Railroad News

5/15/2017    

Rail News: People

5/15/2017    

Rail News: Federal Legislation & Regulation

Rail News Home Internet-Digital May 2017 Rail News: Internet-Digital

In April, the company launched its digital rail services division.Photo – Siemens By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Associate EditorRailroads constantly are on the hunt for strategies to trim their operating costs. As the industry continues to creep into the digital era, predictive analytics may provide another way to do just that.By using sensors to continually monitor assets, railroaders may be able to fix components before they fail. That could significantly curtail maintenance expenses — not to mention boost efficiency and safety, say suppliers who tout the strategy. Siemens is one supplier hoping to capitalize on the predictive analytics trend. The company last month launched Siemens Digital Rail Services, a business unit with a stated goal of "digitalizing" the U.S. rail industry. Each year, trains generate billions of pieces of data; Siemens' aim is to help railroads make sense of that information and take action where appropriate."Data is the new currency," said Siemens spokesman Bob Bartels during a conference call announcing the new division. The challenge is finding a way to comb through that data and transform it into usable insights, such as warnings when wheels, brakes or other major components need to be replaced. Enter Railigent™, Siemens' cloud-based industrial data analytics platform.The platform uses real-time monitoring to provide insight on a train's state and location. In addition, Railigent employs data analytics to perform root cause analysis and remote vehicle and infrastructure diagnostics. In the future, Railigent also will feature cybersecurity services, according to Siemens. The platform is connected to Mindsphere, the company's Internet of Things (IoT) operating system. The overarching idea is to move away from "reactive maintenance" — that is, performing repairs after equipment fails — and focus instead on prediction-based maintenance. With this strategy, rail operators could one day boast 100 percent availability of their trains, Siemens officials claim."Predictive maintenance means that components are replaced when they are actually close to failure and not when the manual suggests. This means expensive components are used optimally, lowering total spend on parts and minimizing labor costs associated with maintenance," Siemens officials wrote in a whitepaper titled "The Data Opportunity."Siemens Digital Rail Services, which is part of the Siemens Mobility Services division, is based in Atlanta, where the company will continue a long-running relationship with the Georgia Institute of Technology. The two entities have forged a nearly 20-year-old partnership aimed at "pursuing manufacturing innovation through software," Siemens officials said.Siemens has installed a module on one of the Charlotte Area Transit System's light-rail units to gather data on overall performance.Photo – Charlotte Area Transit System

5/15/2017    

Rail News: Canadian Pacific

5/15/2017    

Rail News: Passenger Rail

Rail News Home Rail Industry Trends May 2017 Rail News: Rail Industry Trends

BNSF Railway Co. has posted strong growth in its finished motor vehicle segment.Photo – BNSF By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Associate EditorAs the auto industry's turmoil reverberated through the economy during the Great Recession in 2008, freight railroads felt the pain through diminished auto traffic.By the end of 2009, total motor vehicle and equipment traffic had plummeted 31 percent to 834,476 units compared with 1,211,095 units in 2008, and 39 percent when compared with 1,375,424 units in 2007, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.But by 2010, things started to turn around for the auto industry. And that recovery continued to roll on at least through 2016, when a record 17.5 million new cars and light trucks were sold in the United States.The industry's comeback over the past six years also has benefited railroads' business of moving finished cars, light trucks and auto parts for their customers, Class I executives say. And automotive remains a strong segment, although this year it may level off in some areas depending on railroads' locations and the automotive plants they serve.Some of that leveling off has been reflected in the AAR's weekly traffic data reports. Through the first 15 weeks of 2017, all North American railroads reporting to AAR logged 407,051 carloads of motor vehicles and parts, down 3.5 percent compared with volumes during the same period in 2016.For BNSF Railway Co., the automotive segment in terms of finished vehicles has registered strong growth, says Dave Fleenor, BNSF assistant vice president for automotive marketing. BNSF serves two automotive plants directly: Toyota's plant in Tupelo, Miss., and the automaker's plant in San Antonio, Texas."Obviously, the overall automotive growth has been pretty significant," Fleenor says. "This year is relatively flat [in auto sales] for the industry."Still, the average age of vehicles is 11 years old, so there’s still significant pent-up demand for new cars in upcoming years, Fleenor adds.BNSF has added capacity — track and parking areas — to accommodate the growth of its automotive business. BNSF Railway Co.

5/12/2017    

Rail News: Supplier Spotlight

5/12/2017    

Rail News: Passenger Rail

5/12/2017    

Rail News: Passenger Rail

5/12/2017    

Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad

5/12/2017    

Rail News: Passenger Rail

5/12/2017    

Rail News: Short Lines & Regionals

5/12/2017    

Rail News: Intermodal

5/12/2017    

Rail News: Amtrak

Rail News Home Passenger Rail May 2017 Rail News: Passenger Rail

Alstom’s iLint multiple unit is the world’s first train to run on a hydrogen powered cell, the company says.Photo – Alstom/Michael Wittwer By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Associate EditorSuppliers often face uncertainty in the passenger-rail locomotive market as public support ebbs and flows for transit projects. Elected officials, too, offer varying levels of support for passenger-rail plans.Even so, several manufacturers believe the global demand for passenger locomotives and multiple units will remain steady, and perhaps even grow."We're hopeful that the market will be buoyant in the future," said Siemens Rolling Stock President Michael Cahill. "There's a long pipeline of needs across the United States from various commuter railroads and transit systems, but how they get funding, of course, is the key question."Funding concerns notwithstanding, other train builders characterize the overall passenger locomotive market as stable. And while they continue taking orders for their tried-and-true offerings, they're also piloting new technologies.Over the past couple years, Siemens has been busy filling orders for its Charger locomotives. The company in March 2014 obtained a $225 million contract to build 32 of those units for departments of transportation in Illinois, California, Michigan, Washington and Missouri.That order, which was coordinated by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) on behalf of the other states, included options for 225 additional locomotives. California, Illinois and Maryland in November 2015 opted to purchase 34 more Chargers.Taking chargeFourteen of those units were set aside for the Pacific Surfliner Amtrak route in California; the remaining locomotives were divided between IDOT and the Maryland Transit Administration. The locomotives, which can operate at speeds up to 125 mph, meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Tier 4 emissions standards. The units also feature a 4,400 horsepower Cummins QSK95 diesel engine.As part of a separate order, Siemens also is building locomotives for Brightline, All Aboard Florida's privately funded passenger-rail line between Miami and West Palm Beach, Fla. Those units have many of the same underlying features as the Chargers in the IDOT order, said Cahill."But there are some variations in the end product based on customer demands," he added.For example, Brightline locomotives feature what Cahill described as Siemens' "high-speed train look" — that is, a closed front-end with a sleek nose to provide better aerodynamics.In addition, there are some differences in the locomotives’ signaling systems. The units also have been designed to work with various positive train control (PTC) systems, Cahill said.Six of the new Chargers last month began revenue testing on Amtrak's Capitol Corridor route in California. IDOT also tested the locomotives on the Chicago-Milwaukee, Chicago-Carbondale and Chicago-Quincy routes in April.Siemens’ Charger locomotives can operate up to 125 mph.Siemens

5/11/2017    

Rail News: Supplier Spotlight

5/11/2017    

Rail News: Mechanical

5/11/2017    

Rail News: Rail Industry Trends

5/11/2017    

Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad

5/11/2017    

Rail News: Mechanical