Railroad News

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has partnered with the Walsh-Fluor Design-Build Team joint venture to host career fairs in pursuit of a diverse workforce for CTA’s largest capital improvement project, the Red and Purple Modernization (RPM).

The career and networking fairs are designed to deliver training and job opportunity information to  disadvantaged workers and communities throughout Chicago, and lead to a more diversified workforce on the RPM and other CTA construction projects, authority officials said in a press release. 

Steven Bradbury, general counsel of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) since November 2017, is being tapped to serve as the department's acting deputy secretary, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) reported.

Bradbury's new duties as acting deputy are in addition to his current duties as general counsel, according to the AASHTO Journal.

A Pennsylvania state subcommittee on railroads will hold a hearing later this month on whether a second daily service should be added to Amtrak's Pennsylvanian train schedule.

At the Aug. 28 hearing, experts are expected to discuss the potential for freight and passenger-rail service in western Pennsylvania, particularly in Blair County.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) yesterday announced a $25 million funding package to begin renovation of Amtrak’s train station in Providence, Rhode Island.

The project will be financed with a $12.5 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, and will be matched by $7.25 million from Amtrak and $5.25 million from Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT), according to a press release from Reed's office.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) should consider the small business perspective when proposing new regulations, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) Senior Vice President Jo Strang told the Small Business Administration's Office in preparation for a hearing on national regulatory fairness.

Strang, who oversees safety and regulatory policy for ASLRRA, commented on behalf of the nation's 603 short lines. She urged the department to consider small business needs as required under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act when considering rulemakings.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) yesterday resumed regular service on the MAX light-rail’s Blue, Green and Red lines following the completion of track work near the Rose Quarter Transit Center in Portland. 

The work included curved track replacement, two switches and track upgrades, and installation of a new machine for a third switch, TriMet officials said in a press release. 

Valley Metro last week completed streetcar track installation on Mill Avenue between University Drive and Rio Salado Parkway in Tempe, Arizona, marking the installation of nearly half of the streetcar’s track in the city. 

The Tempe Streetcar is scheduled to open in 2021 with 3 miles of track, 14 stops and two connections to Valley Metro’s rail service, agency officials said in a press release. 

A section of the Alaska Railroad shut down north of Denali Park late last week after a retaining wall eroded.

Located in Healy Canyon, the wall failed because the lower slope slipped due to saturated soil from recent heavy rains. Passenger and freight service will remain suspended at least through today, railroad officials said in a press release.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) today announced that on Aug. 24 it will reopen the Pico and 7th Street/Metro Center Expo Line stations, which have been closed since mid-June to accommodate Blue Line construction.

LA Metro’s Blue Line is undergoing a $350 million modernization that began in January to improve reliability, safety and the rider experience. 

The League of Railway Women (LRW) has extended by a week the nomination deadline for the Railway Woman of the Year Award.

Nominations for the award — which recognizes a woman who has made significant contributions to the rail industry — will now be accepted until Aug. 23.

The Canadian government will invest CA$50 million to improve infrastructure at the Pointe-Noire terminal in Sept-Iles, Quebec, to support the mining industry.

The funds will go toward a project that includes building a conveyor to connect the storage yard to the wharf, which will increase vessel loading speed, Transport Canada officials said in a press release.

The North County Transit District (NCTD) earlier this month entered into a partnership with NASA and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to report unsafe rail conditions as part of the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) program.

The purpose of the C3RS program is to improve railroad safety by collecting and analyzing voluntary and confidential safety reports of “close call” events from rail staff and contractors. A close call is defined as an unsafe event which may have had the potential for more serious safety consequences, NCTD officials said in a press release. 

Devin Rouse, 35
Passenger-rail division staff director
Federal Railroad Administration

Nominator’s quote: “Mr. Rouse has a stellar reputation within FRA and the railroad industry. He is an intelligent, hardworking engineer and project manager and is well respected by his staff, his peers, and especially by the railroad rolling stock equipment manufacturers and the leadership of the 28 commuter railroads around the nation. Senior leadership at FRA routinely assign the toughest and most sensitive tasks to Mr. Rouse. They have complete confidence that he will complete the task while professionally representing the policies and the positions of the FRA and the U.S. Department of Transportation.” — Robert Lauby, Federal Railroad Administration

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U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minnesota) this week visited a rail supplier and short-line holding company in Lakeville, Minnesota, to tour their facilities and discuss infrastructure and short-line tax credit legislation.

Craig, who was first elected to Congress in 2018, serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and its subcommittee on railroads, pipelines and hazardous materials.

Duos Technologies Inc. has been awarded a $2.3 million contract from a Class I to replace and update an earlier version of its rip® rail-car inspection portal. The Class I was not revealed. The five-year contract includes technical support, development and maintenance of a library of artificial intelligence algorithms with the objective of automating parts of the client’s rail-car inspections, Duos officials said in a press release.

The Blockchain In Transport Alliance (BiTA) elected Bob Hitt and Richard Greening to serve as chair and co-chair, respectively, of its Bill Of Lading (BOL) working group. The BOL group’s purpose is to create a modern definition of “bill of lading” and an associated data structure specification that can be leveraged across all transport modes for supply chain stakeholders, BiTA officials said in a press release. Hitt is a market manager at Salesforce and Greening is global director of technology of at The DDC Group and its freight-focused division.