Railroad News

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) last week announced it selected Jacobs Project Management Co. and H.J. Russell & Company to manage construction spending in the first five years of the authority’s $3 billion More MARTA expansion project. 

The Jacobs/Russell joint venture team will oversee the project management process, quality assurance and project resources including planning, monitoring and performance measurements, MARTA officials said in a press release. 

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) last week launched a new web page on which the public and law enforcement agencies can report incidents of blocked grade crossings.

Communities have long dealt with the issue of blocked crossings, and the FRA is now seeking broad public input to better understand the problem's scope and engage with affected parties to identify solutions, FRA officials said in a press release.

West Virginia and Maryland state officials have agreed to continue the Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) commuter-rail service to West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle in 2020, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced last week. 

The Maryland Department of Transportation's Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA), which operates MARC, requested $3.4 million to continue the service in West Virginia. Municipal leaders from the Eastern Panhandle communities of Shepherdstown, Ranson, Charles Town, Harpers Ferry, Bolivar and Martinsburg, along with the Jefferson County Commission and the Berkeley County Council, contributed the funds, according to a press release issued by Justice’s office. 

LTK Engineering Services announced several promotions: Pam Alexander to vice president of the Atlanta region; Lisa Cobb to VP of the Northern California region; Guy Chertock to VP of rail systems engineering; and Natalie Cornell to VP of business development. Previously, Alexander was the Atlanta office lead and a project consultant focusing on rail vehicle program support. Cobb has nearly 30 years of experience in the rail industry and previously served as the San Francisco Bay Area regional manager. Chertock has more than 20 years of experience in the radio and communications fields. Cornell has project management experience in rail vehicle engineering and procurement, and fare collections sales and delivery, LTK officials said in a press release.

Food Logistics magazine named Railinc a leading software and technology provider to the food and beverage industry. Railinc technology initiatives support railroad efforts to provide detailed rail car visibility to shippers. This makes supply chains more efficient with multimodal optimization, early detection of equipment issues and remediation for shipment exceptions, Railinc officials said in a press release.

The Bi-State Development Board of Commissioners earlier this month approved five new contracts with St. Louis regional law enforcement agencies and a security provider to support the Metro Transit-St. Louis light-rail system.

The approved contracts will contribute to Metro Transit-St. Louis’s multilayered approach to safety and security, Bi-State Development officials said in a press release. 

Metra is seeking suggestions from riders on which amenities the Chicago commuter-rail service should include in its new rail cars. 

Earlier this year, Metra issued a request for proposals for at least 200 new cars with options for 300 more. As the agency negotiates with manufacturers, it will look for rail-car designs that increase capacity and optimize passenger amenities such as lighting, seat features, information screens and USB chargers, Metra officials said in a press release.

CSX Corp. announced yesterday it has appointed retired Maj. Gen. Suzanne Vautrinot to its board.

Vautrinot is president of Kilovolt Consulting Inc., a cybersecurity strategy and technology consulting firm. She retired form the U.S. Air Force in October 2013 as major general, CSX officials said in a press release.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver's (RTD) board yesterday agreed to advance a staff plan to temporarily reduce rail service in response to an ongoing shortage of light-rail operators. 

The proposal that RTD staff presented yesterday would allow the transit agency to build up its workforce, provide a more reliable service for riders and give some relief to operators that have been working overtime, RTD officials said in a press release.

CN announced yesterday that less than a month after an eight-day labor strike ended, the Class I's train movements have recovered to pre-strike ranges.

The strike caused CN's network to run at about 10 percent capacity. Every strike day can cause several days of backlog, requiring time for the network to return to normal operational ranges, CN officials said in a press release.

CN announced yesterday that less than a month after an eight-day labor strike ended, the Class I's train movements have recovered to pre-strike ranges.

The strike caused CN's network to run at about 10 percent capacity. Every strike day can cause several days of backlog, requiring time for the network to return to normal operational ranges, CN officials said in a press release.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) yesterday announced it has proposed new rules to update current track safety standards (TSS) and "improve the effectiveness" of existing brake system safety requirements.

Both proposed rulemakings are aimed at increasing safety and saving time, FRA officials said in a press release.

CSX Corp. and Virginia officials have reached a 10-year, $3.7 billion agreement that calls for expansion of passenger-rail service, construction of a new bridge over the Potomac River and the acquisition of more than 350 miles of railroad right-of-way and 225 miles of track.

The agreement aims to expand reliability and service on Virginia's rail lines, creating a pathway to separate passenger and freight operations between Richmond, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., Virginia officials said yesterday in a press release issued by Gov. Ralph Northam's office.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's (VTA) board yesterday released the results of an independent evaluation of its governance practices that provides 27 recommendations to help improve the board’s decision-making processes for transportation project planning.

Consulting firm RSM US LLP evaluated the California transit agency's board over the past five months, VTA officials said in a press release.

Canada's Transport Minister Marc Garneau yesterday announced the award of CA$14,250 in government funding to help raise rail safety awareness in Chilliwack, British Columbia.

Through education and outreach initiatives — and working with Indigenous partners — the city will raise awareness of rail safety, particularly for vulnerable groups such as the homeless, youth and seniors, Transport Canada officials said in a press release.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) found “no findings” for improvements for the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) during its triennial review of transit operators, OCTA officials announced yesterday. 

Every three years, the FTA completes a thorough review of transit operations for compliance with federal requirements and best practices.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) board yesterday approved the agency’s $17 billion 2020 budget and four-year financial plan. 

The budget includes no budget-driven service cuts and advances the agency’s Transformation Plan to improve service and deliver reforms for taxpayers and commuters, MTA officials said in a press release.

U.S. freight railroads logged 520,589 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Dec. 14, down 8.5 percent compared with the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week declined 9 percent to 243,290 units, while intermodal volume fell 8 percent to 277,299 containers and trailers.

As part of a plan to expand its coal marketing department, the Reading & Northern Railroad announced yesterday it named Jim Cerulli vice president of coal marketing.

Effective Jan. 1, Cerulli will take the lead on dealing with coal shippers along Reading & Northern’s rail system. He'll also manage the coal service network, shippers' car supply, shipper relations and development of additional on-line coal facilities, Reading & Northern officials said in a press release.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) board yesterday approved a design-build contract to allow MTA Metro-North Railroad to replace the Third Avenue vehicular and pedestrian bridge over the New Haven Line in Mount Vernon, Virginia. 

The $10.4 million contract is expected to be awarded to John Civetta & Sons Inc., which would replace the bridge in 18 months, Metro-North officials said in a press release.