Railroad News

CN officials announced last week the railroad will spend CA$40 million this year on infrastructure in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

In New Brunswick, the Class I will spend CA$30 million to install 20 miles of rail and more than 50,000 ties, as well as rebuild road crossing surfaces and perform maintenance on bridges, culverts, signal systems and other track infrastructure.

Valley Metro has chosen Jacobs Engineering Inc. to design the second phase of the transit agency's Northwest light-rail extension in Phoenix.

The firm will collaborate with the city, station artists, community members and the project's construction contractor — a Kiewit-McCarthy joint venture — to determine the "best means and methods" for the project's design and construction, agency officials said in a press release.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) late last week called on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to address an "unsafe condition" created by rubber barriers between its new 7000-series rail cars.

The FTA made the demand after a visually impaired rider in late May fell onto the track at the Van Ness-UDC Station when she mistook the opening between two cars as a doorway. The passenger sustained minor injuries.

Canada's Minister of Transport Marc Garneau announced late last week the government would invest CA$167 million in three projects to improve port infrastructure and rail infrastructure.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, with investments from Canadian Pacific and CN, will lead the first two projects, according to a press release.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced late last week that the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) have begun the process to consider proposals from private operators to build and operate a high-speed rail line along state owned property between Orlando and Tampa.

FDOT kicked off the process after receiving an unsolicited proposal from private passenger-rail operator Brightline, which proposed to build and operate the line along the CFX right of way. As a result of Brightline's proposal, the FDOT has initiated an open procurement process so that any private entities may apply.

U.S. Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) early this week toured RailWorks Track Systems' plant in Deer Park, Texas.

Representatives from rail advocacy organization GoRail, the Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association and the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association also were on the tour.

Union Tank Car Co. (UTLX) this summer will begin a project to expand its rail-car repair facility in El Dorado, Kansas. The expanded plant's capabilities, which will include exterior blast and paint operations, will enable the company to service a broader spectrum of cars from customers' fleets, UTLX officials said in a press release. Built in the early 1960s, the 40-acre plant is next to BNSF Railway Co. track and services tank cars in ethanol service, as well as hopper cars moving grain and other food-grade products. Over the next few years, the company plans to hire about 70 new employees at the expanded facility. The project is slated to wrap up in early 2019.

Siemens AG and Voith Turbo GmbH & Co. KG last month signed an agreement to develop a condition monitoring solution for the Voith Scharfenberg coupler. Voith will develop the solution, while Siemens will integrate the application into its Railigent platform, which is based on its MindSphere Internet of Things operating system. Railigent offers a range of digital services to manage rail assets, including apps for smart monitoring, data analysis and smart prediction for rolling stock, signaling and other rail infrastructure. Voith's new solution will monitor the coupler's deformation tube and damper, company officials said in a press release. The companies plan to hold a joint presentation of the preliminary solution at InnoTrans 2018, which will be held Sept. 18-21 in Berlin.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) is moving ahead with a Tier II environmental impact study for two preferred alternative proposals as part of the Cross Harbor Freight Program.

Cross Harbor Partners, an STV/AKRF joint venture, will prepare a detailed analysis of the environmental effects and potential mitigation measures for two preferred alternatives the same joint venture team helped identify during Tier I, PANYNJ officials said in a press release.

Earlier this month, the New York Susquehanna and Western Railway's (NYSW) Utica Line transported freight for the first time in a dozen years, signaling the completion of a restoration project that took more than a decade.

The train consisted of a locomotive pulling two flat cars carrying hollow steel beams, according to a press release issued by the County of Chenango Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA).

Stillwater Central Railroad and its operator Watco Cos. LLC are seeking proposals from rail providers interested in operating the Eastern Flyer or "Sooner Sub" passenger-rail service between Sapulpa and Del City, Oklahoma.

Interested parties are asked to send an email requesting a nondisclosure agreement. Once the agreement is completed, a bid package will be mailed to the provider.

City leaders in Gatineau, Quebec, earlier this week unveiled plans for a CA$2.1 billion, 16-mile light-rail system to connect with Ottawa's transit-rail network.

The project would include 30 stations and connect Chemin Eardley in the east to the future Rideau station along Ottawa's Confederation Line light-rail route, CBC News reported Wednesday.

Kansas City Southern officials joined state, federal and local officials at a groundbreaking ceremony held this week for the first phase of a 540-acre rail-served industrial park in El Campo, Texas.

The SW International Gateway Park will feature 10 million square feet of warehouse, manufacturing and rail-served distribution facilities. The park will be located along KCS' rail network, according to a press release issued by NAI Partners, a real estate brokerage.

Kansas City Southern officials joined state, federal and local officials at a groundbreaking ceremony held this week for the first phase of a 540-acre rail-served industrial park in El Campo, Texas.

The SW International Gateway Park will feature 10 million square feet of warehouse, manufacturing and rail-served distribution facilities. The park will be located along KCS' rail network, according to a press release issued by NAI Partners, a real estate brokerage.

The Southern Rail Commission (SRC) announced yesterday that it was unable to apply for the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) fiscal-year 2017 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure Safety and Improvements (CRISI) funding due to a lack of financial commitments from Mississippi and Alabama.

The money would have been used to help restore Amtrak service along the U.S. Gulf Coast, where passenger service has been suspended since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) next month will close three Manhattan subway stations to fix structural defects and deterioration.

The 57th Street, 28th Street and 23rd Street stations are in "various states of disrepair," with crumbling concrete and deteriorated structural steel columns and beams, cracked or missing tiles, water leaks and deficient lighting, NYCT officials said in a press release.

Sound Transit has named Kimberly Farley deputy chief executive officer.

Working alongside current Deputy CEO Mike Harbour until his retirement late next year, Farley will play a vital role in expanding transit service across the Central Puget Sound region, agency officials said in a press release.

The South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) yesterday adopted a $277.6 million capex plan for fiscal-year 2019.

The largest capital plan in the authority's history, the program includes funds for projects to modernize terminals, increase capacity and accommodate intermodal growth, SCPA officials said in a press release.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) announced Jason Orthner has been named director of the department's rail division.

Orthner joined NCDOT in 2000 as a senior project engineer in the rail division and subsequently held the role of engineering manager. Since 2013, he has managed the division's design and construction branch.

U.S. rail traffic rose 4.1 percent to 558,098 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending June 16 compared with traffic in the same week a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads rose 1.9 percent to 269,748 units during the week, while intermodal volume climbed 6.3 percent to 288,350 containers and trailers compared with the same week in 2017.