Railroad News

MTA New York City Transit has withdrawn 298 Bombardier R179 rail cars from service as a result of reported door problems that could indicate a systemic problem with the cars.

On Dec. 24, 2019, a train operating on the C Line reported door trouble and lost propulsion, as it is designed to do so. Crews resolved the issue by isolating and shutting down the door, then removing the train from service, NYCT President Andy Byford said, according to a published transcript from a press conference held on the fleet withdrawal. 

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The Greenbrier Companies Inc. reported $7.7 million, or 23 cents per diluted share, on revenue of $769.4 million in its first fiscal quarter, which ended Nov. 30, 2019. Quarterly results include $2.2 million of integration-related expenses from the American Railcar Industries acquisition. Greenbrier also received 4,500 rail car orders during the quarter, valued at $450 million. Based on current business trends and production schedules for fiscal-year 2020, company officials said in a press release that revenue will total about $3.5 billion and the company will deliver between 26,000 and 28,000 cars.

Cubic Transportation Systems and Moovit have entered into a definitive agreement to co-develop mobile solutions for public transit agencies. The partnership will allow integration of Moovit’s MaaS application programming interfaces with Cubic’s Traveler application to enable mobile ticketing, service alerts, multimodal trip planning and real-time arrival information in a single platform. 

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) will hold a Rail Industry Day on Jan. 24 to educate contractors about the recently announced rail improvement program with CSX and related upcoming procurements.

Attendance is open to all members of the contractor community with an interest in the rail improvement program, DRPT officials said in a notice.

The North County Transit District (NCTD) posted a request for proposals (RFP) to redevelop its Oceanside Transit Center in California into a mixed-use, transit-oriented development (TOD), real estate consultant CBRE Group Inc. announced yesterday.

NCTD’s Oceanside Transit Center is served by NCTD’s Coaster and Sprinter, Amtrak and Metrolink, connecting riders to San Diego and Los Angeles. 

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) will host a forum Jan. 22 for firms interested in working on the authority’s track and system design-build-maintain contract for a 119-mile high-speed rail segment between Madera and Popular Avenue in California’s Central Valley.

The forum will provide an opportunity for interested small businesses to meet the project's pre-qualified prime contractors and learn more about the procurement process, CHSRA officials said in a press release.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) this week urged the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to approve Amtrak's permit application for a one-time movement of its just-built high-speed train from the Alstom plant in New York to the agency's test track in Colorado.

In 2016, Amtrak's board finalized negotiations with Alstom to provide new, next-generation high-speed trains for Amtrak's Acela service. In order for the project to stay on schedule, and production of the remainder of the fleet to begin, critical testing must occur on the just-constructed train at the test track in Pueblo, Colorado.

Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) board yesterday awarded a $798 million contract to Hitachi Rail STS USA Inc. to replace the agency’s 47-year-old, fixed-block train control system with a modern communications-based train control system (CBTC).

CBTC will enable BART to more precisely detect train location, allowing the agency to run more trains closer together. Doing so will effectively add capacity and decrease travel times, BART officials said in a press release. 

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) praised President Donald Trump's administration for its proposed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) revisions aimed at speeding up the environmental review process for major infrastructure projects.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued the notice of proposed rulemaking, which calls for modernizing NEPA. One proposed change would no longer require agencies to consider "cumulative" effects of infrastructure projects. Courts have interpreted that as meaning the study of how a project might contribute to the climate, such as by contributing to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, The Hill reported.

The Port Authority of Allegheny County yesterday closed portions of the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel in Pittsburgh due to continued landslides caused by stormwater runoff. The tunnel is used exclusively by the authority’s light-rail and bus network.

Due to debris from the runoff and an unstable hillside, no light-rail service will operate on the outbound tracks of the tunnel until further notice, authority officials said in a press release.

MTA Metro-North Railroad officials yesterday announced the commuter railroad will make the Williams Bridge, Woodlawn and Wakefield stations in the Bronx, New York, accessible according to Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

The effort is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) 2020-24 capital plan. 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao yesterday announced updated federal guidelines for the development of automated vehicles (AV).

Chao unveiled the guidelines, titled "Ensuring American Leadership in Automated Vehicle Technologies: Automated Vehicles 4.0," during a speech at the CES 2020 gadget show in Las Vegas.

Amtrak and New Jersey Transit earlier this week began work to update a ticketed waiting area at New York Penn Station. 

As part of the $7.2 million joint investment, the seating area at the Amtrak Concourse on the station's upper level and 8th Avenue side will feature new furniture, fixtures, USB outlets, LED lighting, an information desk and a family area with a nursing mothers’ pod. The upgrade will also remove a midpoint barrier and create a second entrance to the space for easier access, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

Wabtec Corp. announced yesterday it acquired RELCO Locomotives for $29 million.

RELCO is in the locomotive leasing, rebuilding and repairing business, with operations in Albia and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and AT&T announced earlier this week a public-private partnership that will provide cellular service along the MTA Metro North Railroad’s New Haven Line between New Haven and the state’s western border.

The partnership calls for AT&T to install small cells along the commuter-rail line to enable expanded internet access and offer uninterrupted cellular service to riders. 

U.S. freight railroads started out the new year the same way they ended the old one — with a dip in weekly traffic volume.

U.S. rail traffic declined 5.1 percent to 414,014 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Jan. 4, compared with the same period last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.