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Feb
16

NJ Transit Board approves Corbett as executive director

Kevin Corbett will serve as the next executive director for New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) following a unanimous vote by the Board of Directors supporting the appointment.

 

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Feb
16

BLET names Lyons to advisory board

Rail News Home Labor 2/16/2018 Rail News: Labor
William LyonsPhoto – Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) Advisory Board elected William Lyons as national division trustee. He succeeds outgoing trustee Matt Wilson, who has retired.

Lyons serves as general chairman of the CSX-Northern Lines' General Committee of Adjustment, which represents nearly 3,000 active and retired members.

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Feb
16

BNSF budgets $625 million in capex for Texas, Kansas and Missouri

BNSF Railway Co. this week continued to roll out its 2018 capital expenditure plans for individual states where the Class I's network operates. BNSF's latest announcements: Texas, Kansas and Missouri.

In Texas, BNSF expects to spend $375 million this year on maintenance of rail, ties and ballast, as well as expansion projects designed to enhance the network's capacity and fluidity, BNSF officials said in a press release.

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Feb
16

BNSF budgets $625 million in capex for Texas, Kansas and Missouri

BNSF Railway Co. this week continued to roll out its 2018 capital expenditure plans for individual states where the Class I's network operates. BNSF's latest announcements: Texas, Kansas and Missouri.

In Texas, BNSF expects to spend $375 million this year on maintenance of rail, ties and ballast, as well as expansion projects designed to enhance the network's capacity and fluidity, BNSF officials said in a press release.

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Feb
16

Amtrak-CSX, LIRR accidents prompt NTSB to issue 'urgent' safety recommendations

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday issued three urgent safety recommendations based on the agency's findings in two ongoing railroad accidents.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) received one urgent recommendation based on the NTSB's findings in the board's investigation of the Feb. 4 collision between an Amtrak train and a CSX train near Cayce, South Carolina. The Amtrak conductor and engineer died as a result of the collision.

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Feb
16

Report: Twin Cities' light-rail lines attract $8 billion in development

Rail News Home Passenger Rail 2/16/2018 Rail News: Passenger Rail
The council tracks developments proposed, under construction or completed along Metro Transit's light-rail lines and extensions.Photo – Metro Transit's Flickr account

The Metropolitan Council has reported $8.4 billion in developments along existing and planned light-rail transit lines in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

The council tracks developments proposed, under construction or completed along Metro Transit's Green and Blue lines. The council also keeps tabs on projects being developed along the lines' extensions.

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Feb
16

FRA to provide $73 million for PTC, crossing improvements

Rail News Home Positive Train Control 2/16/2018 Rail News: Positive Train Control
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is accepting applications for $73 million in grant funding for capital projects, including positive train control implementation. The money also could be used to improve grade crossings and mitigate congestion, FRA officials said in a press release. The funding, which was authorized by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, comes from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017.The grants are expected to leverage private, state and local investments to advance a range of rail projects, according to the FRA."These grants are important resources in the [U.S. Department of Transportation's] ongoing efforts to strengthen our nation's overall rail systems, deploy positive train control and improve highway-rail grade crossings," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.The notices of funding opportunity have been submitted to the Federal Register. Grant application deadlines will be revealed after the Register publishes the notices.

Contact Progressive Railroading editorial staff.

More News from 2/16/2018


Feb
16

PTC hearing: Amtrak to suspend operations over non-compliant routes after 2018

Amtrak will consider suspending service on tracks that don't have positive train control (PTC) in place by the Dec. 31 deadline, the railroad's president told a House subcommittee yesterday.

President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson told the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials that there will be carriers over which Amtrak operates that are unlikely to have made "sufficient progress" by year's end to qualify for a two-year extension of the 2018 deadline.

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Feb
16

Metro Transit's light-rail titan in the Twin Cities

Last year, the Green Line logged 13.1 million rides, up 3.5 percent from the 12.7 million rides registered in 2016. The line averaged almost 41,000 rides per weekday in 2017 — a figure Metro Transit didn’t expect to reach until 2030.Photo – Metro Transit

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

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Feb
15

Rail Passengers Association slams Trump proposal to cut Amtrak funding

Rail News Home Amtrak 2/15/2018 Rail News: Amtrak
Trump has proposed cutting Amtrak's budget from $1.4 billion to $738 million.Photo – Amtrak.com

The Rail Passengers Association (RPA) on Monday decried President Trump's fiscal-year 2019 budget proposal to halve federal funding for Amtrak.

The proposal would cut the national passenger railroad's budget from $1.4 billion to $738 million, which would lead to the "virtual elimination of Amtrak's national network," RPA officials said in a press release.

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Feb
15

Energy storage system to be built for Eglinton Crosstown LRT

Ontario is partnering with Toronto Hydro to build an energy storage system to provide back-up power to the Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit (LRT) line.

 

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Feb
15

Energy storage system to be built for Eglinton Crosstown LRT

Ontario is partnering with Toronto Hydro to build an energy storage system to provide back-up power to the Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit (LRT) line.

 

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Feb
15

WMATA gears up for rail improvement projects

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) earlier this week announced four capital improvement projects on its rail system.

To minimize service disruption, the work has been scheduled during the second half of the year when ridership is lighter, WMATA officials said in a press release. One project will address the Metrorail system's tightest curve between McPherson Square and Smithsonian stations.

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Feb
15

NTSB issues three safety recs following LIRR, CSX/Amtrak incidents

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued three urgent safety recommendations, two to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and one to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) based on the agency's findings in two ongoing railroad accident investigations.

NTSB recommends that FRA "Issue an Emergency Order directing railroads to require that when signal suspensions are in effect and a switch has been reported relined for a main track, the next train or locomotive to pass the location must approach the switch location at restricted speed. After the switch position is verified, the train crew must report to the dispatcher that the switch is correctly lined for the main track before trains are permitted to operate at maximum-authorized speed."

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Feb
15

NTSB issues three safety recs following LIRR, CSX/Amtrak incidents

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued three urgent safety recommendations, two to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and one to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) based on the agency's findings in two ongoing railroad accident investigations.

NTSB recommends that FRA "Issue an Emergency Order directing railroads to require that when signal suspensions are in effect and a switch has been reported relined for a main track, the next train or locomotive to pass the location must approach the switch location at restricted speed. After the switch position is verified, the train crew must report to the dispatcher that the switch is correctly lined for the main track before trains are permitted to operate at maximum-authorized speed."

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Feb
15

NJ Transit approves Hudson-Bergen expansion environmental review

The New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) Board of Directors has voted unanimously to approve a proposed alignment of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail's (HBLR) upcoming expansion into Bergen County as outlined in its Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement from March 2017.

 

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Feb
15

NJ Transit approves Hudson-Bergen expansion environmental review

The New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) Board of Directors has voted unanimously to approve a proposed alignment of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail's (HBLR) upcoming expansion into Bergen County as outlined in its Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement from March 2017.

 

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Feb
15

BNSF to spend $375 million on Texas capital program

BNSF plans to spend more than 11 percent of its total capital program in Texas this year, with nearly half of the $375 million state plan going toward maintenance projects.

 

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Feb
15

BNSF to spend $375 million on Texas capital program

BNSF plans to spend more than 11 percent of its total capital program in Texas this year, with nearly half of the $375 million state plan going toward maintenance projects.

 

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Feb
15

FRA has $73M available in rail safety grants

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is accepting grant applications for projects that will strengthen rail safety efforts through the implementation of positive train control (PTC), crossing improvements and congestion mitigation.

 

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