Railroad News

Nate Asplund has succeeded James Hertwig as president and chief executive officer of Florida East Coast Railway.

Asplund, who assumed his new role on Jan. 8, most recently served as president and CEO of the Red River Valley and Western Railroad (RRVW), a regional railroad serving North Dakota and Minnesota, FEC Railway officials said in a post on the company's website.

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

Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner trains have resumed service between Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, California, following deadly mudslides that shut down tracks.

Trains now are serving Ventura, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Goleta, San Luis Obispo and all other stations on the route, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

The Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) yesterday announced its 2018 roster of board members.

Adriene Bailey was elected to her second term as chairman, while Michael Wilson was named vice chairman.

CSX Corp. announced yesterday that it will host its investor and analyst conference March 1 at the InterContinental New York Barclay in New New York City.

CSX President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Foote and members of the senior management team will outline how the precision scheduled railroading model will "positively transform CSX's operations, improve customer service and drive long-term value creation for shareholders," company officials said in a press release.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao earlier this week shared details about the U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) forthcoming policy for automated vehicles.

The policy will emphasize a unified, intermodal approach to automated driving systems policy, USDOT officials said in a press release.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday issued four safety recommendations after investigating two railroad accidents.

The recommendations stem from the board's investigations of a railroad employee fatality involving Union Pacific Railroad in Kansas City, Kansas, and a BNSF Railway Co. crude-oil train derailment near Heimdal, North Dakota.

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

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

HDR has obtained a contract with Sound Transit to provide planning, preliminary engineering, environmental and public involvement services for the Tacoma Dome Link light-rail extension. The 9.7-mile extension will include four new stations and a new operations and maintenance facility. The alignment will run through South Federal Way, Fife and East Tacoma, Washington. HDR's team will lead stakeholder engagement and invite the public and business owners to weigh in on the project, company officials said in a press release.

Signet Electronic Systems Inc. has achieved ISO 9001:2015 certification, an international standard for quality management systems. An accredited, third-party certification body performed an audit to determine that the company's quality management documentation is in compliance with the standard. The company is one of the few systems integrators in the United States to achieve the certification, Signet officials said in a press release. The certification is expected to open opportunities for the company in the transportation industry, said Signet Vice President of Transportation Solutions Greg Sparrow.

The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) yesterday released its 2018 budget, which totals CA$1.4 billion.

The budget includes funds to boost subway service by more than 3 percent, which means trains will arrive at stations every 5 minutes on weekday evenings on all four subway lines.

The first week of 2018 was a tad slow for U.S. railroads, which posted 415,862 carloads and intermodal units, down 4.6 percent compared with the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week ending Jan. 6 were 208,646 units, down 5.2 percent compared with the same week in 2017, while weekly intermodal volume was 207,216 containers and trailers, down 3.9 percent compared with a year ago.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has unveiled four alternative routes for the Green Line light-rail extension.

Also known as the South Bay extension, the project involves extending the Green Line from its current terminus at a station in Redondo Beach, California, to a new transit center in Torrance, California.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., senior associate editor

An environmental study exploring the viability of a high-speed passenger-rail service between Minnesota and Wisconsin has been halted after two Minnesota state lawmakers objected to its funding.

Brightline today announced that its privately funded passenger-rail service between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Florida, will begin Jan. 13.

Over the past month, the company has been operating simulated service to prepare for operational readiness. Brightline expects to become fully operational and extend service to downtown Miami in the coming months, company officials said in a press release.