Railroad News

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) yesterday announced it has awarded the the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grants totaling a combined $29.2 million to advance rail projects. 

The FTA awarded KCATA a $14.2 million grant to fund the Kansas City Streetcar’s Riverfront Extension. The project will extend the existing downtown streetcar line about a half mile from 3rd Street and Grand Boulevard to the base of Grand Avenue Bridge on the Berkley Riverfront in Kansas City, Missouri. 

The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) on Oct. 13 will begin refurbishment and universal accessibility work at the Pie-IX metro station.

The CA$81 million project will include the installation of four elevators, entrance expansions, refurbishment of mechanical rooms, construction of a new staircase, improved lighting and additional signage. 

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and Selma, California, officials yesterday launched a website to ramp up recruitment efforts for the first cohort of the Central Valley Training Center program. 

The training center provides pre-apprenticeship classes and hands-on construction industry training for Central Valley residents interested in working on California’s high-speed rail project, CHSRA officials said in a press release.

Sound Transit in Seattle is seeking public input on proposed changes to rail service in 2021, as well as feedback on how service changes related to COVID-19 pandemic have affected riders. 

Sound Transit is planning for what service should look like beyond March 2021. Considerations include where services are most needed, where demand might increase and which passengers depend most on services, Sound Transit officials said in a press release.

The Port of Long Beach, California, (POLB) reported its best August in its 109-year history, marking a strong start to the peak shipping season, port officials reported yesterday.

Dockworkers and terminal operators moved 725,610 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container cargo during the month, a 9.3 percent increase compared with August 2019's level. Imports surged 13 percent to 364,792 TEUs and exports climbed 1 percent to 16,177 TEUs. Empty containers shipped overseas climbed 8.5 percent to 234,642 TEUs.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) earlier this week reopened the Vienna and Dunn Loring rail stations following a summer-long closure to rebuild and modernize the stations. 

All 91 WMATA stations are now open for the first time since the agency implemented station closures as part of its pandemic response in March. 

Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc. (GWCI) has announced that subsidiary Huron Central Railway will cease operations by the end of the year.

GWCI's board met last month to confirm the decision, after discussions with federal and Ontario provincial governments failed to produce an agreement about a company proposal to "collectively invest" in the railroad's infrastructure, GWCI President Rick McLellan said in a press release.

For the first time since early 2020, U.S. railroads logged an increase in freight-rail traffic during the week ending Sept. 5, with total volumes driven by a spike in intermodal units, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total U.S. rail traffic for the week was 509,637 carloads and intermodal units, up 8.6 percent compared with the same week last year, AAR officials said in a press release.

Amtrak anticipates it will need up to $4.9 billion in federal funding to operate and continue to invest in its rail network, President and Chief Executive Officer William Flynn yesterday told lawmakers during a congressional hearing on the railroad's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest dollar amount, which includes $2.8 billion in federal supplemental funding, is necessary to help Amtrak address the financial crisis it faces as a result of the pandemic, Flynn said.

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Transit Wireless completed work to allow cellular voice and data connection in the MTA New York City Transit’s L Line subway tunnel under the East River, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week. 

The telecommunication company, in partnership with MTA, launched full connectivity in the Canarsie Tunnel so that AT&T customers are now able to use their phones and other devices between 1st Avenue and Bedford Avenue on the L Line. 

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) officials yesterday unveiled a planning tool that displays an estimate of train capacity so riders can better plan their trips and maximize social distancing practices while riding. 

The LIRR TrainTime mobile app provides the median ridership of the past seven trips of a specific train, at any station. The app then categorizes that train on a scale from “most crowded” to “least crowded.” 

The Security and Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC), an initiative of the Transportation Technology  Center Inc. (TTCI), has launched its first online training academy.

The SERTC will use the new platform to continue providing training to the nation's first responders despite ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Caltrain’s board last week postponed previously approved fare increases until after June 2021, and approved the system’s first framework for equity policies.

The "Framework for Equity, Connectivity, Recovery and Growth" includes policies that will help ensure rail service recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic in a way that expands access to low-income individuals and communities of color that have historically been underrepresented in the system’s ridership, Caltrain officials said in a press release.

Kansas City Southern has canceled this year's Holiday Express train due to the pandemic, but the railroad will mark the charitable program's 20th year with a fundraiser to benefit The Salvation Army in 20 communities along the KCS network.

"While it is not safe to gather for free visits with Santa Claus and tours of the Holiday Express train this year, the need for the charitable component of this program is greater than ever," KCS President and Chief Executive officer Patrick Ottensmeyer said in a press release.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) plans to cut the number of employment positions by 25 percent to 30 percent due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The planned reduction will include about 635 part-time and full-time positions for represented and salaried staff that are currently filled. The number may change as the agency conducts a more detailed analysis, RTD officials said in a press release.

A team of Union Pacific Railroad engineering employees have been on the front lines of battling hot spots along the railroad's track, bridges and tunnels as wildfires roar across Northern California.

The crew have been using the UP water train, which consists of two rail cars that each hold 12,500 gallons of water and a pumper. The train goes back and forth over a 7-miles stretch, traversing up to 50 miles a day, UP officials said in railroad's InsideTrack newsletter.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection awarded Smiths Detection a contract to provide its HCVT X-ray scanners for use at U.S. railway checkpoints at both the northern and southern borders. The HCVT is a side-view, high-energy X-ray inspection scanner designed to screen moving rail cars for dangerous or illegal cargo. The initial order value is $13.5 million with initial deliveries planned for 2021. The contract allows for multiple orders up to $379 million over five years. The contract also includes an option for service over a 10-year period.

Rail Vision Ltd. signed a commercial agreement with an affiliate of Knorr-Bremse AG to supply Rail Vision’s Assisted Remote Shunting (ARS) systems to a European train operator. Rail Vision will deliver its ARS prototype system in October. The train operator then has the option to place an order for 30 ARS systems valued up to $3.3 million, or purchase an additional 45 ARS systems valued at about $4.1 million.

Officials from Chicago’s Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) and Cary, Illinois, late last month began creating a strategic plan to encourage private investment near the city's Metra commuter-rail station. 

The plan will identify strategies for future transit-oriented land uses and infrastructure improvements near the station in downtown Cary.