Railroad News

Sound Transit's board yesterday approved a $26.5 million order for five Brookville Equipment Corp. light-rail cars for the Tacoma Link extension.

The new vehicles will begin arriving in third-quarter 2020, with full delivery to be completed by first-quarter 2021. The new units will supplement the existing three-car fleet that operate on the 1.6-mile Tacoma Link line.

The Port of New Orleans surpassed the half-million mark for 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) handled at its Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal in fiscal-year 2017, marking the third consecutive year the port achieved that milestone, President and Chief Executive Officer Brandy Christian announced earlier this week.

In a "state-of-the-port" address on Nov. 13, Christian said the terminal handled 503,358 TEUs in FY2017 and anticipates continued growth in the port's container market.

Amtrak posted record ridership, revenue and earnings in fiscal-year 2017, which ended Sept. 30, railroad officials announced yesterday.

In FY2017, Amtrak's ridership increased 1.5 percent to 31.7 million passenger trips and total revenue rose 1.1 percent to $3.2 billion compared with figures in FY2016, according to an Amtrak press release.

A market research study has found that shippers are spending more than 80 hours a month on procuring rail services for existing assets, indicating a greater need for efficiency.

In May, Commtrex Inc. and Rockwood Steel LLC partnered to conduct market research on 52 shippers and their practices related to shipping, leasing, buying, selling, storing and servicing rail cars. Commtrex is an electronic marketplace for the rail industry; Rockwood is a railroad management consulting business.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in January will increase adult fares from $2 to $2.25.

The cost of a monthly pass will jump from $70 to $80. However, VTA will decrease youth fares from $1.75 to $1. The new fare structure also includes free transfers for two hours between all VTA vehicles for riders who purchase electronic fares, agency officials said in a press release.

The Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) has begun construction of a new automobile processing terminal, the first phase of a multi-year project aimed at increasing the port's vehicle handling capacity by 25 percent.

When completed, the new terminal will add more than 100 acres of processing and storage space at the port's Dames Point Marine Terminal.

The intermodal business drove volume growth for U.S. railroads in the week ending Nov. 11, as they logged 547,480 carloads and intermodal units, a 1.2 percent increase compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week fell 3.3 percent to 263,265 carloads, but intermodal volume rose 5.6 percent to 284,215 containers and trailers compared with the same week in 2016, according to Association of American Railroads' (AAR) data.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday proposed a record $10.8 billion budget for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) in fiscal years 2018-2019.

The budget would provide $171.6 million in seaport infrastructure improvements, including $23.5 million for the Port of Jacksonville's channel deepening and widening project.

Amtrak in January will kick off the next phase of infrastructure renewal at Penn Station in New York City.

The projects include replacing tracks 15 and 18, as well as renewing and replacing three turnouts in the "C" interlocking, which directs Amtrak and MTA Long Island Rail Road trains heading east to Sunnyside Yard in Queens, New York.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority's (CHSRA) board yesterday approved an early train operator contract with DB Engineering and Consulting USA.

The firm is the U.S. arm of Deutsche Bahn AG. As early train operator, DB Engineering and Consulting will assist CHSRA with planning, designing and implementing the state's high-speed rail program.

The Canadian government this week filed a lawsuit against OmniTRAX Inc. for breach of contract in its failure to repair and resume operation of a portion of a rail line into Churchill, Manitoba.

The announcement followed OmniTRAX's announcement that it intends to ask for arbitration under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

MTA Metro-North Railroad has completed infrastructure repair work on its Port Jervis Line, the railroad announced earlier this week.

Crews made structural repairs at the Moodna and Woodbury viaducts, and removed a defunct overhead bridge at Day Road in Campbell Hall, New York.

The U.S. Senate's version of the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" would eliminate or alter tax code provisions in ways that would discourage investment in the nation's public transportation system, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

Like the House's version, the Senate's tax legislation fails to address the challenges of the Highway Trust Fund's potential insolvency, APTA Acting President and Chief Executive Officer Richard White said in a prepared statement.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has added more officer patrols and increased the number of security guards on its system, the agency announced yesterday.

DART assigned additional police officers to the West End Station, CBD West Transfer Center and Rosa Parks Plaza, which are three of DART's busiest locations, agency officials said in a press release.

Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) last week offered a tour of its liquid natural gas (LNG) operations in Jacksonville, Florida, to U.S. and global representatives from a range of industries.

The tour was offered as part of the annual Natural Gas for High Horsepower summit, which was held in Jacksonville Nov. 6-9. The summit attracted participants from as far as Colombia, Japan, Korea and Canada, FEC officials said in a press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) next month expects to take delivery of four new Orange Line cars manufactured by China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. (CRRC).

Government officials in Canada and Quebec on Monday announced a nearly CA$30 million investment in 11 public transit projects in Montreal.

The projects include rail infrastructure rehabilitation and reconstruction work on the Reseau de transport metropolitain's (RTM) Vaudreuil-Hudson commuter-rail line. In addition, the funds will be used to establish a park-and-ride area at the Vaudreuil station and provide better information for RTM train and bus riders.

An Amtrak derailment that killed two track maintenance workers last year was caused by "deficient safety management" across the railroad, which resulted in a lack of a "clear, consistent and accepted vision for safety," the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced yesterday.

The derailment occurred April 3, 2016, in Chester, Pennsylvania, when an Amtrak train traveling from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., struck a backhoe, killing the backhoe operator and a track supervisor. Thirty-nine other people were injured.

Ballard Power Systems has signed a $9 million agreement to develop a zero-emission fuel cell engine to power Siemens' Mireo light-rail train. Terms call for Ballard to develop a 200-kilowatt fuel cell engine to power Mireo, which is a modular commuter train platform designed for speeds up to 100 mph. Initial deployments of the fuel cell-powered Mireo train are planned for 2021, Ballard officials said in a press release. The Ballard agreement marks a "decisive step towards replacing diesel-powered rail vehicles with emissions-free vehicles in the long-term interests of sustainable and climate-friendly mobility," added Sabrina Soussan, chief executive officer of Siemens' mobility division.

ALLU USA Inc. has chosen Sonoran Process Equipment Co. (SPEC) to serve as the southwestern U.S. distributor of its ALLU Transformer™ line of material processing attachments. SPEC will provide sales and rental of ALLU's screener crusher buckets and soil stabilizing equipment, as well as aftermarket service and spare parts for customers in Nevada and Utah.