Railroad News

The Orange County Transportation Authority's (OCTA) board yesterday approved seeking a Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) that would cover nearly half the cost to build the Orange County Streetcar project.

The board will seek an FFGA from the FTA for $148.9 million, according to an OCTA press release.

A coalition of six state attorneys general is urging the Trump administration to require all crude oil transported by rail to meet certain vapor-pressure standards.

In a letter to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the attorneys general asked the agency to take steps to minimize the risk of explosion and fire in the event of a crude-by-rail accident.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced yesterday that it has approved a $647 million Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) for Caltrain's electrification project.

The approval marked a turn from the FTA's decision in February to halt the grant. As early as last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told a U.S. Senate committee that she wouldn't sign off on the grant until Congress approved all the needed funding.

Wabtec Corp. obtained a $40 million contract to design, install, test and commission positive train control (PTC) for the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), which operates the Tri-Rail commuter-rail service in the Miami area. Under the contract, Wabtec will provide its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System (I-ETMS®) equipment for 42 locomotives and cab cars, a back-office server, wayside communications and signals, a dispatch system, training, and system integration. Installation is expected to wrap up by 2018's end. SFRTA's PTC system will be fully interoperable with all Class Is' PTC systems, Wabtec officials said in a press release.

Rockwell Collins and BNSF Railway Co. have begun conducting "beyond visual line of sight" test flights with unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones. The railroad has received authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration to perform the flights without visual observers. The operation marked the first beyond visual line of sight commercial UAS flights in the continental United States, according to a Rockwell Collins press release. During the 200-mile flights, BNSF controlled its aircraft using Rockwell Collins' control radio data link network deployed throughout the railroad's subdivision in Clovis, N.M. Such flights could help BNSF inspect tracks from afar.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) next month will conduct its final repair surge as part of its SafeTrack maintenance plan.

To complete the work, the agency on June 17 will shut down a 5-mile segment of the Red Line between the Shady Grove and Twinbrook stations in Montgomery County, Md. The work includes crosstie replacement, rail renewal and welding.

Port Manatee and Guatemala are seeking to increase the amount of imports and exports shipped between the two, representatives of the Florida port and Central American nation announced last week.

"Port Manatee is already an important hub for Guatemalan imports and exports, and we see substantial prospects for growth in this relationship," said Dunia Miranda-Mauri, Guatemala's Miami-based trade commissioner, in a press release.

New Jersey Transit's board last week approved an early action contract with PKF-Mark III Inc. for work to support the Portal Bridge replacement project.

The $14.5 million contract involves realigning a 138kV transmission pole, installing new fiber optic cable poles and building a steel bridge structure over the Jersey City Municipal Utility Authority's water main.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo yesterday asked President Donald Trump to provide emergency funding to address the "state of disrepair" at Penn Station.

In a letter to the president, Cuomo asked for federal assistance for short-term construction and transportation alternatives, and facilitation of a long-term solution to problems at the New York City station.

Ontario is moving forward with preliminary design work for a Toronto-Windsor high-speed rail route, Premier Kathleen Wynne announced late last week.

In fall, Ontario officials are expected issue a request for bids for the design needed for an environmental assessment. Ontario will invest 15 million Canadian dollars in the assessment, according to a press release issued by Wynne's office.

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) late last week joined Arkansas & Missouri Railroad (A&M) representatives for a tour of the Arkansas River Bridge.

The lawmaker visited the structure as he traveled from Fort Smith to Rudy, Ark., on one of the railroad's excursion cars. Fort Smith city officials recently applied for a federal grant to repair and rehabilitate aging rail infrastructure, including the Arkansas River Bridge.

Caltrain again finds itself in a catch-22 over federal funding for its electrification project. Earlier this week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said she won't sign off on the full funding grant agreement for the project until Congress approves all the necessary funds, The Mercury News reported yesterday.

At a U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing Wednesday, Chao said she couldn't sign the funding agreement "if the funding is not there," according to the newspaper.

One of the new Amtrak Cascades locomotives will be displayed for public view for the first time in Seattle on May 21, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced yesterday.

The Siemens Charger locomotives will be on display at Seattle's King Street Station from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visitors will be able to view the exterior close up. Due to safety issues, the interior will not be open for tours, WSDOT officials said in a press release.

The Portland Streetcar earlier this week resumed regular service on downtown Portland's 11th Avenue after track improvement work.

The street will remain closed to vehicular traffic and MAX light-rail service through May 20 as crews complete track and intersection improvements in the area, according to a Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) news release.