Railroad News

The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) earlier this week began the environmental review process for South Bay Connect, a proposed project to relocate the Capitol Corridor passenger-rail service from Union Pacific Railroad’s Niles Subdivision to the Coast Subdivision in Northern California.

The proposed relocation is expected to improve separation of passenger- and freight-rail operations in southern Alameda County and create new transbay connections for travelers between the East Bay and destinations on the peninsula, CCJPA officials said in a press release. Improvements to the rail infrastructure also may be included in the project to accommodate the shift of rail services.

Ontario Northland has tapped Drew Duquette to serve as vice president of transportation effective July 6, the railroad announced late last week.

Most recently, Duquette worked for Canadian Pacific, where he served in a number of senior roles, including as superintendent of southwestern Ontario. At Ontario Northland, he will succeed Grant Bailey, who is retiring.

The Kansas Department of Transportation this week (KDOT) announced nine rail improvement projects will receive a combined $11.5 million in State Rail Service Improvement Fund grants.

The program is intended to help improve rail access for businesses and preserve the condition of the state's rail network. This year, the total cost of the nine projects is $21.8 million. Construction is slated to begin in the third quarter, KDOT officials said in a press release.

The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which goes into effect today, will provide certainty as the economy begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Association of American Railroads (AAR) President and Chief Executive Officer Ian Jefferies said today in a press release.

"As economies reopen, the certainty provided by the USMCA will prove vital to charting a path back to prosperity," Jefferies said.

New Jersey Transit yesterday announced it has advanced its positive train control (PTC) system into the extended revenue service demonstration (ERSD) phase. 

The milestone follows completion of the Federal Railroad Administration’s requirement to perform 384 error-free test runs in the 17-mile demonstration area between Denville and Summit, NJ Transit officials said in a press release. The agency will now expand its revenue service demonstration to the entire Morristown Line from Hackettstown to Newark Broad Street, as well as the Gladstone Branch and Montclair-Boonton Line.

Kansas City Southern announced today that Jose Guillermo Zozaya Delano will retire Aug. 1 as president, general manager and executive representative of KCS de Mexico S.A. de C.V. He will be succeeded by KCSM Vice President and General Director Oscar Augusto Del Cueto Cuevas.

Zozaya joined the company in 2006 and served as senior officer of KCSM for 14 years. His career spanned nearly 50 years in government relations, legal affairs and international affairs, as well as in mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining the KCSM management team, he was legal and government relations director for ExxonMobil Mexico for nine years.

The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) last week received the first of 17 new AZUR trains intended for the Green Line, which will be put into service within a few days. 

The remaining 16 trains will be delivered by 2021 at a rate of one train per month, STM officials said in a press release.

The Railway Supply Institute (RSI) has canceled the 2020 RSI Expo & Education Conference due to the ongoing public health risks surrounding in person events and the safety of travel as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. The event was scheduled to take place Sept. 9-11 in Chicago. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker banned large scale gatherings until a vaccine or highly effective treatment for the virus becomes widely available, or that no new cases are recorded over a sustained period, a situation that appears highly unlikely to occur by this September, RSI officials said in a press release. In lieu of the event, RSI is exploring the possibility of holding a limited number of education sessions through a virtual platform and will provide additional information in the coming weeks, RSI officials said.

MUL Railcars Inc. (MULR) appointed Anders Vestergaard chief executive officer as of July 1. Vestergaard will succeed Jim Sharp, the company's founding CEO, who has completed his service with the company in a “preplanned management transition,” MULR officials said in a press release. “We have a great team, a diverse fleet and an excellent set of customer relationships,” Vestergaard said. “I’m excited to lead MULR through these challenging market conditions.  A final thank you to Jim for establishing and leading MULR to this point, the team and I intend to carry on his good work."

CN announced this week it will invest nearly CA$1.3 billion this year in capital expenditures on infrastructure in the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec.

In British Columbia, the CA$445 million investment will include expansion projects that will add track in yards and new sidings. CN also will continue spending on multiyear initiatives to increase capacity at the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert in collaboration with the Canadian government, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and the Prince Rupert Port Authority.

VIA Rail Canada Inc. last week announced additional steps toward ensuring universal accessibility in order to meet requirements set out by the Canadian Transportation Agency.

To increase accessibility, VIA Rail is proposing:

MTA Long Island Rail Road crews this weekend completed a project to replace a 78-year-old rail bridge over Glen Cove Road in Carle Place, New York.

The new bridge is the sixth to be replaced or improved through the LIRR Expansion Project, which is bringing a third track to the Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville to improve capacity and enable reverse commuting. 

The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) last week received the first of 17 new AZUR trains intended for the Green Line, which will be put into service within a few days. 

The remaining 16 trains will be delivered by 2021 at a rate of one train per month, STM officials said in a press release.

The Port of New Orleans Board of Commissioners last week elected Darryl Berger chairman.

The commissioners also serve as directors of the New Orleans Public Belt Corp. (NOPB), a port subsidiary and operator of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad.

Iron Horse Terminals LLC's (IHT) rail terminal in Beaumont, Texas, earlier this month became fully operational when it was connected to the Houston Rail Line served by BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad.

Located on 500 acres in the heart of the southeast Texas petrochemical industry, the rail terminal has more than 1,300 rail-car storage spots, a 30-car maintenance facility, a 10-car loading facility and a soon-to-be operational car washing facility.

Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) board last week approved a $2.42 billion capital and operating budget for fiscal-year 2021, which begins July 1.

The budget focuses on increased investment in passenger and employee safety and provides the ability to adapt train service levels to match changes in ridership, BART officials said in a press release.

CN will invest CA$305 million in Alberta and CA$235 million in Quebec this year to strengthen its rail network, the Class I announced last week.

In Alberta, capital expenditures will include expansion projects such as the construction of double track to allow more trains to pass on CN's mainline. The maintenance program will focus on the replacement of 71 miles of rail, installation of 210,000 new ties, rebuilding of 28 grade crossing surfaces, and maintenance work on bridges, culverts, signal systems and other track infrastructure.

VTG Rail Logistics has modernized its tank car fleet to transport liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The company has been renewing its fleet since 2014, with 800 of the nearly 1500 tank cars having been retrofitted or replaced, VTG Rail officials said in a press release. The wagons now can carry a larger payload and feature quieter braking systems and crash buffers. Most wagons are also equipped with the VTG Connector telematics module, which allows tracking and tracing. 

Hardesty & Hanover LLP hired Howard Swanson and Earl Wacker as senior project managers in the rail practice. Swanson will focus on managing large freight-rail projects. He has 32 years of experience with Norfolk Southern Railway, where he was responsible for ensuring that standard procedures for bridge management complied with Federal Railway Administration requirements. Wacker will focus on passenger- and freight-rail projects in his new position. He will be involved in transportation projects in the Midwest. Wacker has more than 37 years of experience at CSX and its predecessor railroads, where he served in operations, administration and service design and six years with CSX Intermodal.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has completed  $6.9 million in safety and aesthetic upgrades to the Inman Park/Reynoldstown rail station on the system’s East/West Line.   

New safety features include an accessibility ramp connecting Walthall Street to the Reynoldstown bus loop and a stair tower to Seaboard Avenue on the south side of the station. MARTA crews also rehabilitated two pedestrian bridges linking the station to parking lots, and built a speed table to slow vehicle traffic.  

The Port of Savannah's proximity to major producers, direct access via road and rail and broad global network recently made it the top port in the nation for the export of containerized agricultural goods, Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) officials announced yesterday.

In calendar year 2019, agriculture accounted for 60 percent of Savannah's exports, or more than 843,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Forest products such as wood pulp, paper and logs made up the largest category of goods, followed by clay, cotton, poultry and peanuts.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) this week published a white paper on cleaning and disinfecting transit vehicles and facilities during a contagious virus pandemic.

Designed to address the virus that causes COVID-19, the paper is designed to help transit agencies develop programs for maintaining, cleaning and disinfecting their vehicles and facilities, APTA officials said in the document.