Railroad News

Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) board has approved a $1.92 billion budget for fiscal-year 2018 that includes funds to acquire new rail cars.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has executed an $87.7 million low-interest loan for Sound Transit's new light-rail operations and maintenance facility in Bellevue, Washington.

The 25-acre operations and maintenance shop is needed to accommodate expansion of the Puget Sound region's light-rail system, Sound Transit officials said in a press release. By 2024, the system will grow from 22 miles to 62, with the existing light-rail fleet slated to grow from 62 cars to 214.

VTG Rail Inc. has acquired the fleet of Redwood Rail LLC, a transaction that will add 1,135 rail cars to VTG's fleet, the company announced today.

The acquisition will enlarge VTG's fleet to 5,200 rail cars. VTG also assumed the associated leases as well as Redwood Rail's existing customer relationships, according to a VTG press release.

The Canadian government plans to commit up to CA$333 million for the Finch West light-rail project in Toronto, Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca announced late last week.

Expected to cost CA$1.2 billion, the project involves building a 6.83-mile light-rail line along the surface of Finch Avenue in Toronto. The route will originate at the Toronto Transit Commission's future Finch West subway station on the Toronto-York Spadina expansion.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has awarded a $66.5 million contract to L.K. Comstock & Co. Inc. for a project that will add a second track on the MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR).

A subsidiary of RailWorks Corp., L.K. Comstock will be responsible for track and systems installation on the Main Line Ronkonkoma Branch. The second track will extend over 13 miles between Ronkonkoma and Farmingdale, N.Y., according to a company press release.

Rideau Transit Group (RTG) has awarded a CA$300 million contract to Alstom to supply 38 Citadis Spirit light-rail cars for the second phase of Ottawa's O-Train extension. The Citadis units are low-floor vehicles that feature a wide central aisle and interior circulation, Alstom officials said in a press release. Alstom already is supplying 34 Citadis cars for Ottawa's O-Train Confederation Line under a 2013 subcontract agreement with RTG. Alstom will maintain vehicles and the light-rail system for 30 years. The O-Train extension's second phase will add 7.4 miles to the Confederation Line, which is now under construction.

Nomad Digital has extended its partnership with Great Britain's Network Rail to provide rail infrastructure maintenance data. Nomad's on-board connectivity server enables Network Rail engineers to gain access to raw data picture files, which they can monitor to identify any concerns with the track. Network Rail's measurement fleet surveys the rail lines regularly to identify any issues. The measurement trains use four 3-D cameras and two thermal imaging cameras to scan the track as it passes below. The images are  relayed to a database system, enabling Network Rail staff to find issues more quickly, according to the company.

The Canadian government has pledged more than CA$36 million to support planning and preliminary engineering for the proposed 4.6-mile extension of the Yonge Subway line into southern Ontario's York Region.

The project calls for extending the subway from the existing Finch Station in Toronto to the Richmond Hill Center in York Region. The federal funds are part of the first phase of the "Investing in Canada" plan, which provides support public infrastructure across the country.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the Indiana and Ohio Railway (I&O), the union announced yesterday.

The five-year pact covers rates of pay, work rules and health and welfare benefits for 50 engineers, conductors and trainees. Wages will increase 28.6 percent over the life of the contract, which ends Dec. 31, 2020, according to a BLET press release.

Great Lakes Basin Transportation Inc. (GLBT) yesterday filed a response to the Surface Transportation Board's (STB) request for additional information on the company's proposed new freight railroad that would operate through Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

On June 2, the STB told GLBT that it needed to provide more details in its application for regulatory approval to build the new rail line. Among the board's demands was a list specifying the cities and counties through which the railroad would operate.

Valley Metro's Rail Board has approved Kiewit as the construction manager at-risk for the South Central, the agency's next light-rail extension.

Kiewit will partner with Valley Metro, the city of Phoenix, project designer AECOM, station artists and local community to build the extension, Valley Metro officials said in a press release.

Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI) yesterday announced the award of $217,000 in grants for rail safety education projects in 15 states.

The grants, funded by the Federal Railroad Association (FRA), will be distributed to Operation Lifesaver chapters in the states to pay for public education and awareness programs that promote rail-crossing safety and trespass prevention, OLI officials said in a press release.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) board yesterday approved a $1.4 billion budget to extend the Foothill Gold Line 11.5 miles east to Claremont, California.

The board also approved partnership agreements that establish a funding plan and shared roles and responsibilities between Metro and the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, the agency tasked with building the extension.

Joseph Lhota will return to lead the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) as chairman, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.

Lhota served as MTA chairman in 2012 until he stepped down to run for New York City mayor, but lost to Bill de Blasio in 2013.

Minneapolis Metro Transit today will partially close its Blue and Green line light-rail routes to install new tracks.

The closure will continue through July 3.

Calgary Transit earlier this week introduced a new CTrain line inspection car.

Dubbed "Scout," the unit is a retired CTrain car that's been redesigned to record data about rails, tracks and overhead cables as it travels along the agency's light-rail system.

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The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in early July will begin a trolley tunnel repair project in Philadelphia's Center City.

The work will require the agency to close the Center City tunnel July 7-17. During the closure, crews will work around the clock on maintenance and construction tasks, including installation of new trolley wire.

Class Is employed 149,032 workers in the United States as of mid-May, down 0.05 percent from employment in mid-April and down 2.42 percent from the year-ago figure, according to the Surface Transportation Board (STB).

Of the six employment categories, five reported decreases compared with mid-April. They were executives, officials and staff assistants, down 0.99 percent to 8,745 employees; professional and administrative, down 1.3 percent to 12,506; maintenance of way and structures, down 0.18 percent to 34,158; maintenance of equipment and stores, down 0.44 percent to 27,726; and transportation other than train and engine, down 0.41 percent to 5,825.