Railroad News

Joseph Alexander, an original member of Virginia Railway Express’ (VRE) operations board, a founding member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) and stanch passenger-rail supporter in Virginia, died Aug. 30. He was 90.

Alexander served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for 32 years and on the NVTC from its inception in 1964 until 1995, serving as chair from 1970 through 1972. He also represented NVTC on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) board for more than 20 years and was chairman four times.

Canada Transport Minister Marc Garneau earlier this week announced the publication of the final Locomotive Voice and Video Recorder Regulations in the Canada Gazette Part II.

The regulations specify the technical requirements for railroads to install the devices on their locomotives by Sept. 2, 2022.

Brightline and Miami-Dade County officials broke ground yesterday for Aventura Station, which will be built on three acres in Adventura, Florida.

To be constructed near Adventura Mall, the 17,500-square-foot station will include an 860-foot platform inside of Florida East Coast Railway/Brightline right of way. The site will include 240 parking spaces and newly landscaped areas.

Federal and state of Montana officials have proposed an agreement that would make BNSF Railway Co. responsible for maintaining and operating track that the railroad is accused of contaminating with asbestos.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Montana Department of Environmental Quality and BNSF proposed in a consent decree that the Class I would implement an operation and a maintenance plan, a health and safety plan and institutional controls to minimize risk to railroad workers and the surrounding community from low levels of asbestos within the Operable Unit 6 of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site in Lincoln County, Montana.

The extensive environmental planning process for the Long Bridge project has concluded, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and District of Columbia Department of Transportation announced yesterday.

Owned and operated by CSX, Long Bridge is the only rail bridge connecting Virginia to the District of Columbia, and is one of the most significant passenger- and freight-rail choke points along the East Coast. Built in 1904, the two-track bridge is used by CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway — which retains trackage rights on the bridge and connecting CSX track — as well as Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express (VRE).

Metrolink has achieved a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA).

The association honored the Los Angeles-area commuter railroad for its annual financial report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019. The report met the highest standards of the program by demonstrating full disclosure and motivating potential riders and user groups to read the document, according to the GFOA.

Sound Transit officials and local public artists have condemned acts of vandalism on Aug. 20 that caused damage to many of the 35 temporary public art murals displayed at the construction site of a future Federal Way light-rail extension station.

Since the slashed murals include numerous depictions of people of color, the damage is suspected to have been motivated by racism, Sound Transit officials said in a press release.

Metrolinx has installed rubber anti-trespassing mats (ATPs) at 18 grade crossings across GO Transit’s network so far this year as part of a ongoing program.

The agency is adding the mats at high-risk, track-level crossings and pedestrian crossings on three corridors: Lakeshore East, Lakeshore West and Stouffville. The mat’s hard and uneven surface makes it nearly impossible to walk on or over, helping to greatly reduce trespassing risks at crossings, Metrolinx officials said in an online post.

Several Class I chief executives this week responded to letters they received last week from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Surface Transportation Board (STB) that asked the railroads to address certain service issues related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In letters to the Class Is' chief executive officers, FRA Administrator Ronald Batory and STB members said they were made aware of concerns such as "missed industrial switches and excessively late or annulled trains due to crew availability issues."

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Associate Editor

Although U.S. rail traffic declined 5.8 percent in August compared with the same month a year ago, total intermodal volume rose 3 percent to 1,122,954 containers and trailers, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

U.S. railroads logged 898,227 carloads last month, down 14.9 percent from August 2019, while total combined volume fell to 2,021,181 carloads and intermodal units. Still, the monthly U.S. intermodal volume gain was a highlight in AAR's August traffic report.

Transdev announced the retirement of President-Emeritus Michael Setzer after a nearly 50-year career in the transit industry. He previously served in chief executive roles at many U.S. transit systems, including those in Cincinnati and St. Louis. Setzer was general manager of Minneapolis-St. Paul’s Metro Transit during the construction and commissioning of its first light-rail line and chief executive officer of Long Island’s Nassau Inter-County Express. He founded Professional Transit Management, which now is part of Transdev, a global transport services provider.

Duos Technologies Group Inc. appointed Charles Ferry chief executive officer to succeed company founder and Chairman Gianni Arcaini, who recently retired and will continue to serve on Duos’ board. Ferry has extensive private-sector leadership experience in the energy and defense contracting industries, and served in the U.S. Army for 26 years, Duos officials said in a press release. He most recently was CEO of APR Energy. Earlier in his career, Ferry was general manager or ARMA Global Corp., a defense contracting firm owned by General Dynamics.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has launched its first-ever Riders’ Advisory Council (RAC), a group of 24 volunteers who will provide feedback on passenger experience improvements.  

Managed by MARTA Chief Customer Experience Officer Rhonda Allen, the RAC includes representatives from the agency’s service area and at-large members. MARTA employees, contractors and elected officials are ineligible to serve as RAC members, who will serve two-year terms and meet monthly.