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Jan
05

Rep. Frelinghuysen wants feds to support Gateway Program

U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ-11) wants the federal government to back the Gateway Program and Hudson River Tunnels Project, according to a letter he sent to Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Acting Administrator K. Jane Williams.

Rep. Frelinghuysen's letter was prompted by recent correspondence between Acting Administrator Williams and officials in New York state in which she did not recognize the 2015 funding agreement between New York, New Jersey and the federal government.

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Jan
05

Parsons adds Ryan to rail team

Jennifer Ryan, a longtime rail project engineer and winner of Railway Age's inaugural Women in Rail award, has joined Parsons as a Senior Project Manager, Rail, in the corporation's Irvine, Calif., office.

 

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Jan
05

Report: Canadian railroads on track to meet emissions reduction goals

Canadian railroads remain on track to meet greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets set by the rail industry and the federal government, according to the latest Locomotive Emissions Monitoring (LEM) Program report.

Released by the Railway Association of Canada (RAC) this week, the report summarizes the railroads' progress in 2015 toward reducing GHGs and criteria air contaminants from locomotives operating in Canada. The document also highlights initiatives that the rail industry has taken to reach its emissions reduction goals.

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Jan
05

Red River Valley & Western names new executive team

Red River Valley & Western Railroad (RRVW) has announced that Victor Meyers joined its new executive leadership team as president effective Jan. 1, 2018. Mark Wegner is serving as chief executive officer.

 

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Jan
05

Class I workforce continued to shrink in November

Class Is employed 145,952 workers in the United States as of mid-November, down 0.27 percent since mid-October's employment figure and down 3.66 percent compared with mid-November 2016's level, according to Surface Transportation Board data.

Four out of six employment categories reflected workforce decreases in November compared with October's levels. Those categories were executives, officials and staff assistants, down 0.07 percent to 8,211 employees; professional and administrative, down 0.12 percent to 12,182; maintenance of way and structures, down 0.63 percent to 33,059; and transportation (train and engine), down 0.37 percent to 60,200.

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Jan
05

New York DOT builds new bridge over Norfolk Southern tracks

Rail News Home Norfolk Southern Railway 1/5/2018 Rail News: Norfolk Southern Railway
The original bridge opened to traffic in 1941.Photo – NYSDOT's Twitter account

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has completed a $3.9 million project to replace the State Route 7 bridge over Norfolk Southern Railway tracks in Worcester.

Work began in March and was completed in November. Construction of the new multi-girder bridge was expedited and completed in one construction season, NYSDOT officials said in a press release.

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Jan
05

New York DOT builds new bridge over Norfolk Southern tracks

Rail News Home Norfolk Southern Railway 1/5/2018 Rail News: Norfolk Southern Railway
The original bridge opened to traffic in 1941.Photo – NYSDOT's Twitter account

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has completed a $3.9 million project to replace the State Route 7 bridge over Norfolk Southern Railway tracks in Worcester.

Work began in March and was completed in November. Construction of the new multi-girder bridge was expedited and completed in one construction season, NYSDOT officials said in a press release.

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Jan
05

NTSB issues preliminary report on fatal Amtrak derailment

An Amtrak Cascades derailment near DuPont, Washington, last month caused $40.4 million in damage, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) preliminary accident report.

Issued yesterday, the report provides a few additional details about the fatal accident, which occurred Dec. 18 on the inaugural run of a new bypass on the Amtrak Cascades service between Seattle and Portland, Oregon.

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Jan
05

Metra issues RFP for locomotives

The railroad is seeking proposals for both new and remanufactured engines.Photo – Metra

Metra last week issued a request for proposals (RFP) for new or remanufactured locomotives to start replacing its aging fleet.

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Jan
05

CSX's Foote updates STB on railroad's restructuring plan

CSX has completed the first phase of its new operating plan, which has produced performance metrics that show a "remarkable rate of positive change," President and Chief Executive Officer James Foote said in a Jan. 3 letter to the Surface Transportation Board.

The letter was sent to the board in response to its Dec. 14 request for information on the Class I's progress in restructuring its operations by implementing the precision scheduled railroading (PSR) concept. The board asked for an update on the company's progress in five areas: car order fulfillment, local service performance, car trip plan performance, communication with customers and service in the Chicago area.

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Jan
05

CSX's Foote updates STB on railroad's restructuring plan

CSX has completed the first phase of its new operating plan, which has produced performance metrics that show a "remarkable rate of positive change," President and Chief Executive Officer James Foote said in a Jan. 3 letter to the Surface Transportation Board.

The letter was sent to the board in response to its Dec. 14 request for information on the Class I's progress in restructuring its operations by implementing the precision scheduled railroading (PSR) concept. The board asked for an update on the company's progress in five areas: car order fulfillment, local service performance, car trip plan performance, communication with customers and service in the Chicago area.

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Jan
04

Rail supplier news from Progress Rail, IMC, PowerRail, Cubic and NRC (Jan. 4)

Progress Rail on Tuesday closed on its acquisition of ECM S.p.A., an international provider of rail signal solutions and technologies. Based in Italy, ECM will join Progress Rail's existing signal division. ECM's investment in research and development in recent years makes it an "attractive complement" to Progress Rail's current signal portfolio, Progress Rail officials said in a press release. ECM's products include power supplies, LED signal lights, axle counters and work site protection. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

IMC Cos. has acquired the drayage and depot operations of H&M Terminal Transport, which now will operate under the name H&M Intermodal Services. The acquired firm operates at six locations and employs 140 drivers. The acquisition is aimed at boosting IMC's presence in the northeastern United States, company officials said in a press release. Financial terms for the acquisition were not disclosed. IMC now claims more than 2,100 U.S. employees.

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Jan
04

Oregon DOT receives six transload facility pre-proposals

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) received six pre-proposals from firms willing to build two transload facilities in Treasure Valley and in the mid-Willamette Valley.

The Treasure Valley area project received a single proposal while the mid-Willamette Valley area project received five proposals. ODOT says the transloading sites will improve shipping connections in critical parts of the state.

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Jan
04

Gov. Cuomo wants a subway in Red Hook

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) to study options that would bring a subway to the Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood.

Gov. Cuomo said Red Hook is full of untapped potential and asked PANYNJ to consider relocating maritime activities that would free up the waterfront for community use. The governor suggested relocating Red Hook Container Terminal activities to the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.

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Jan
04

Metrolinx pre-qualifies candidates for Regional Express Rail project

Metrolinx has chosen five "prequalified operators" for its Regional Express Rail (RER) project, the agency announced late last month.

The selected firms are eligible to participate as operators on applicant teams for the project's upcoming design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) procurement process.

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Jan
04

Caric, Landreth elected to NRC Board

The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association (NRC) has announced its board election results, adding two new members to the NRC board in 2018.

 

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Jan
04

Ohio panels OK rail-crossing projects in Montgomery, Perry counties

Rail News Home Maintenance Of Way 1/4/2018 Rail News: Maintenance Of Way
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) late last month approved construction authorization from the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) for grade-crossing upgrade projects in Montgomery and Perry counties.The projects call for:
CSX to install new lights and gates at the Washington Street grade crossing in the Dayton, Montgomery County. The project is to be completed by Sept. 20, 2018.
Kanawha River Railroad to install mast-mounted flashing lights and roadway gates at the Township Road 185 grade crossing in Jackson Township, Perry County. That project is to be completed by Dec. 20, 2018.
Norfolk Southern Railway to install new lights and gates at the Albany Street and Washington Street grade crossing in Dayton, Montgomery County. Although that project was previously authorized, the deadline for completion has been extended to within 60 days after CSX completes related work at Washington Street, PUCO officials said in a press release.Federal funding for the projects is provided through the ORDC.

Contact Progressive Railroading editorial staff.

More News from 1/4/2018


Jan
04

Amtrak begins next phase of NY Penn Station work

Amtrak's next series of track renewal projects in New York Penn Station will kick-off Jan. 5, with updated scheduled train operations beginning on Jan. 8.

 

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Jan
04

RTA: Crosstie production, purchases fell in November

Rail News Home Rail Industry Trends 1/4/2018 Rail News: Rail Industry Trends
In November, crosstie production dipped 6.8 percent to 1.39 million units and purchases declined 5.4 percent to 1.7 million units from October levels, according to the Railway Tie Association's (RTA) monthly report.Compared with year-ago levels, production in November dropped 32.5 percent, while purchases slipped 5.4 percent.Production for the first 11 months of 2017 plunged 23.7 percent to 19.2 million units, while purchases fell 4 percent to 21.9 million units compared with the same period in 2016."Purchases are in a downward trend at a 5 percent annual rate," according to the report. "Production is also trending lower and is down by a 20.3 percent annual rate."

Contact Progressive Railroading editorial staff.

More News from 1/4/2018


Jan
04

Gov. Cuomo seeks MTA study of subway expansion to Red Hook

Rail News Home Passenger Rail 1/4/2018 Rail News: Passenger Rail
Cuomo made the request as part of his "2018 State of the State" proposals.Photo – Philip Kamrass - Cuomo's office

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to study options for a potential subway extension from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood.

The line would run through an underwater tunnel to a new station in Red Hook, according to a press release issued by Cuomo's office.

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