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Oct
06

CAF to provide streetcars to Seattle, Kansas City

The streetcars for Seattle will be based on CAF's 'Urbanos' platform.Photo – caf.net

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has awarded a $50 million contract to Spanish manufacturer CAF to supply 10 streetcars.

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Oct
06

CSX reports progress in service model transition

CSX Corp. is making progress in its implementation of a new operating model, the company announced yesterday. 

The Class I has improved its transit time, train speed, car-handling efficiency and terminal fluidity as it continues to implement the principles of precision scheduled railroading, said President and Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison in a press release. 

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Oct
06

CSX reports progress in service model transition

CSX Corp. is making progress in its implementation of a new operating model, the company announced yesterday. 

The Class I has improved its transit time, train speed, car-handling efficiency and terminal fluidity as it continues to implement the principles of precision scheduled railroading, said President and Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison in a press release. 

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Oct
06

Unions, freight-rail carriers reach tentative agreement on five-year contract

The six unions that make up the Coordinated Bargaining Group (CBG) have reached a tentative agreement with the nation's freight-rail carriers, the unions announced yesterday.

The CBG represents the American Train Dispatchers Association; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), a division of the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS); the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers; the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers/SEIU; and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART TD). 

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Oct
06

LIRR to replace Post Avenue Bridge

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) will replace the railroad's 103-year-old Post Avenue Bridge that carries the Main Line over Post Avenue at the Westbury train station.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) says he new bridge will be 13 feet wider than the existing bridge in order to accommodate the Third Track and will mark the first completed Third Track-related project since the Main Line Expansion Project was approved in July. The $9.7-million bridge project utilizes a design-build contract to expedite the timetable of the project, which MTA says is on track to be on time and on budget.

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Oct
06

LIRR to replace Post Avenue Bridge

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) will replace the railroad's 103-year-old Post Avenue Bridge that carries the Main Line over Post Avenue at the Westbury train station.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) says he new bridge will be 13 feet wider than the existing bridge in order to accommodate the Third Track and will mark the first completed Third Track-related project since the Main Line Expansion Project was approved in July. The $9.7-million bridge project utilizes a design-build contract to expedite the timetable of the project, which MTA says is on track to be on time and on budget.

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Oct
05

DART names Bauman chair

Rail News Home Railroading People 10/5/2017 Rail News: Railroading People
Sue Bauman joined DART's board in 2016.Photo – Dallas Area Rapid Transit

Dallas Area Rapid Transit's (DART) board has elected Sue Bauman chair.

Bauman joined the board in 2016 after retiring as DART's vice president of marketing and communication in 2011. Bauman currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at Richland College.

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Oct
05

AARs CEO Highlights Freight Rail’s Vital Role in Moving Americas Economy

Oct
05

Panama Canal welcomes 2,000th 'Neopanamax' ship

The Panama Canal last week welcomed the COSCO Yantian, the 2000th "Neopanamax" vessel to pass through the expanded waterway.

The ship, which can carry up to 9,504 20-foot equivalent units (TEU), moved through the canal on its journey from Asia to the Caribbean.

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Oct
05

Texas Central selects WSP for engineering work on bullet-train project

Texas Central announced today that WSP USA will provide engineering support to the proposed North Texas-to-Houston bullet-train project.

Formerly known as WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, WSP USA will focus on engineering, cost estimating and scheduling, said Texas Central officials in a press release. 

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Oct
05

House rail subcommittee hears from industry stakeholders

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials yesterday held a hearing to gather stakeholders' perspectives on what's needed to improve the nation's rail infrastructure.

Several representatives of railroad and transportation labor organizations testified before the subcommittee members. The hearing was held as the subcommittee and committee prepare for the Trump administration's infrastructure package proposal.

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Oct
05

Sound Transit marks progress on East Link tunnel

Rail News Home Passenger Rail 10/5/2017 Rail News: Passenger Rail
Crews are building the 2,000-foot tunnel using the 'sequential excavation method.'Photo – Sound Transit's Twitter account

Sound Transit is one-third finished with construction of its East Link light-rail tunnel under downtown Bellevue, Washington, the agency announced Tuesday.

Crews continue to excavate at the south portal site at 112th Avenue Northeast and Main Street in Bellevue. When completed, the 2,000-foot tunnel will connect the future East Main and Downtown Bellevue stations.

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Oct
05

Intermodal volumes lifted U.S. rail traffic in September

U.S. railroads' intermodal volumes boosted combined rail traffic to a 0.7 percent gain last month compared with traffic in September 2016, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Carload traffic for U.S. railroads declined 2.3 percent to 1,044,563 units, while intermodal volumes rose 3.8 percent to 1,080,444 containers and trailers in September compared with the same month last year, according to an AAR press release.

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Oct
05

Austin's Cap Metro OKs FY2018 budget

Rail News Home Financials 10/5/2017 Rail News: Financials
The buget includes funds to double frequency and capacity of the agency's commuter-rail service.Photo – Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority

The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Cap Metro) in Austin, Texas, late last week approved the agency's $418.8 million budget for fiscal-year 2018, which began Oct. 1.

The budget includes $250 million for operating expenses and $151.5 million for capital investments. Major capital projects include rail improvements to double the frequency and capacity of MetroRail service, as well as positive train control (PTC) implementation for the system.

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Oct
05

Amtrak kicks off 'Ready to Build' infrastructure campaign

Amtrak yesterday unveiled its "Ready to Build" campaign, which features a series of short films showcasing five critical investments that Amtrak officials believe are key to developing a modern passenger-rail system.

The campaign emphasizes investments in major Amtrak rail stations, as well as in infrastructure on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), where the majority of Amtrak-owned assets are located, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

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Oct
05

MassDOT awards freight grants to 8 rail projects

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has awarded more than $3 million in industrial freight grants to eight projects.

 

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Oct
05

MassDOT awards freight grants to 8 rail projects

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has awarded more than $3 million in industrial freight grants to eight projects.

 

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Oct
05

MassDOT awards freight grants to 8 rail projects

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has awarded more than $3 million in industrial freight grants to eight projects.

 

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Oct
05

BART to Silicon Valley: One tunnel or two?

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) will conduct a peer review of two tunnel methods as part of a planned BART extension to Silicon Valley.

The peer review will commence this month by public transit agencies currently operating rail subway systems and weigh a single-bore and twin-bore tunnel options for the five-mile tunnel. SCVTA and BART expect the peer review to take several weeks.

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Oct
05

BART to Silicon Valley: One tunnel or two?

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) will conduct a peer review of two tunnel methods as part of a planned BART extension to Silicon Valley.

The peer review will commence this month by public transit agencies currently operating rail subway systems and weigh a single-bore and twin-bore tunnel options for the five-mile tunnel. SCVTA and BART expect the peer review to take several weeks.

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