of senior VP of engineering and mechanical. He will continue to be responsible for the mechanical department while now leading the engineering team.

VP of Engineering Ricky Johnson will remain in that role and report to Barr, who will report to Executive VP of Operations Ed Harris.

Harsher-than-normal winter weather in the first quarter, including extremely low temperatures in Canada in February, put the deep freeze on CN’s financial results.

Q1 revenue was flat at $3.2 billion while operating income fell 16 percent to $1 billion, net income tumbled 16 percent to $741 million and operating expenses ballooned 9 percent to $2.2 billion compared with first-quarter 2017 results (all figures are in Canadian dollars).

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) this summer will install four elevators at its Astoria Boulevard Station on the N and W rail lines in Queens.

The project includes a pair of street-to-mezzanine elevators, as well as another two mezzanine-to-platform elevators. The installation of the street elevators will require the complete demolition and reconstruction of the station mezzanine, which will be raised to reduce strikes by trucks on the road below. 

VIA Rail Canada Inc. late last week released a report highlighting its sustainability efforts in 2017.

Last year, the railroad provided 4.39 million trips, marking a 10.5 percent increase over 2016’s total. As ridership increased, VIA Rail logged a 34 percent drop in greenhouse-gas emissions since 2015, railroad officials said in a press release.

As of mid-March, U.S. Class Is employed 145,105 workers, up 0.2 percent compared with mid-February’s level, but down 2.8 percent compared with mid-March 2017's count, according to Surface Transportation Board data.

Only two of six employment categories reflected workforce increases on a month-over-month basis. They were transportation (train and engine), up 0.8 percent to 60,297 employees, and maintenance of way and structures, up 0.6 percent to 32,433 workers.

Nathan Henderson, who served the Class I, contracting and supply segments of the industry during his 20-year rail career, died April 18 from an apparent heart attack. He was 43.

From 1998 through 2011, Henderson worked at CSX, rising to the position of division manager before joining R. J. Corman Railroad Group, where he spent the next six years. At R. J. Corman, he held a variety of senior executive positions, including president of R. J. Corman Railroad Services Co.; and chief commercial officer, vice president of material sales, and VP of sales and marketing of R. J. Corman Railroad Group.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) last week opened a new south terminal at the Red Line's 95th/Dan Ryan Station on the city's South Side.

The completion of the terminal marked a milestone in the $280 million project to rebuild the station, which is one of the agency's busiest, CTA officials said in a press release.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Friday announced a new infrastructure project funding program that will supplant the popular Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program.

The USDOT published a notice of funding opportunity for interested parties to apply for $1.5 billion in discretionary grants through the new Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) transportation grant program. The BUILD grant program will replace the TIGER program, which was introduced in 2009.

Canadian Pacific late Friday negotiated its way out of a strike two unions were set to launch shortly after midnight. The Class I reached an agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Train & Engine (TCRC) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which planned to begin a work stoppage at CP at 12:01 a.m. on April 21.

Per a recommendation from federal mediators, Canadian Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labor Patty Hajdu directed the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to administer a ratification vote on each of the railroad’s final offers to the TCRC and IBEW, CP officials said in a press release. The parties didn’t release any details on the pacts. The TCRC and IBEW represent 3,000 conductors and 360 signal maintainers at CP, respectively.

Bombardier Transportation in Australia has received the EN 15085 certification for rail vehicle and component welding. The firm is the first rail company in Australia to receive the certification, Bombardier officials said in a press release. Bombardier's welding training center in Dandenong, Victoria, is now an accredited facility for securing and growing local welding capabilities. The site also can deliver industry-recognized certifications to staff, external suppliers and industry partners in Australia.

Road & Rail Services Inc. has received the 2017 Toyota Logistics Services Kaizen Award for Logistics Excellence. The award recognizes "successful collaboration" between Toyota Logistics Services and Road & Rail, which led to improved rail-car and vehicle velocity performance at a lowered cost, Road & Rail officials said in a press release.

Metra next week will install and test a new signal and switching system north of the Museum Campus/11th Street Station in Chicago.

The railroad is switching from a manual system to an automated one as part of its positive train control (PTC) implementation, Metra officials said in a press release.

VIA Rail Canada Inc. has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a supplier to replace its fleet that operates along the Quebec-Windsor corridor.

Starting today, the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Cotton Belt corridor regional rail project in North Texas is now available for a 45-day public review and comment period, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) officials announced.

The 26-mile Cotton Belt Corridor extends between Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Shiloh Road in Plano, Texas. The project's primary purpose is to provide passenger-rail service in Tarrant, Dallas and Collin counties, Texas.

In 2017, public transit ridership in the United States dropped 2.9 percent to 10.1 billion trips compared to 2016, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced this week.

While heavy-rail ridership in the country declined 2 percent to 3.8 billion trips, light- and commuter-rail ridership held mostly steady. Last year, U.S. transit riders took 497 million commuter-rail trips and 548 million light-rail trips, marking 0.19 percent and 0.83 percent decreases, respectively.