Railroad News

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) yesterday began a series of public hearings on a draft environmental report for a proposed higher-speed rail line between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia.

Released last month, the draft report recommends infrastructure improvements that would allow for nine additional daily passenger-rail trips between the two cities.

Fly-ash supplier Charah LLC has opened a storage rail terminal in partnership with OmniTRAX Inc. in Kelim, Colorado.  

The new terminal is part of Charah's expanding network of sourcing locations across the county, which supply Class C and Class F fly ash for concrete producers.

California Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday signed into law a bill that enables Caltrain's board to ask voters to approve a sales tax measure that would increase the commuter-rail agency's funding.

Authored by California State Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), the law gives the board the authority to place a sales tax of no more than one-eighth of a cent before voters in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) yesterday formally presented its 2017 awards during its annual meeting in Atlanta.

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) won the association's 2017 outstanding public transportation achievement award. The third-largest public transit system in North America, the TTC moves 1.8 million customers each day on its bus, streetcar, light-rail, subway and paratransit systems.

Ranking Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee yesterday called on U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to take immediate action on a stalled rule-making that would add four prescription opioids to the drug-testing protocols of train operators and other safety-sensitive transportation workers.

The Democrats' request follows news that two Amtrak maintenance crew members were using opioids or cocaine when they were struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Chester, Pennsylvania, in April 2016.

GE Transportation Chief Executive Officer Jamie Miller has been appointed chief financial officer of GE, effective Nov. 1. She'll replace Jeffrey Bornstein, who will leave GE on Dec. 31 after 28 years of service. In October 2015, Miller became president and CEO of GE Transportation. She's credited with helping lead GE Transportation's "Brilliant Factory" initiative, the business's digital transformation effort. Miller also helped open global markets around the world, GE officials said in a press release. She joined GE in 2008 as vice president, controller and chief accounting officer. Pascal Schweitzer, GE Transportation's global services leader, will serve as acting CEO. A permanent CEO will be named in the coming weeks, company officials said.

The Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) has chosen Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc. (LAN) to provide railroad engineering services for rail projects over the next three years. DCTA operates the 21-mile A-train commuter-rail line, which connects with Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Green Line in Carrollton, Texas. LAN will handle projects aimed at improving the existing transit network, such as A-train expansions to the Cotton Belt and North Denton regions. LAN's services will include rail system guideway design, signal system design, rail bridge engineering and inspection, station design, schedule modeling and emergency railroad engineering. The firm also will evaluate future rail expansions to other corridors.

Amtrak late last week opened a new $44.3 million intermodal station in Rochester, New York.

The station is designed to speed up travel with expanded track service, streamline operations with a modern concourse and baggage handling system.

A $67 million grade separation project in Bensenville, Illinois, has been completed as part of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) program, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced last week.

The project involved an intersection improvement at Irving Park Road (Illinois Highway 19) and York Road, an effort that followed a railroad overpass companion project built on Irving Park Road, department officials said in a press release.

President Donald Trump has nominated former U.S. Rep. Leon "Lynn" Westmoreland of Georgia to serve a five-year term on Amtrak's board. 

A Republican, Westmoreland served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years. He completed that service in January.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) yesterday kicked off its EXPO trade show in Atlanta.

APTA officials say 12,000 public transit leaders from more than 75 countries are attending the show, which they've described as the world's largest showcase for the public transportation industry.

Union Pacific Railroad late last week announced appointments to its finance department, as well as the retirement of Vice President and Treasurer Mary Jones and Vice President-Tax Pat O'Malley.

The Class I has named Jon Panzer vice president and treasurer; Jennifer Hamann vice president-planning and analysis; and Bryan Clark, vice president-tax, according to a UP press release.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority's (CHRSA) staff has recommended that DB Engineering and Consulting USA serve as an early train operator for the agency's Central Valley-to-Silicon Valley segment.

The firm's parent is Deutsche Bahn AG, Germany's state-owned rail company. As early train operator, DB Engineering and Consulting would help design and operate the segment in its beginning phases.

Canadian Pacific announced yesterday a new partnership with Genesee & Wyoming Inc.  and Bluegrass Farms of Ohio that enables the Class I to serve customers in the Ohio Valley region. 

Under the agreement, CP has obtained an exclusive agreement with Bluegrass Farms to use the consortium's 90-acre intermodal facility in Jeffersonville, Ohio. Bluegrass Farms will continue to own the facility and operate it on behalf of CP. The Class I and G&W have agreed to provide rail service to the facility through G&W's Indiana & Ohio Railway (IORY) line.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) has logged 1 million "taps" on its Hop Fastpass™ electronic fare system, the agency announced last week.

The system enables riders to pay for rides by tapping fare cards against Hop readers. TriMet launched Hop Fastpass in mid-July.

The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) over the weekend performed track maintenance and rail replacement between its North Avenue and Camden Yards light-rail stations.

To accommodate the work, the agency shut down light-rail service in both directions between the stations.

The U.S. Senate last week confirmed Howard "Skip" Elliott to serve as the next administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

A 40-year veteran of the U.S. freight-rail industry, Elliott most recently served as group vice president of public safety, health, environment and security for CSX.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) later this month will replace its 103-year-old Post Avenue bridge in Westbury, New York.

On Oct. 21-22, crews will use cranes and an industrial-grade movable hydraulic lift to remove the existing bridge and replace it with a new one. The $9.7 million project is slated to wrap up before the first morning rush hour train arrives Oct. 23, according to a press release issued by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office.

Norfolk Southern Railway has begun recovery efforts to restore service to areas affected by Hurricane Nate, which made U.S. landfall over the weekend in southeast Louisiana and near Biloxi, Mississippi.

The Class I announced yesterday that operations to and in New Orleans have been restored to service, and NS will meter traffic back into the area.

Siemens and Wi-Tronix are launching a partnership to expand digital predictive maintenance for rail services. 

As part of the deal, Siemens has made a "significant equity investment" in Wi-Tronix, the companies announced today in separate press releases. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has appointed Tenzin Dolkar to serve as state rail director. Dolkar succeeds Alene Tchourumoff, who left the post in June after Dayton appointed her chair of the Metropolitan Council.

Dolkar most recently served as senior policy adviser to Dayton and Lt. Gov. Tina Smith. In that role, her work focused on transportation, agriculture, elections, and military affairs and veterans' affairs. In this role, Dolkar collaborated with former Rail Director Tchourumoff on Dayton's rail priorities, according to a press release issued by Dayton's office.