Railroad News

The South Carolina Ports Authority's (SCPA) board this week approved a $69.5 million contract for the purchase of six ship-to-shore cranes to handle growing container volumes and big ships calling at the Port of Charleston.

Manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Ltd., the five cranes will offer 169 feet of lift height. They will be delivered to the Hugh K. Leatherman Sr. Terminal, which is under construction, SCPA officials said in a press release.

Three Anacostia Rail Holdings railroads this fall conducted railroad hazmat training for more than 260 members of Indiana and Minnesota fire department and emergency response organizations.

Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad, Louisville & Indiana Railroad and Northern Lines Railway conducted the training sessions in September and October in Michigan City, Franklin and Columbus, Indiana, and St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Despite weaker carloadings in several major commodity groups, rail-car demand was relatively stable in the third quarter, according to Economic Planning Associates Inc.'s (EPA) latest "Outlook for Rail Cars" report.

After a strong start, rail traffic moderated in the quarter, primarily because of a significant slowing in grain exports, weak light vehicle production and a continued decline in petroleum loadings, the report states.

Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE) partners yesterday submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking a $160 million Infrastructure For Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant for several freight- and passenger-rail projects.

The grant would help leverage private and public dollars for the program's 75th Street Corridor improvement project and Argo Connections project. The federal funds sought in the INFRA application would cover only one-third of total costs, but would close a funding gap that would enable the projects to quickly proceed to construction, CREATE officials said in a press release.

Association of American Railroads (AAR) President and Chief Executive Officer Edward Hamberger has been named one of the nation's top lobbyists in 2017 by The Hill, a national political newspaper.

AAR's top executive since 1998, Hamberger was included on the list of lobbyists serving associations.

North Carolina Railroad Co.'s (NCRR) board last month elected Michael Walters as chairman. He succeeds Franklin Rouse.

Walters has served on the railroad's board since 2015 and chaired its Audit and Finance Committee since 2015. He also serves on the boards for Forestry Mutual Insurance Co. and the North Carolina Forestry Association.

American Honda Motor Co. moved nearly 48,000 vehicles through the Port of Brunswick, Georgia, during its 2017 fiscal year.

That figure marks a nearly threefold increase over the previous fiscal year, Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) officials said in a press release. Honda moved 34,700 more vehicles in FY2017 than it did in FY2016.

Ontario has closed its request for proposals to design and build a new Kipling Station in Toronto.

The move marks the start of the project's next phase of procurement, Ontario Ministry of Transportation officials said in a press release.

Amtrak has appointed Christian Zacariassen chief information officer, the railroad announced yesterday.

As CIO, Zacariassen will be responsible for all information technology (IT) business systems, including strategy, technology investment portfolio governance, systems development, infrastructure, IT operations and information security.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed New York City-area transit agencies and passenger railroads to step up security after a man killed eight people and injured nine others in what authorities have said was an act of terrorism in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has increased security patrols and surveillance across all its agencies, according to a press release issued by Cuomo's office.

October was the best month for U.S. intermodal traffic in history, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported yesterday.

U.S. railroads' carload traffic last month declined 0.1 percent to 1,065,777 units, but the number of intermodal units rose 6.4 percent to 1,144,157 containers and trailers compared with October 2016 figures, AAR officials said in a press release.

Robert Vaughan has been named to the governing board of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA).

He'll serve as the business representative for the Broward County Board of County Commissioners, SFRTA officials said in a press release.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) later this month will host three public hearings on the King of Prussia Rail project.

To be held Nov. 13 and 15, the meetings will include an open house and presentation about the project, which calls for extending SEPTA's Norristown High Speed Line into King of Prussia and Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania.

Popular Science magazine has recognized Sound Transit's technology for operating light-rail trains across a floating bridge as one of the most important engineering innovations of 2017.

As part of its 14-mile East Link extension, the agency plans to build light rail on the Homer M. Hadley vehicular bridge over Lake Washington near Seattle

New Jersey Transit has lengthened the light-rail platforms by 25 feet at the Exchange Place Station in Jersey City, the agency announced earlier this week.

At 190 feet, the extended platforms now can accommodate extended light-rail cars on the Hudson-Bergen Line. The longer cars contain 102 seats, while the regularly sized units have 68 seats. The extended cars also feature more room for riders to stand.

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor will receive a $9.85 million FASTLANE small project grant toward the port's nearly $20 million expansion, port officials announced yesterday.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao confirmed the port received congressional approval for the grant, according to a Ports of Indiana press release.