Skip to main content
Jul
25

CN boosts financial outlook after posting strong Q2

CN yesterday raised its financial outlook for the second half of the year after reporting  strong second-quarter results.

Net income for the quarter rose 27 percent to CA$1.31 billion, or CA$1.77 per share, from CA$1.03 billion, or CA$1.36 per share, a year ago. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were CA$1.51, up from CA$1.34 last year.

Continue reading
Jul
25

Norfolk Southern's Q2 results break records

Norfolk Southern Corp. today reported second-quarter results that included records for operating income, operating ratio, net income and earnings.

Second quarter net income rose 43 percent to $710 million, or $2.50 per share, compared with $497 million, or $1.71 per share a year ago. The company attributed the net income growth to an 18 percent increase in income from railway operations and a lower effective income tax rate.

Continue reading
Jul
25

Norfolk Southern's Q2 results break records

Norfolk Southern Corp. today reported second-quarter results that included records for operating income, operating ratio, net income and earnings.

Second quarter net income rose 43 percent to $710 million, or $2.50 per share, compared with $497 million, or $1.71 per share a year ago. The company attributed the net income growth to an 18 percent increase in income from railway operations and a lower effective income tax rate.

Continue reading
Jul
25

Rising Stars: Jeffrey Bennett, District Department of Transportation (DDOT)

Jeffrey Bennett, 35

Job description: Responsible for planning, operating and maintaining transit services throughout the District of Columbia's transportation system, which includes the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's Metrorail service, as well as the DC Circulator, DC Streetcar, the Virginia Railway Express and Maryland Area Regional Commuter service. He previously served as assistant vice president of rail operations for the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA).

Education: Bachelor of Arts degree, Virginia Military Institute; Master of Business Administration, Texas A&M University-Commerce

Continue reading
Jul
24

NYCT to boost accessibility at Brooklyn G Line station

Rail News Home Rail Industry Trends 7/24/2018 Rail News: Rail Industry Trends
The project marks the second subway elevator installation in Brooklyn to start this summer.Photo – Wikimedia user Harrison Leong (Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0)

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) will soon begin a project to expand passenger accessibility to the Greenpoint Avenue G Line station in Brooklyn.

Crews will install three elevators and add powered gates, Braille signage and sidewalk pedestrian ramps. The agent booth will be modified to a wheelchair-friendly height, NYCT officials said in a press release.

Continue reading
Jul
24

Sound Transit wraps up Bellevue tunnel excavation

Rail News Home Passenger Rail 7/24/2018 Rail News: Passenger Rail
The agency began the excavation in February 2017.Photo – Sound Transit / Glenn Landberg

Sound Transit's contractors late last week completed excavation of a light-rail tunnel in Bellevue, Washington, that will connect two stations on the East Link extension.

Using the sequential excavation method (SEM) process, crews completed the tunnel excavation in 15 months, which was five months quicker than forecasted, Sound Transit officials said in a press release.

Continue reading
Jul
24

North Carolina officials mark start of Charlotte Gateway Station project

North Carolina state and local officials gathered in Charlotte last week to mark the groundbreaking of the Charlotte Gateway Station project.

The project's first phase will include construction of 2,000 feet of track, signals, five new bridges and a rail platform, North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) officials said in a press release.

Continue reading
Jul
24

LA Metro unveils alternatives for Crenshaw/LAX northern extension

Rail News Home Passenger Rail 7/24/2018 Rail News: Passenger Rail
The cost of each proposed alternative exceeds current funding allocations, agency staff said.Photo – LA Metro

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has released a feasibility study examining five potential light-rail routes for the Crenshaw/LAX Line's northern extension.

Four alternatives would extend the line north to the Purple Line subway and then through West Hollywood to the Red Line. The other proposed route would extend the Crenshaw/LAX Line to the Red and Purple lines at Vermont Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard near LA's Koreatown neighborhood.

Continue reading
Jul
24

ARCI: Rail-car orders increased in Q2

Rail-car orders in the second quarter totaled 23,788 units compared with 10,348 units in the first quarter and 17,665 units in second-quarter 2017, according to quarterly statistics released last week by the Railway Supply Institute's American Railway Car Institute Committee (ARCI).

Car deliveries in the second quarter declined to 13,071 units from 13,098 units in the first quarter, but were higher than the 10,625 units delivered in second-quarter 2017.

Continue reading
Jul
24

APTA: Majority of Americans favor increased public transit funding

Rail News Home Passenger Rail 7/24/2018 Rail News: Passenger Rail
In a recent survey, nearly three-quarters of respondents said Congress should increase public transit funding.Photo – Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority

Seventy-four percent of Americans in a recent survey agreed that Congress should boost public transit funding, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reported yesterday.

Conducted by the Mineta Transportation Institute on APTA's behalf, the survey also showed that 80 percent of respondents support using tax dollars for creating, expanding and improving public transportation in their communities.

Continue reading
Jul
24

T&I Chair Shuster introduces draft of infrastructure plan

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) has introduced a draft of an infrastructure plan that would be funded in part by an increase fuel taxes.

The plan calls for significant federal investment in infrastructure projects and grant programs at least through 2021, as well as a plan to shore up the Highway Trust Fund (HTF).

Continue reading
Jul
24

CN appoints Ruest president, CEO

Jean-Jacques Ruest has been appointed president and chief executive officer of CN, the Class I announced today.

Ruest, who has been serving as interim president and CEO since March, also has been appointed to CN's board.

Continue reading
Jul
24

CN appoints Ruest president, CEO

Jean-Jacques Ruest has been appointed president and chief executive officer of CN, the Class I announced today.

Ruest, who has been serving as interim president and CEO since March, also has been appointed to CN's board.

Continue reading
Jul
24

Rising Stars: Aubyn Bell, HDR

Aubyn Bell, 32

Job description: Responsible for authoring environmental documents, leading environmental studies in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, preparing grant applications and managing projects. As a geographic information system specialist (GIS), performs spatial analysis, mapping, modeling and development of GIS websites for clients.

Education: Bachelor's degree in economics with a minor in mathematics, University of North Florida

Continue reading
Jul
23

MTA crews relocate LIRR tracks to make way for Grand Central entrance

Rail News Home Passenger Rail 7/23/2018 Rail News: Passenger Rail
The tracks are being relocated as part of the East Side Access project, which calls for brining LIRR service into Grand Central Terminal.Photo – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) crews have begun relocating hundreds of feet of track in Sunnyside, Queens, by several yards to create space for an entrance to a newly built tunnel to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan.

Built underneath the Sunnyside Yard, the new tunnel will carry eastbound and westbound LIRR trains that connect with the railroad's Main Line at the Harold Interlocking.

Continue reading
Jul
23

Port of Savannah set container volume record in FY2018

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) logged a record 4.2 million 20-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) in fiscal-year 2018, an 8.45 percent year-over-year increase, port officials announced today.

The gain amounted to an additional 325,000 units in FY2018 over FY2017. The port authority capped the latest fiscal year, which ended June 30, with its 20th consecutive month of year-over-year volume growth, GPA officials said in a press release.

Continue reading
Jul
23

BNSF to help fund Moorhead grade-crossing project

City officials broke ground last week on a three-year, $72.9 million grade separation project in Moorhead, Minnesota.

The long-awaited effort, which will include construction of an underpass, is the largest transportation project in the city's history, Moorhead officials said in a press release.

Continue reading
Jul
23

CTA unveils details for rail station accessibility plan

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) late last week unveiled details of the first-ever plan to make its system 100 percent accessible to riders with disabilities over the next two decades.

The All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) Strategic Plan lays out the agency's proposal to modernize 42 rail stations that are currently inaccessible by wheelchair.

Continue reading
Jul
23

Feds OK next phase of testing on RTD's G Line

Denver's Regional Transportation District (RTD) has received approval from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to begin the next phase of testing on the long-delayed G Line commuter-rail route.

Testing began to ramp up late last week, with the goal of simulating full service for nearly 21 consecutive hours each day.

Continue reading
Jul
23

TCRC ratifies four-year pact with CP

Rail News Home Canadian Pacific 7/23/2018 Rail News: Canadian Pacific
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Train & Engine (TCRC) have ratified a new four-year agreement with Canadian Pacific, the Class I announced late last week.In addition, union members ratified a five-year agreement affecting conductors and locomotive engineers at CP's Kootenay Valley Railway."TCRC-represented employees are integral members of the CP family; achieving a four-year agreement provides certainty and stability for not only employees at CP, but for customers, shareholders, and the broader economy," said CP President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Creel in a press release.The TCRC represents about 3,000 CP conductors and engineers.The agreement follows a short strike carried out by TCRC-represented train crews in May. Union officials said they are now focused on implementing the new agreement and moving forward with the railroad.“Workers won a fair deal from CP. Moving forward, we hope to continue working with the company to improve job conditions and ease labor relations," said TCRC President Doug Finnson in a press release.

Contact Progressive Railroading editorial staff.

More News from 7/23/2018