Railroad News

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has unveiled its "Mobility Dashboard" to help the public understand the effects of COVID-19 on the state's transportation network.

MassDOT is collecting data and monitoring the impacts of COVID-19 on transportation, including on roadways and transit services. Updated weekly, the dashboard will serve as an interactive roundup of key indicators that reflect how much people are traveling, how they're getting around and where they're going in the state, MassDOT official Klark Jessen wrote on the agency's blog.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) is offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the identification, apprehension and conviction of the person who shot two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies at Compton Station on Sept. 12.

Combined with funds from LA Metro, LASD and private donations, the total reward stands at $200,000 as of Sept. 15, LA Metro reported on its blog, The Source.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) earlier this month named Virginia Railway Express’ (VRE) former operations chair Sharon Bulova as the recipient of its 2020 Distinguished Service Award.

APTA awarded Bulova for her work in founding VRE, championing the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Silver Line expansion, and securing dedicated funding for WMATA, VRE officials said in a press release.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday reiterated its call for federal regulators to mandate the use of inward- and outward-facing cameras on locomotives.

The announcement follows the board's investigation of a 2019 collision between two CSX trains in Ohio, in which investigators found that the engineer of one train was impaired by his use of alcohol at the time of the accident.

BNSF Railway Co. has named Matt Igor the railroad's next executive vice president of operations, effective Jan. 1, 2021. He will succeed Kathryn Farmer in the role.

Currently VP of transportation since July 2017, Igoe will oversee the entire operations organization. He will report to Farmer, who will succeed the retiring Carl Ice as president and chief executive officer on Jan. 1, BNSF officials said in a press release.

FreightCar America Inc. announced it has started to permanently close its Shoals manufacturing plant in Cherokee, Alabama. The factory will continue to produce rail cars through the end of the year. After that, production will shift to the company’s Castanos, Mexico, operation. The closure will further align costs and manufacturing capacity with the current realities of depressed rail-car demand, which have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, FreightCar officials said in a press release. Full closure of the facility is expected by the end of first-quarter 2021.

The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) recognized Hanson Professional Services Inc. with the Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence for the firm’s work on the emergency repair of Norfolk Southern Corp.’s collapsed bridge over the Grand River near Brunswick, Missouri. Flooding and a buildup of tree limbs wiped out about 267 feet of the 1,110-foot bridge. Hanson and Massman Construction Co. worked together to help NS rebuild the 103-year-old bridge in 27 days. Meanwhile, AREMA also selected Hanson’s Senior Railroad Engineer Staff Consultant Charley Chambers as AREMA’s 65th honorary member, a distinction that recognizes his contributions to railway engineering and the association. Chambers has been a member of AREMA and its predecessor, the American Railway Engineering Association, for 50 years. 

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) officials announced yesterday that the CMA CGM Brazil, the largest vessel to call on a U.S. East Coast port, arrived at APM Terminals at the Elizabeth Port Authority Marine Terminal on Sept. 12.

The 167-foot container ship has a capacity of 15,072 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo. Its arrival showcases the port's ability to handle the world's largest container ships, which is an outcome of key investments in port infrastructure over the years, PANYNJ officials said in the authority's blog, Breaking Waves.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) later this month will recognize Metrolink with the 2020 Sustainability Impact Award in Energy Management for reducing annual energy consumption by 32 percent as part of LADWP’s commercial lighting incentive program. 

The Southern California commuter railroad reduced energy consumption by retrofitting and upgrading all building light fixtures at its Central Maintenance Facility (CMF).

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) approved the CTrail Hartford Line’s System Safety Program Plan (SSPP), Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) officials announced yesterday.

The action is the first SSPP to be approved by the FRA in the country, CTDOT officials said in a press release.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has awarded a $20 million federal grant for the Stockton Diamond grade separation project in California.

The grant was awarded through the USDOT's Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program. The grant application was prepared by the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (SJRRC) and the California Department of Transportation.

Canadian Pacific today will officially open its new multi-commodity transload facility in Montreal.

The facility will offer transload services and supplementary intermodal transportation and distribution services from CP's Cote Saint-Luc yard, with more space available for future expansions to provide shippers with access to new markets, CP officials said in a press release.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) this week awarded the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in San Francisco and Metro Transit in Minneapolis Full Funding Grant Agreements (FFGA) for major rail improvement projects. 

BART received $1.2 billion in federal funding for its Transbay Corridor Core Capacity Program to increase the frequency of trains between San Francisco and the East Bay, grow capacity by 45 percent and improve service for millions of riders, BART officials said in a press release.

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday announced that Executive Vice President of Operations Kathryn "Katie" Farmer will succeed Carl Ice as president and chief executive officer on Jan. 1, 2021. 

Farmer will become the first woman to lead BNSF and a Class I. She will continue her role on, and assume leadership of, BNSF's board. Ice, who will retire at the end of 2020, will remain on BNSF's board, company officials said in a press release.

The Indiana Rail Road Co. (INRD) announced last week that it has canceled the 2020 run of its Santa Train due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The train travels to communities in the INRD's service areas every December. This year, however, railroad officials were unable to find a safe way to operate the train during a pandemic.

The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) on Sept. 16 will increase the Tri-Rail commuter-rail service to include 35 weekday trains and 18 weekend trains as ridership ticks up.

The amended schedule will allow for more frequent service during peak hours, with four-car train sets to allow social distancing. Three-car train sets will run during off peak times.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) last week upgraded its Ridership Information Dashboard to include rail crowding data to enable train riders to better plan their trips so they can practice social distancing.

The dashboard provides the average rail-car crowding levels at each station along a rail line. Data is refreshed weekly with the latest ridership trend based on a two-week rolling average, CTA officials said in a press release.

MTA Metro-North Railroad last week completed replacement of the 6th Avenue Bridge in downtown Mount Vernon, New York, a month ahead of schedule. 

Work to replace the 126-year-old bridge — which carries traffic and pedestrians over Metro-North’s New Haven Line — began in March 2019.

Sound Transit last week announced Suraj Shetty has joined the Seattle agency as executive director of operations. 

Shetty will oversee transportation and maintenance; facilities and system maintenance; operations assets and technology; and operations support services. He will play a critical role as Sound Transit more than doubles the reach of its Link light-rail service by 2024, agency officials said in a press release.