Railroad News

Valley Metro today concluded its first light-rail mentorship and internship program for Phoenix high school students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. 

The eight-week program offered career mentorship and engineering and design training for 17 high school students who were tasked with developing and presenting an engineering project at the South Mountain Community College. 

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) crews will begin on Aug. 25 work to upgrade the electrical traction power system in downtown San Francisco.

Crews will replace the power cables that power BART light-rail trains with modern shielded cabling. The cabling technology and substations currently channeling energy to the system is outdated, BART officials said in a press release. 

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) beginning Aug. 9 will close its trolley tunnel from 13th Street to 40th Street for 10 days to perform repairs and preventive maintenance. 

During the closure of the 5-mile tunnel, SEPTA crews will replace curved track and switches, clean track beds and drainage systems, install lighting, and replace and upgrade track circuit and signal wires, according to the project website. 

Pioneer Railcorp's acquisition by Related Fund Management, Brookhaven Rail Partners and Stephens Capital Partners LLC was completed last week.

Pioneer is the parent of 15 short lines, an equipment leasing company, two service companies and a contract services switching company.

Stanley Herzog, president of William E. Herzog Enterprises Inc. and chairman of Herzog Contracting Corp., died Aug. 2 at his home in Missouri. He was 70.

Stanley and his brother Randy were instrumental in helping their father, William "Bill" Herzog, found Herzog Contracting Corp. in 1969. Stanley became the company's first official employee, starting out as a foreman on regional asphalt paving projects, according to a Herzog press release.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is now accepting applications for the 2019 Rail Transportation Assistance (RTAP) and the Rail Freight Assistance (RFAP) programs.

Eligible organizations — including freight railroads, freight railroad-served shippers and economic development entities — may apply for funding through either program. Applications are available on the website, PennDOT officials said in a press release.

Linda Hernandez, 36
Industrial development manager
Kansas City Southern

Nominator’s quote: “Linda has been the primary driver to KCS' growth in the Mexican energy sector, as well as a tireless champion for her customers, an avid student of the Mexican business environment and an extraordinary team leader. As such, she was entrusted with the task of formulating our sales strategy for the opening of the Mexican energy market.” — David Eaton, Kansas City Southern

The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) last week launched a redesigned trip-planning mobile application for Tri-Rail commuter-rail riders.

The app’s functions allow riders to customize their trip plans and save multiple recurring trips made on Tri-Rail trains to revisit in the future, SFRTA officials said in a press release. 

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) intends to explore other autonomous shuttle services following last week’s conclusion of a six-month autonomous shuttle pilot program. 

In an effort to test the viability of using autonomous vehicles as a first- and last-mile connection, RTD’s four-stop shuttle service transported commuter-rail riders between the 61st and Pena Station, two businesses and a park-and-ride lot in Denver, RTD officials said in a press release.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) last week partnered with the city of Valparaiso, Indiana, to operate a weekday shuttle service providing first- and last-mile transportation options for South Shore Line riders. 

The shuttle will operate on a 30-minute route between a ChicaGo Dash parking lot and the South Shore’s Dune Park Station. ChicaGo Dash is an express bus service which runs between Chicago and Valparaiso, NICTD officials said in a press release.

Virgin Trains USA, which has proposed building a high-speed passenger-rail line from Las Vegas to Southern California, is seeking financing for the project by selling tax-exempt bonds in Nevada and activity bonds in California, according to Las Vegas news media reports.

Formerly known as Brightline, Virgin Trains has applied to the Nevada Department of Business and Industry for the right to sell $200 million worth of private activity bonds, the Las Vegas Sun reported. The cost of building the rail line from Las Vegas to Victorville, California, is estimated to cost more than $4 billion.

TransLink last week received the first of its 12-train order scheduled to enter service early next year on the SkyTrain Canada Line in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

The remaining two-car trains will be shipped by Hyundai Rotem in South Korea and arrive throughout the year and into early 2020, TransLink officials said in a press release. 

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) last week introduced legislation to address safety concerns regarding crude-by-rail transportation.

The Crude Oil Advanced Tracking Act would require railroads to share crude-by-rail information with state emergency responders so they know what risks they might face when trains carry crude oil travel through their communities.

Amtrak, commuter and freight railroads continue to make progress on positive train control (PTC) implementation, but significant work remains to achieve interoperability among the railroads' individual PTC systems, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.

As of March 31, 2019, 11 of the 31 host railroads that must have interoperable PTC systems reported that they had achieved interoperability with at least one of their tenant railroads. Collectively, 38 of the 227 unique host-tenant relationships that require interoperability have been completed (17 percent), according to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the report stated.

Dustin Hall, 32
Security consultant
Security Through Safe Design Inc.

Nominator's quote: "Mr. Hall is a security project lead for a multi-billion-dollar rail project. His rapid advancement has been due to his admirable work ethic. He has proven to be a resourceful, creative, courteous, supportive team member who thrives on challenge and continues to want to learn to optimize and share his knowledge." — William VanRyswyk, Security Through Safe Design Inc.

Two U.S. congressmen this week spent part of their August congressional recess touring rail supply businesses in their districts.

U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) joined the Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA) for a tour of member company Contech Engineered Solutions' manufacturing plant in Winchester, Kentucky.

Alstom will supply 13 trains to the Hello Paris consortium in charge of operating the CDG Express in France. The trains will be built based on the Coradia Polyvalent range, but will be unique to the CDG Express line in terms of interior fitting and on-board information, Alstom officials said in a press release.

NARSTCO has named Bruce Jones its general manager. He has 30 years of manufacturing operations experience across North America, NARSTCO officials said in a press release. Prior to joining NARSTCO, he served as managing director and vice president of operations at Weir Group PLC, as well as VP of operations at Dover Corp.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR), on behalf of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) partners, has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a vendor to develop and support a new CREATE website.

The vendor also would be required to provide technical and content support. In addition to the CREATE website redesign, the partners are seeking recommendations for a communications strategy and social media management support, AAR officials said in a press release.