Railroad News

Brightline, the passenger-rail service operating in southeastern Florida, has agreed to acquire XpressWest, a proposed high-speed rail project with rights to develop a federally approved corridor between Southern California and Las Vegas.

The acquisition would mark Brightline's first project outside Florida, where the private company operates passenger trains between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Brightline has plans to expand service to Orlando International Airport in 2021 and, potentially, to Tampa.

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The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) in November will mark the 50th anniversary of its Red Line rail extension to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

When the extension opened in 1968, Cleveland became the first city in the Western Hemisphere to offer direct rail service between its central business district and an international airport, agency officials said in a news release.

The Georgia Ports Authority's (GPA) board yesterday approved $92 million for the Mason Mega Rail Terminal project at the Port of Savannah.

The project will double the Port of Savannah's annual rail capacity to 1 million containers. Work approved yesterday includes 124,000 feet of new track, 88 automated switches and rail control devices, as well as the rail and power infrastructure to support the operation of rail-mounted gantry cranes, GPA officials said in a press release.

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Metra has finished installing positive train control (PTC) components on all its trains and all communications and signal systems, the railroad announced yesterday.

The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) yesterday presented its 20th annual Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence to engineering and design firm Arup for its work as lead consultant on MTA New York City Transit's (NYCT) Fulton Center in lower Manhattan.

The award was presented yesterday at AREMA's annual conference and exposition in Chicago. The award honors the memory of William Walter Hay, a longtime association contributor and professor of railway civil engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Union Pacific Railroad next month will launch a new operating plan that will implement precision scheduled railroading principles.

UP's "Unified Plan 2020" will launch Oct. 1 and will be rolled out in phases across the Class I's network. Resulting benefits are expected to help UP achieve its 60 percent operating ratio goal by 2020, on the way to achieving a 55 percent operating ratio, company officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific Railroad next month will launch a new operating plan that will implement precision scheduled railroading principles.

UP's "Unified Plan 2020" will launch Oct. 1 and will be rolled out in phases across the Class I's network. Resulting benefits are expected to help UP achieve its 60 percent operating ratio goal by 2020, on the way to achieving a 55 percent operating ratio, company officials said in a press release.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has announced its next president and chief executive officer will be Ian Jefferies, who currently serves as the organization's senior vice president of government affairs.

Jefferies will assume his new duties Jan. 1, following the retirement of current AAR President and CEO Edward Hamberger. Jefferies will continue to lead the organization's legislative efforts through the end of the year and coordinate with Hamberger to ensure a smooth transition, AAR officials said in a press release.

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The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) today will begin a project to revitalize MAX Blue Line light-rail track in downtown Hillsboro.

The project includes replacing sections of rail, upgrading the track bed, installing new switch machines and repairing roadway near the rails at three grade crossings.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's (VTA) board has named Evelynn Tran general counsel.

Since 2006, she has served in law-related roles at the agency, including senior assistant counsel, deputy general counsel and acting general counsel.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) late last week announced plans to install security cameras at MTA Metro-North Railroad stations in Darien, Norwalk and Westport, Connecticut.

The department determined the need for the cameras following "security improvements and network infrastructure upgrades," CTDOT officials said in a press release.

California cannot enforce a fee on rail shipments of crude oil, chlorine and other hazardous materials, a federal appeals court ruled late last week.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction against California Senate Bill 84, the so-called Oil by Rail Safety Act, which requires railroads to collect fees from customers shipping certain hazardous materials and then send those fees to California.

Arctic Gateway Group reported yesterday that a fatal derailment occurred Sept. 15 on the Hudson Bay Railway near Ponton, Manitoba.

The derailment resulted in the death of an employee on the locomotive. A second employee sustained "serious injuries" and was airlifted to a nearby hospital, Arctic Gateway officials said in a press release.

Nine railroads — all passenger — have been determined to be "most at risk" of failing to qualify for an extension of the Dec. 31 deadline to implement positive train control (PTC), Federal Railroad Administrator Ronald Batory told a congressional panel last week.

Railroads that had installed less than 90 percent of its PTC system hardware as of June 30 are most at risk of failing to qualify for an "alternative schedule" for PTC implementation, Batory told the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials during a hearing held Sept. 13.