Railroad News

Stadler recently broke ground on a new locomotive manufacturing plant in Salt Lake City. The company in 2016 rented a service plant from the Utah Transit Authority to build trains for the future TEX Rail commuter system in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. After Stadler received a contract from Caltrain for 16 bi-level trains in August 2016, the company determined it needed more production space, according to a Stadler press release. The new facility will include 75,000 square feet of production space, as well as test track to commission trains.

Railway and Industrial Services Inc. (RISX) has retained mergers-and-acquisitions specialist Equity Partners HG to seek a refinancing, joint venture or equity partner. Equity Partners also may assist in selling land, buildings, equipment and business, officials from that company said in a press release. For the past 17 years, RISX has performed rail-car repairs and conversions, as well as general lease returns.

Valley Metro's board has approved a new code of conduct for its light-rail system.

Dubbed "Respect the Ride," the code is aimed at discouraging disruptive behavior on the agency's 26-mile light-rail line. The rules give Valley Metro the authority to remove riders who engage in inappropriate or unsafe behavior, agency officials said in a press release.

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and Sycuan Casino have signed a naming rights agreement for the Green Line light-rail route.

The route will be renamed the Sycuan Green Line. The pact will generate up to $25.5 million in nonfare revenue for MTS operations over 30 years, agency officials said in a press release.

Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) General Manager Neil McFarlane this week announced plans to retire in early 2018.

McFarlane joined the agency in 1991 and became general manager in 2010. During his time at TriMet, he helped grow the MAX light-rail system from a single 15-mile line to a five-line, 60-mile network.

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday named Farmrail System Inc. as its "Short Line of the Year" at the Class I's annual short-line conference.

A holding company for Grainbelt Corp. and Farmrail Corp., Farmrail System was recognized for its "entrepreneurial spirit and diligence in attracting new customers," BNSF officials said in a press release.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today announced the 2017 recipients of the Holden-Proefrock Award and 2016 Non-Accident Release (NAR) Grand Slam Awards, which are given annually to individuals and railroads that operate in the fields of hazardous materials.

AAR named Paul Williams of Norfolk Southern Railway as the Holden-Proefrock Award winner. For 34 years, Williams has worked to ensure the safe transport of hazardous materials by rail.

Kansas City Southern reported record third-quarter operating income, operating ratio and adjusted earnings per share, company officials announced today.

Operating income for third-quarter 2017 rose 17 percent to $234 million, adjusted earnings per share increased 21 percent to $1.35 and the operating ratio improved 2.5 points to 64.4 percent compared with third-quarter 2016 results, according to a KCS press release.

During the first nine months of 2017, the number of average weekday rides on TransLink's system increased 6.2 percent compared with ridership for the same period last year.

In September alone, ridership on the agency's Expo/Millennium SkyTrain line shot up 10.6 percent to 9.2 million boardings. SkyTrain's Canada Line logged 4 million boardings, marking a 4.6 percent increase.

The Port of Longview in Washington has entered into an agreement with International Raw Materials (IRM) to lease the port's Bridgeview Terminal, port officials announced yesterday.

IRM operated from the port between 1981 and 2001. Based in Philadelphia, IRM intends to use the terminal for the export of bulk minerals, fertilizers and grains.

Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) new reduced-contact wheel profile has helped cut down on interior noise in trains.

Carload and intermodal volumes rose for U.S. railroads during the week ending Oct. 14, according to data from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Total carloads for the week rose 0.5 percent to 264,161 units, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume increased 5.5 percent to 284,103 containers and trailers compared with the same week last year, AAR officials said in a press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) on Saturday will finish installing positive train control (PTC) infrastructure on the Needham commuter-rail line.

The work is wrapping up one month earlier than scheduled, MBTA officials said in a press release. Regular Saturday service on the line will resume Oct. 28.

Metra and Canadian Pacific have begun a project to upgrade signals and add several crossover tracks in Franklin Park, Illinois. The effort is the 34th project to begin under the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE).

Crews will install five crossovers and associated signaling on Metra's track serving its Milwaukee District West Line and CP. The area is located between the grade crossings of Scott Street and Ruby Street.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that two Union Pacific Railroad trains collided in Texas in September 2015 because the crew of one train was likely asleep before the accident occurred, the agency announced this week.

Contributing to the incident near Texarkana, Texas, was the lack of a functioning positive train control system, according to the NTSB's accident brief.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and acting Federal Transit Administrator K. Jane Williams last week met with Protran Technology founder Peter Bartek for a demonstration of the company's safety technology for pedestrians and track workers. Chao visited company officials at the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) 2017 EXPO trade show, which ran Oct. 9-11. Protran provides track worker secondary warning systems to meet federal safety standards. The company has more than 13,000 warning systems in revenue service.

Amtrak has chosen dFuzion Inc.'s rMetrix®-A ride performance assessment systems for performing continuous vehicle/track interaction monitoring services on ACS-64 locomotives. The system enables operators to rapidly identify and prioritize locations for corrective and preventive maintenance, dFuzion officials said in a press release. The technology also helps detect vehicle and track abnormalities that may impact passenger comfort, equipment reliability and operational safety.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) yesterday marked the completion of a $1.7 million upgrade to its Lee-Shaker Station on the Green Line.

Schirmer Construction demolished the original platform and built a new one one with new waiting shelters. Crews also installed new lighting, signage, railings and a safety security system with cameras and emergency call boxes.

The Port of Savannah moved more than 1 million 20-foot-equivalent container units (TEUs) across the Garden City Terminal in first-quarter fiscal-year 2018, a 5.8 percent increase from the number of TEUs moved during first-quarter FY2017.

Container tons rose 8.1 percent to 7.23 million tons for the quarter ending Sept. 30 compared with the year-ago period, according to a press release issued by the Georgia Ports Authority.

GO Transit's new rail maintenance facility in Whitby, Ontario, is slated to be completed by the end of 2017, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation announced late last week.

The 500,000-square-foot facility will provide maintenance, repair, cleaning and storage  for 13 trains. The CA$859.2 million shop is being constructed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certification, officials from the ministry said in a press release.

Preferred Proppants LLC has reached a definitive agreement to sell a Wisconsin sand mine to Source Energy Services Ltd.

Also known as Preferred Sands, the company entered into a definitive agreement to sell the sand mine in Blair, Wisconsin, to Source Energy for $80 million, and entered into a production payment agreement with respect to certain exploration rights on more than 3,600 acres in the Peace River Valley of Alberta.