Railroad News

Compiled by Michael Popke

AllTranstek LLC has begun offering tax and audit services in response to the demand for assistance in monitoring tax code changes, ad valorem tax compliance and assessment reviews. The company's new tax and audit services division helps clients manage the financial reporting process for state and local taxing jurisdictions, AllTranstek officials said in a news release. To lead the new service offering, the firm appointed John Hoyt manager of tax and audit services. Hoyt began his rail career with TTX Co. in 1979.

Indian Railways has placed an $18 million order with ABB for traction transformers. The units will be customized for the WAP-7 type electric locomotive, which can haul 24 coaches at speeds up to 87 mph. The project is part of Indian Railways' "Mission Electrification" initiative, which aims to electrify nearly 15,000 miles of track. The transformers will be built at BB's facility in Gujurat, India.

North Carolina Railroad Co. Vice President of Engineering James Kessler has been named president of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-Of-Way Association (AREMA) for the 2018-2019 term.

Kessler was installed as AREMA president last month during the association's annual Presidents Dinner, according to a press release issued by the North Carolina Railroad (NCRR).

Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad (CSS) has been awarded the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association's (ASLRRA) President's Award for "outstanding safety achievements" in 2017.

The award was presented at the 2018 ASLRRA Eastern Region meeting in Vermont earlier this month. Presented annually, the award recognizes short lines and regionals that post the best safety rate as reported by the Federal Railroad Administration.

Amtrak has partnered with People for Urban Progress (PUP) to repurpose Acela Express seat covers into luxury leather bags.

An Indianapolis-based nonprofit, PUP expects to roll out about 2,500 bags over the next 10 to 12 months as the seat coverings are repurposed. The first products will include tote bags, backpacks and "dopp kits" or toiletry bags. PUP designers are hand-crafting all the bags.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) this week called on Canadian Pacific, CSX and other freight railroads to provide more information to county emergency management authorities and first responders when trains are transporting hazardous materials through local communities in New York.

Specifically, Schumer urged better state-local coordination and "proactive" and detailed information sharing when trains loaded with hazmat operate through their areas.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) on Monday began subway tunneling under Wilshire Boulevard for the Purple Line Extension.

The agency has launched two tunnel boring machines that will dig the twin tunnels, Metro officials said in a blog post yesterday.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority's (CHSRA) board yesterday certified the final supplemental environmental impact report (EIR) for the Fresno-to-Bakersfield section of the state's plan to build a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The board also approved a high-speed rail alignment between Poplar Avenue in Kern County and the F Street station in downtown Bakersfield. The moves enable CHSRA to take additional steps toward advancing major work on the overall project, agency officials said in a news release.

CSX Corp. yesterday reported third-quarter net earnings jumped 95 percent to $894 million, or $1.05 per share, from $459 million, or 51 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. The per-share earnings beat analysts' estimates for the quarter.

CSX's operating ratio of 58.7 percent set a company third-quarter record. A year ago, CSX posted a third-quarter operating ratio of 68.4 percent.

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Metra yesterday released a proposed revision of its Rock Island Line schedule to accommodate service changes related to positive train control (PTC) implementation.

With PTC in place, train crews must initialize the system before each individual run. The process includes compiling information about the size and makeup of the train, along with any other details about route conditions that could affect train operations.

The Minneapolis-area Metropolitan Council this month is launching a survey to gauge how locals travel across the greater Twin Cities region.

Working in partnership with the Minnesota and Wisconsin departments of transportation, the council will survey 7,500 households across 19 counties starting this month through October 2019.

Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI) has hired Jessica Puchala as director of communications and marketing.

She has more than 20 years of experience in communications and project management in the corporate, nonprofit, state government and media sectors.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is 60 percent finished with design plans for the new Airport Metro Connector station, agency officials reported in a blog post yesterday.

The station will provide transfers from the Green Line and the future Crenshaw/LAX light-rail line to Los Angeles International Airport's new $4.9 billion automated people mover system.

CN has begun to roll out the first of its new centerbeam rail cars ordered earlier this year from National Steel Car Ltd.

CN received the first of 350 new centerbeams in August. The new builds are 73-foot riserless centerbeams with a maximum load capacity of 286,000 pounds, CN officials said in a website post.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has awarded a $40 million contract to Harsco Rail to build and deliver 65 flat cars by the end of 2021.

The flat cars will consist of a frame mounted on a pair of trucks, and will be designed to transport track maintenance machinery and other heavy equipment, materials and supplies, according to a summary of MTA's Sept. 26 board meeting.

The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded a $2.4 million grant to the Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI).

The grant will enable the institute to enhance and improve safety practices at short lines and regionals, according to an institute press release.

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

SEPTA is the nation’s sixth largest public transportation system with an extensive network of fixed route services that include bus, subway, trolley, trackless trolley, high-speed and regional rail serving a 2,202-square-mile service region. That service region includes five Pennsylvania counties (Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery) and extends to Trenton, New Jersey and Newark, Delaware. SEPTA employs 9,000 workers, making the agency one of the region’s largest employers.
Service launched: heavy rail, 1968; light rail, 1969; commuter rail, 1983. SEPTA was created by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1964 to consolidate private regional public transportation operators. SEPTA’s predecessor rail agencies began providing passenger service in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The dates shown here reflect the years that SEPTA began operating those modes.
Route miles per mode: Light rail, 42; heavy rail, 47; commuter rail, 280
Rolling stock: locomotives, 8 (average age 27 years); rail cars, 404 (average age 30 years); light-rail vehicles, 167 (average age 35 years)
Cars/locomotives on order: 45 cars, expected delivery 2022; 13 locomotives, expected delivery fall 2018
Annual ridership: light rail, 24,720,500; heavy rail, 93,524,700; commuter rail, 34,355,300
Operating budget: $1.45 billion (FY2018)*
Capital budget: $727.2 million (FY2018)*
Stations: light rail, 8; heavy rail, 75; commuter rail, 154
Major capital improvement projects underway:
• Southwest connection: SEPTA has designed a series of infrastructure improvements near the University City Station. The project includes replacement of 80-year-old catenary, construction or rehabilitation of four interlockings, retiring an interlocking, tie and surface renewal, and signal improvements along a 3-mile segment of SEPTA railroad that’s adjacent to the Northeast Corridor. The improvements are designed to have a positive impact on service on SEPTA’s Airport, Wilmington and Media lines, and will be constructed between now and 2020. In summer 2018, SEPTA performed a two-week shutdown of the commuter railroad to install major interlocking components.
• Elwyn to Wawa service restoration: SEPTA will restore revenue service on the Media-Elwyn Regional Railroad Line from its current terminus at Elwyn Station to Wawa, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. (Service beyond Elwyn was discontinued in the 1980s.) An early action phase to stabilize embankments on sections of this line was completed in 2010. The second component of this 3-mile service restoration started in spring 2018. This phase will involve significant infrastructure renewal, including retaining walls; the rehabilitation of 9 bridges; and the replacement of track, catenary and structures, and signals. The final component of this project is the construction of a new station, a 600-car parking deck and an intermodal connect.
• Substation program: SEPTA has initiated a multiyear program to rehabilitate the 80-year-old traction power substations that provide electricity to propel vehicles on the Regional Railroad. The first substations to be addressed in this program are under construction and include Lenni and Morton on the Media/Elwyn Line and Jenkintown and Ambler (Main Line). Fourteen additional substations will be overhauled or replaced as part of this program. SEPTA also will be constructing a new substation on the West Trenton Line.

New Jersey Transit

New Jersey Transit is the nation’s largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 944,000 weekday trips on bus, light-rail, commuter-rail and Access Link systems.
Service launched: Commuter rail, 1979; light rail, 1930s
Miles: 1,001 (commuter rail)
Rolling stock: 188 locomotives, average age 16 years; 1,098 rail cars, average age 20 years; 93 light-rail vehicles, average age 16 years
Locomotives on order: 17 ALP 45A dual powered locomotives; first vehicle to be delivered in December 2019; manufacturer is Bombardier
Ridership: commuter rail, 85.4 million; light rail, 23.7 million
Annual operating cost: $2.35 billion budget (systemwide)
Annual capital cost: $1.46 billion budget (systemwide)
Stations: 62 light rail, 165 commuter rail
Major capital improvement projects: Positive train control installation continues; Raritan River Bridge Replacement Project, to advertise this year; Long Slip Fill and Rail Enhancement Project, to advertise this year.