Railroad News

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) later this month will begin renovating the East 162nd Avenue light-rail station at the Portland-Gresham border.

Slated to begin May 20, the project includes the installation of larger windscreens, updated lighting and security cameras, new shelter roofs, and new signs and digital TransitTracker displays.

Metra next month will complete a project to replace 10,000 ties along the Rock Island Line's Beverly Branch.

The project began late last week and will continue through June 10. Crews also will replace pedestrian crossings along the branch, including any rail that shows signs of deterioration due to salt spread during the winter months.

Metrolink on May 14 will open its new Burbank Airport-North Station.

The new station will provide daily service to the Hollywood Burbank Airport on the Antelope Valley Line.

Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) became the latest railroad company to announce it has joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA).

BiTA was formed to develop and adopt a set of standards for blockchain applications within the trucking, transportation and logistics industries. Founded in August 2017, BiTA's goal is to provide clarity and direction for members in order to encourage widespread adoption of blockchain technology within the industry.

Norfolk Southern Railway yesterday announced it has partnered with startup accelerator Plug and Play to help drive innovations in freight-rail transportation.

NS joined Plug and Play's Supply Chain & Logistics Innovation Platform to work with startup companies that are focused on creating applications of artificial intelligence, machine learning, the industrial internet of things (IoT) and advanced analytics in supply chains.
 
"As we continually look for technology solutions to improve safety, better serve our customers and improve railroad operations, this partnership will give us greater access to technology startup companies and the broader Silicon Valley ecosystem," said Fred Ehlers, vice president information technology and chief information officer, in a press release.

U.S. railroads posted a 7.5 percent gain in carload and intermodal traffic for the week that ended May 5 compared with the same week a year ago, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week were 265,563 units, up 6.4 percent, while total intermodal containers and trailers were 280,374 units, up 8.5 percent, compared with the same week in 2017. Combined, U.S. railroads logged 545,937 carloads and intermodal units.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) yesterday announced that it has certified West Virginia's transit-rail state safety oversight (SSO) program.

Federal law requires states with transit-rail systems to get their SSO programs certified by April 15, 2019. To achieve certification, an SSO must meet statutory requirements, including establishing an agency that's financially and legally independent from the transit agencies it oversees.

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has entered into an agreement with Herzog Technologies Inc. to provide positive train control (PTC) support to the association's members

The Herzog Hosting solution offers complete PTC back office functionality and is designed to assist railroads with implementation of interoperable PTC systems, ASLRRA officials said in a press release.

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I’ve covered a number of industries in my years as a reporter and editor, and none are as tightly knit as the rail realm. And when railroaders lose one of their own, the loss is palpable and personal, as we were reminded last month.

voestalpine Nortrak has reached a North American marketing and distribution agreement with Getzner USA to service freight railroads. Getzner engineers and produces groundborne noise and vibration reduction products for the rail industry, while voestalpine manufactures special trackwork, concrete ties, rail fastenings and switch machines. The agreement is aimed at increasing the "performance and longevity" of rail systems, voestalpine officials said in a press release.

To support continued cargo growth and demand for chassis at the Port of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), TRAC Intermodal is adding 700 new chassis to its Metro Pool. The company previously added thousands of refurbished chassis to the pool. More than 40 percent of TRAC's Metro Pool fleet has been upgraded with new or refurbished chassis, company officials said in a press release. TRAC provides 10 start/stop locations at PANYNJ, including two in Port Elizabeth and one in Bayonne, New Jersey.

The 2.2-mile Kansas City Streetcar in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, has provided more than 4 million trips since its opening day two years ago.

Since the streetcar began operations, at least 20 new businesses have popped up along or near the Main Street route, Kansas City Streetcar Authority (KCSA) officials said in a press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board on Monday awarded a nearly $7 million contract to Hardesty & Hanover LLC to design a replacement commuter-rail drawbridge over the Saugus River in Massachusetts.

MBTA's Newburyport/Rockport Line trains travel across the century-old bridge. Although repairs have been made over the years, the structure's condition is deteriorating, agency officials said in a press release.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) marked its 155th anniversary yesterday.

The union was founded on May 8, 1863, in Marshall, Michigan, as the Brotherhood of the Footboard. In 1864, the group changed its name to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE), the name it retained for 140 years until merging with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Jan. 1, 2004, when it became the BLET.

President Donald Trump has proposed rescinding $279 million of prior-year surface transportation funding, including $100 million of public transit and intercity passenger-rail grants, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced yesterday.

In a "legislative alert," APTA said that the president's administration has proposed rescinding:
• $47 million in Federal Transit Administration (FTA) formula grants that had been provided in federal fiscal-year 2005 and prior years; and
• $53 million in the Federal Railroad Administration-issued capital assistance for high-speed rail corridors and intercity passenger-rail service, including $47 million for the Chicago-to-Iowa City intercity passenger-rail project.

In 2017, VIA Rail Canada Inc. provided almost 4.4 million rides, marking a 10.5 percent increase compared to ridership in 2016.

That increase marked the railroad's greatest year-over-year growth in ridership in the last decade, VIA Rail officials said in a press release.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality will receive a $574,000 federal grant for a project to establish a rail link to the Port of Pascagoula.

The proposed 4,300-foot rail connection in Jackson County is part of the port's intermodal improvement project, according to a press release issued yesterday by U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.).

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Progressive Railroading’s fourth annual Secure Rail Conference, held April 24-25 in Orlando, Florida, featured 23 presentations on topics that addressed how railroads can improve the security of assets, passengers and employees.

Sound Transit has named Don Billen executive director of planning, environment and project development department.

Billen previously served as the department's deputy director. Since September 2017, has has been the department's acting executive director.