Railroad News

CSX Corp. yesterday announced Edmond Harris has been named executive vice president of operations.

Harris has more than 40 years of experience in the railroad industry in an operating capacity, including nearly two decades at the Illinois Central and CN railroads, where he helped E. Hunter Harrison transform their operating models to one based on precision scheduled railroading.

CSX Corp. yesterday announced Edmond Harris has been named executive vice president of operations.

Harris has more than 40 years of experience in the railroad industry in an operating capacity, including nearly two decades at the Illinois Central and CN railroads, where he helped E. Hunter Harrison transform their operating models to one based on precision scheduled railroading.

Veteran railroader and long-time Hunter Harrison and Jim Foote colleague Edmond L. Harris has come out of retirement a second time to head operations at CSX.

The North Carolina Railroad Company (NCRR) will invest $2.5 million in design and construction of a rail spur and storage tracks for a tire manufacturer in Edgecombe County.

The investment is from the railroad's economic development initiative NCRR Invests and the spur will serve Kingsboro CSX Select Site for Triangle Tyre Co Ltd., which will be locating to the site.

Bombardier Transportation has received a repeat order for 32 OMNEO double-deck trainsets from French national railway company SNCF Mobilites. Valued at US$444 million, the 256-car order is part of a contract signed in 2010 to provide up to 860 double deck trains to French regions, Bombardier officials said in a press release. The Centre-Val de Loire Region plans to roll out the new trains on its Paris-Orleans-Tours, Paris-Bourges and Paris-Montargis-Nevers lines. The units have 373 seats and feature baggage racks, passenger information screens and a space for wheelchairs and bicycles. The first trains will be delivered in 2020.

The Greenbrier Cos. Inc. reported first-quarter fiscal-year 2018 net income of $26.3 million, or 83 cents per diluted share, compared with $25 million, or 79 cents per diluted share, for the same period in the previous fiscal year. The company's first quarter of FY2018 ended Nov. 30, 2017. Greenbrier logged $559.5 million in first-quarter revenue, compared with $552.3 million in the first quarter of FY2017. Additionally, the company received orders for 3,200 diversified rail cars valued at more than $290 million, marking an increase from orders for 2,400 rail cars valued at more than $230 million in the same quarter in the previous fiscal year. Although the market for new rail cars in North America is challenging, broad-based demand for Greenbrier's products and services "remains steady," said Greenbrier Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William Furman in a press release.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has given official authorization to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) and the Kansas City Streetcar Authority (KCSA) as well as the City of Kansas City, Mo., (KCMO) to move the KC Streetcar Main Street Extension project into the project development phase.

Red River Valley & Western Railroad Co.'s (RRVW) board has named Victor Meyers president and Mark Wegner chief executive officer.

Most recently, Meyers served as vice president of operations of Twin Cities & Western Railroad (TC&W) in Glencoe, Minnesota, where he oversaw the transportation/operations, maintenance of way, mechanical, safety, accounting, human resources, administration and information technology departments.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has authorized the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) to move its Main Street streetcar extension into the project development phase.

The agency now will develop refined capital and operating costs, estimate ridership, assess environmental impacts and create a detailed funding plan, KCATA officials said in a press release. The work will include an HDR Inc.-led study now underway.

New Jersey Transit Executive Director Steve Santoro, who has spent 18 years with the agency, submitted his resignation to New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Rick Hammer on Jan. 5. He will be leaving in April and said he is "committed to ensuring a smooth transition for the new administration" of incoming Governor Phil Murphy.

New Jersey Transit Executive Director Steven Santoro has announced plans to step down in April.

Since taking the helm 15 months ago, Santoro has renewed the agency's focus on safety, customer service and communication, NJ Transit officials said in a press release.

BNSF Railway Co. and the Port of Portland have begun offering a new service at Terminal 6 that enables shippers to move their products on a rail shuttle to the Puget Sound ports.

The new partnership will move containers between Portland and Seattle/Tacoma, where goods can be loaded onto ocean carriers. The rail service will operate five days a week.

BNSF Railway Co. and the Port of Portland have begun offering a new service at Terminal 6 that enables shippers to move their products on a rail shuttle to the Puget Sound ports.

The new partnership will move containers between Portland and Seattle/Tacoma, where goods can be loaded onto ocean carriers. The rail service will operate five days a week.

The San Mateo County Transit District's (SamTrans) board has elected Charles Stone chair.

Stone, who serves as mayor of Belmont, California, represents the Central Judicial Cities on SamTrans' board. Last month, the agency tapped Charles Stone to serve as a representative on the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board.

OmniTRAX Inc. affiliate Sheffield Crossing LLC is selling an 18-acre property to the city of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, for a retail development.

The lot is part of OmniTRAX's Sand Springs Railway Co. and the adjacent 146-acre former steel mill site, which the short-line holding company purchased from Gerdau in 2014.

HNTB Corporation has appointed Mark Becherer, PE, as its Chicago office leader.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report on the Amtrak 501 accident in Washington state and explains that positive train control (PTC) could have prevented the over speed condition.

The train, which was carrying 77 passengers and five Amtrak employees on its inaugural run along a new route, derailed on a 30 mph curve with its last recorded speed being 78 mph. The lead locomotive, the power car and two passenger railcars derailed onto Interstate 5 below the right-of-way. Three train passengers were killed and another 70 people, including eight on the highway, were injured in the accident.