Railroad News

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday announced its newest logistics center — the Logistics Center North Houston at Cleveland in Texas.

Once completed, the rail-served development is designed to help businesses increase their reach and speed to the Houston market and surrounding area, BNSF officials said in a press release.

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday announced its newest logistics center — the Logistics Center North Houston at Cleveland in Texas.

Once completed, the rail-served development is designed to help businesses increase their reach and speed to the Houston market and surrounding area, BNSF officials said in a press release.

On Feb. 17, Amtrak is sending the first of its 28 new Acela trainsets to the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colorado, for high-speed testing.

The trainset will undergo nine months of dynamic testing, including the train’s pantograph, railway dynamics, tilting, traction, slip/slide and wayside protection brakes, and train control management systems, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

CN yesterday announced it has initiated a "disciplined and progressive" shutdown of its operations in Eastern Canada until protest blockades on its lines in Ontario are removed, company officials said in a press release.

The shut down will include stopping and securing all trans-continental trains across its Canadian network, including intercity VIA Rail service. The Metrolinx and Exo commuter-rail services will not be impacted, CN officials said.

CN yesterday announced it has initiated a "disciplined and progressive" shutdown of its operations in Eastern Canada until protest blockades on its lines in Ontario are removed, company officials said in a press release.

The shut down will include stopping and securing all trans-continental trains across its Canadian network, including intercity VIA Rail service. The Metrolinx and Exo commuter-rail services will not be impacted, CN officials said.

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (SDMTS) trolley posted eight straight months of year-over-year gains between April and November 2019, including a 9 percent increase in ridership in September 2019.

The trolley logged 753,435 passenger trips in the first two months of the agency’s fiscal-year 2020, which began July 1, 2019, SDMTS officials said in a press release.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) earlier this week launched a mobile ticketing application for riders on the CTrail Hartford and Shore Line East lines. 

CTrail eTix allows riders to purchase and store train tickets on a smartphone. Once riders board the train, they can activate the tickets and show it to the train conductor as proof of payment, CTDOT officials said in a press release issued by Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s office.

Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) has promoted Stephane Perri to vice president.

Perri's rail career spans 20 years, starting with PHL in April 2000 as an assistant locomotive engineer. In 2005, he advanced to assistant trainmaster and subsequently  moved through management posts, PHL officials said in a press release.

Regional Transportation District of Denver’s (RTD) board earlier this week approved a contract for Paul Ballard to be the agency’s interim general manager and chief executive officer. Ballard will begin his role by Feb. 26.

Under the contract, Ballard will receive an annualized salary of $350,000, and relocation expenses with be covered by the agency, RTD officials said in a press release.

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) yesterday retired the last remaining R-42 subway cars from service, ending a 51-year run. 

The R-42 units were built by St. Louis Car Co. and delivered to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) starting in 1969. Eventually, the NYCT subway fleet totaled 400 R-42 rail cars, NYCT officials said in a press release.  

While U.S. freight railroads' traffic slump continued during the week ending Feb. 8, Canadian and Mexican railroads reported traffic increases, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

U.S. railroads logged 485,329 carloads and intermodal units for the week, down 6.6 percent compared to the same week last year. The railroads hauled 232,116 carloads, down 4.2 percent, and 253,213 intermodal containers and trailers, down 8.8 percent.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) earlier this week announced it has rated the Hudson River rail tunnel rehabilitation project a "medium-low" priority, a designation that serves to delay the project's eligibility for federal funding under the Capital Investment Grant program.

Last year, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), Amtrak and New Jersey Transit submitted a revised application for funding, including a proposal to lower the project's cost by $1.4 billion and decrease its reliance on federal funds to less than 50 percent. The revised application was part of an effort to increase the project's FTA rating above "medium low." The tunnel project's cost is estimated to be about $12 billion.

New York Air Brake LLC (NYAB) appointed Greg Dalpe senior vice president of sales and marketing. Dalpe succeeds Jason Connell, who was named president and chief executive officer of Knorr Brake Co. last month, NYAB officials said in a press release. Dalpe joined NYAB in 2015. Previously, he served as operations director and VP of operations. Prior to joining NYAB, he was a divisional quality manager and director of operations at ONEX Corp.

Terracon Consultants Inc. has acquired Skelly and Loy Inc. Terracon will maintain the existing corporate structure of Skelly and Loy and add the firm to its national network. As a result of the merger, Skelly and Loy Chair Sandi Loy Bell has retired, and President John Gunnett announced plans to retire after the companies are integrated, Skelly and Loy officials said in a press release.

Amtrak Northeast Regional routes in Virginia logged a record ridership of 100,511 passengers in December 2019, a 27 percent increase from the December 2018 level.

The holiday season helped drive the ridership increase, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) yesterday received approval from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to enter the final engineering phase of the the South Shore Line’s double-track project in northwest Indiana as part of the FTA’s Capital Investment Grant program.

NICTD’s double-track project calls for installation of a second mainline track on 26 miles of the South Shore Line from Gary to Michigan City. The project also includes station improvements, parking expansion, construction of nine new platforms and closure of 21 grade crossings.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) earlier this week raised the rating on New Jersey Transit’s proposed Portal North Bridge replacement project to "medium-high" priority, effectively making it eligible for federal funding. 

In September 2019, NJ Transit submitted to the FTA a revised financial plan based on federal recommendations to allocate more local money to the project and keep costs in check, NJ Transit officials said in a press release.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) yesterday revealed three joint ventures have been selected to submit design-build proposals to bring MTA Metro-North Railroad service to New York Penn Station by 2024.

Qualified design-build entities are: Halmar International LLC/RailWorks Corp. joint venture with Ove Arup & Partners P.C. as the lead designer; the Skanska ECCO III Penn Station Connectors JV led by designer AECOM USA Inc.; and the Tutor Perini/O&G JV with Parsons Transportation Group of New York Inc. as the lead designer. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration has allocated a $10.5 million grant to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority to help fund the construction of a new rail-served warehouse.

The grant will help fund the construction of a 56,000-square-foot warehouse at the Clure Public Marine Terminal, along with rehabilitation of 1,775 lineal feet of deteriorating dock walls at Berth 10 and 11, port authority officials said in a press release.