Railroad News

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry last week announced an extension for a proposed light-rail line in the Tennessee city.

The Charlotte Avenue light-rail corridor would be extended beyond its endpoint at Interstate 440 and continue toward White Bridge Pike. The change would help provide better transit coverage for the West Nashville community, according to a press release issued by Barry's office.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) last week approved proposed rail-crossing improvement projects in Fulton, Hardin, Medina, Portage and Stark counties.

In Fulton County, Norfolk Southern Railway will upgrade light and gate circuitry, including new LED lights at the South Munson Road grade crossing in Swanton.

Sound Transit logged 5,596,453 boardings on its Link light-rail system in the third quarter, marking a 13.5 percent increase over the same period last year.

Average weekday ridership grew 13 percent to 76,822 boardings. Year to date, Sound Transit logged 17.5 million total light-rail rides, or a 26 percent increase over the same period in 2016.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has proposed a $1.51 billion operating budget for 2018 that would increase rail and bus fares for the first time in several years.

Under the proposal, a ride on the agency's rail system would increase 25 cents to $2.50, while the price of a bus ride would increase from $2 to $2.25. Additionally, the CTA would raise the cost of a 30-day unlimited pass by $5.

The Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council last week issued the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the proposed Vancouver Energy crude-oil terminal project.

The council is scheduled to vote tomorrow on its recommendation regarding the project. Council members will send their recommendation to Gov. Jay Inslee, who will have 60 days to make a final decision.

U.S. railroads moved 554,066 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending Nov. 18, a 1.2 percent increase compared with the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

Total carloads for the week declined 1.6 percent to 266,927 units, while the number of intermodal containers and trailers rose 3.9 percent to 287,139 units compared with the same week in 2016, according to an AAR press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board last week awarded a $723 million contract to a Cubic-John Laing consortium for the design, integration and implementation of an automated fare collection system.

Known as AFC 2.0, the new system will enable riders to pay fares by tapping debit and credit cards at fare gates and fare boxes. In addition, a new contactless fare card will replace the existing CharlieCard. What's more, passengers will be able to buy tickets may on mobile phone apps.

Former Conrail President and Chief Operating Officer Ron Batory has been selected as a rail adviser to U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) spokesman Marc Willis confirmed late last week.

Earlier this year, Batory was nominated to serve as FRA administrator. The Senate has yet to confirm his appointment.

The number of people killed in U.S. rail accidents increased to 733 last year from 708 in 2015, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced last week.

Among the rail incidents, 487 of the deaths were due to trespassing on freight-, passenger- or commuter-rail property, according to the NTSB's annual report on U.S. transportation fatalities.

U.S. Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas) late last week joined representatives from the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad for a tour of Budde Enterprises Inc.'s facility in Newtown, Kansas.

At the shop, Budde handles a variety of rail-related repair and fabrication work, including repairs on hi-rail vehicles and track equipment.

The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) recently experienced a cyberattack that erased key pieces of data from the agency's computers, The Sacramento Bee reported.

The hack last weekend erased certain components of computer programs that affect internal operations, such as the ability to use computers to dispatch employees, according to the newspaper.

A truck driver's failure to properly secure his unattended truck led to an Amtrak derailment that occurred in March 2016 near Cimarron, Kansas, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) latest briefing on the accident.

The day before the incident, the unattended truck rolled downhill and struck BNSF Railway Co. tracks, causing them to misalign. The Amtrak train then crossed the misaligned tracks and derailed.

Class Is employed 146,342 workers in the United States as of mid-October, down 0.2 percent since mid-September's employment figure and down 3.7 percent compared with mid-October 2016's level, according to Surface Transportation Board (STB) data.

Five of six employment categories reflected workforce decreases last month compared with mid-September levels: Executives, officials and staff assistants, down 3.3 percent to 8,217; professional and administrative, down 1.6 percent to 12,197; maintenance of equipment and stores, down 0.6 percent to 26,567; maintenance of way and structures, down 0.6 percent to 33,270; and transportation (other than train and engine), down 0.2 percent to 5,666.

Progress Rail has signed an agreement to acquire Downer EDI's freight-rail business, which is based in North Ryde, Australia.

Downer Freight Rail provides a suite of rolling stock, aftermarket parts and services.

Congress is missing the opportunity to use tax reform legislation to address the nation's infrastructure investment "crisis," according to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

AASHTO officials told congressional leaders that the proposed "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" legislation not only misses the opportunity to address infrastructure funding, but would make it "nearly impossible" to later fund a major infrastructure package, the AASHTO Journal reported.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has appointed Andy Byford president of MTA New York City Transit (NYCT). He will assume the post in January.

Byford joins the agency after a five-year stint as chief executive officer of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the third-largest transit system in North America. During his TTC tenure, Byford spearheaded a number of initiatives, such as the development of a plan to modernize the agency and improve all aspects of operational performance.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) late last week put its first Siemens-built light-rail vehicle into revenue service. In total, Siemens will deliver 219 rail cars for the Muni light-rail system, marking the company's largest order for light-rail cars in the United States. Built at Siemens' manufacturing hub in Sacramento, California, the units feature a new seating configuration and new interior and exterior design. Earlier this month, the first five new light-rail vehicles were cleared for passenger service.

RATP Dev North America will integrate Ideagen's Coruson software into its new drive2zero™ safety and security framework. RATP will use the Coruson cloud-based software system to directly manage safety, risk and operational performance across all bus, paratransit and rail services. In particular, Coruson will enable RATP to pinpoint locations of incidents, provide real-time status of incidents and conduct root-cause analysis, Ideagen's Coruson Project Lead Andrew McIntyre said in a press release.

Michael Lewis will become the next executive director for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Gov. John Hickenlooper announced yesterday.

Lewis will start his new role in December. Most recently, he served as deputy executive director and chief operating officer for CDOT, where he provided policy, technical, organizational and operational direction for the $1.4 billion organization with 3,000 employees.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) last week opened a new bike parking facility at L.A.'s Union Station.

The $2.5 million bike hub is one of the largest secure-access bicycle parking facilities of its kind on Metro's system, agency officials said in a press release.