Railroad News

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) this week will introduce ultraviolet C (UVC) light technology to kill COVID-19 on trains and at rail stations in New York City.

The technology is part of a pilot program MTA launched with PURO Lighting to demonstrate the efficacy of UVC technology to kill viruses on subways and buses, MTA officials said in a press release.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has granted a request from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) to renew temporary emergency relief from certain rail safety regulations so that commuter railroads can address issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a May 22 letter to APTA President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas, FRA officials said extending the emergency relief from certain regulations for 60 days is "in the public interest, is necessary to address the COVID-19 public health emergency and is not inconsistent with railroad safety."

The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association (NRC) appointed Erika Bruhnke to its board. Bruhnke is vice president of training services at RailPros Inc. Previously, she worked for BNSF Railway Co. in various positions, including director of safety information. Bruhnke joins 19 other railway industry professionals who serve on the NRC board, with responsibility for governing the association, setting its guidelines and policies, and overseeing its programs and activities.

Railinc released research reports highlighting statistics and overall trends of North American rail-car and locomotive fleets in 2019. Among the findings, the report revealed that the number of rail cars in revenue earning fleets increased slightly; more than 80 percent of all new fleet additions have a gross rail load of 286,000 pounds; and newer units in a locomotive fleet trend toward six-axle AC units, Railinc officials said in a press release.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) earlier this week approved Ohio Southern Railroad (OSR) to improve a grade crossing in Zanesville.

The PUCO approved the Ohio Rail Development Commission's construction authorization directing OSR to upgrade active warning devices for traffic signal preemption at the State Route 719 grade crossing by May 20, 2021.

Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) riders ranked train or bus use as the least safe activity to participate in during the pandemic, according to an RTD survey of nearly 2,700 riders.

Conducted online earlier this month, the survey found that riders remain apprehensive about engaging in social activities. Most respondents deemed riding RTD as the least safe activity relative to other choices provided in the survey, such as grocery shopping, visiting a drugstore or pharmacy, visiting friends, visiting family and exercising outside.

Amtrak’s first Acela prototype completed a high-speed testing milestone by traveling at speeds up to 165 mph at the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colorado, Amtrak announced today.

Amtrak’s Acela prototype last month traveled from Alstom’s plant in Hornell, New York, to the center to undergo six months of dynamic testing.

The St. Louis Regional Freightway yesterday announced a 2021 list of priority infrastructure projects aimed at addressing manufacturing and logistics industry needs in eastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois.

The list contains 21 projects representing a total investment of $2.2 billion. Half of that amount covers projects under construction or funded and expected to get underway, with some projects starting as early as this year, Freightway officials said in a press release.

Focused Technology Solutions (FTS) has partnered with LaTech Rail Technologies to distribute FTS’ SpikeEase battery-operated spike puller in Mexico. With this partnership, FTS enters into a new market sector, and LaTech Rail becomes the second international reseller to carry the SpikeEase, company officials said in a press release.

Teleste Corp. will supply onboard public address, passenger information display and closed-circuit television solutions for Alstom’s Coradia trains on the Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois railway in Luxembourg. Deliveries will begin later this year. The agreement covers system deployment for 34 trains and includes an option for an additional 20 trains.

The Delaware Department of Transportation’s (DelDOT) Delaware Transit Corp. (DTC) earlier this week opened a multimodal transit center next to the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station in Wilmington, Delaware.

The $10 million center serves as a hub for multimodal travel into Wilmington and New Castle County, providing access to Amtrak and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority passenger-rail service, bus service, rental vehicles and bike shares, DTC officials said in a press release.

Broward County, Florida, officials yesterday announced Jonathan Daniels will become the new chief executive and port director at Port Everglades.

Daniels comes to Port Everglades from the Port of Gulfport, Mississippi, where as executive director since 2013 he led a $570 million restoration and expansion project. Prior to that, he was executive director of Port of Oswego in New York, managing director of the Port of Greater Baton Rouge and port director for the Eastport Port Authority in Maine.

Siemens Mobility yesterday announced the appointment of Yves Desjardins-Siciliano as Canadian chief executive officer for Siemens Mobility Ltd. 

Desjardins-Siciliano is the former president and CEO of VIA Rail Canada Inc., where he was responsible for managing over 3,300 employees moving nearly 5 million passengers per year. He also served as VIA Rail’s chief corporate and legal officer.

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) this week rolled out a national plan that calls for spending $205 billion to build a national high-speed rail network.

Construction of a high-speed rail network would help get the economy back on track, create competition in transportation and give U.S. residents cleaner, faster and more reliable commutes, Moulton said in a press release.