Railroad News

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) today reopened service on the Red Line between the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Station and Tower City Rapid Station in Cleveland, following retaining wall repairs. 

A portion of the Red Line between the airport and West Boulevard-Cudell Station has been closed for nearly three months as crews repaired and stabilized an s-curve retaining wall on the Red Line’s west side, GCRTA officials said in a press release. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is seeking public opinion on two "interim" policies: One calls for limit the number of pages in environmental impact statements (EIS) and the other would coordinate federal reviews for infrastructure projects under the "One Federal Decision" executive order with the goal of completing environmental review within two years.
 
According to notice published Aug. 23 in the Federal Register, the USDOT is proposing to limit the text of draft and final EIS to 150 pages, but recommends that such statements not exceed 75 pages.

The department is proposing the rule because lengthy EIS documents, "containing extraneous detail and needless data," have added to the costs and time necessary to complete the environmental review process, according to the notice.

The Canadian government has appointed a special negotiator to work with CN on a plan to restore the over century-old Quebec Bridge in Quebec City.

The negotiator is Yvon Charest, former president and chief executive officer of iA Financial Group in Quebec City, federal officials said in a press release issued by Infrastructure Canada.

Cubic Transportation Systems launched an open payment technology for the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works’ Metrorail EASY card transit fare system. The technology allows riders to pay for their transit fare using a contactless-enable Visa or Mastercard, American Express credit card or through a digital wallet on a smartphone or wearable device, Cubic officials said in a press release.

Duos Technologies Inc. and truevue360 have been awarded an expanded five-year, $1 million contract from a Class I to develop a library of artificial intelligence algorithms to better analyze images from the railroad’s rail inspection portal. The algorithms will assist the unidentified railroad with rail-car maintenance inspections, Duos Technologies officials said in a press release. 

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) earlier this week recognized SunRail as a Southeastern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (SASHTO) regional award winner for its southern expansion project that connects Orange County to Osceola County in Orlando. 

The $200 million extension, which opened in July 2018, extended SunRail’s existing 32-mile service by 17 miles and added four new stations to its network, SunRail officials said in a press release. 

Following record Arkansas River flooding in the region, operations are returning to normal at the Port of Little Rock in Arkansas, the Little Rock Port Authority reported this week.

The port's railroad experienced an increase in activity to start the third quarter, and more than 100 rail cars have been removed from storage tracks and delivered to customers, authority officials said in a press release.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) yesterday announced it is exploring concepts for transit-oriented developments (TOD) at eight vacant parcels north of the 95th Street/Dan Ryan Red Line Station. 

CTA is working with the Metropolitan Planning Commission to explore development on the land, which the authority acquired as part of the $280 million reconstruction of 95th Street Station earlier this year, CTA officials said in a press release.

CSX yesterday unveiled its Spirit of our Law Enforcement commemorative locomotive at the Class I's locomotive shop in Huntington, West Virginia.

The CSXT 3194 was renamed to honor the nation's police officers. The unit joins the railroad's collection of Pride In Service locomotives launched this spring: the Spirit of Our Armed Forces and the Spirit of our First Responders.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) will use a nearly $77 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to upgrade its passenger-rail car fleet, including the removal of the oldest cars in operation on the Piedmont passenger-rail service.

The grant was awarded as part of the FRA's State of Good Repair Program announced earlier this week. NCDOT officials said they'll use the grant to support a fleet of new coaches to phase out the oldest rail cars in the Piedmont service, which operates daily between Raleigh and Charlotte.

BNSF Railway Co. is challenging in federal court an Oklahoma law that requires railroads operating in the state to minimize blocking grade crossings for longer than 10 minutes without good reason, an Oklahoma newspaper reported today.

The suit, which the Class I filed yesterday in Oklahoma City, targets Oklahoma's elected corporation commissioners and two cities' police departments that have cited the railroad for violations so far, The Oklahoman reported.

Next month, TransLink will host Rail-Volution 2019, a transportation and community development conference, in Canada for the first time. 

The conference will be held Sept. 8-11 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The event will feature city planning experts and speakers from transportation network companies, who will address topics such as transit expansion and mobility options, TransLink officials said in a press release. 

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) last week issued $335 million of its capital grant receipt revenue bonds to help finance the construction of the Mid-Coast Trolley, a trolley extension between the downtown area and University City in San Diego. 

This transaction will accelerate SANDAG’s receipt of a $1 billion grant from the Federal Transit Administration under the Capital Investment Grant program, SANDAG officials said in a press release.

Alaska Railroad Corp. yesterday announced it has restored freight and passenger service north of Anchorage following several days of suspension due to a retaining wall failure and forest fires.

Regularly scheduled overnight freight service between Anchorage and Fairbanks resumed Aug. 20, and passenger service resumed Aug. 21, railroad officials said in a press release.

U.S. freight-rail traffic continued to fall in the United States during the week ending Aug. 17, with railroads logging a 5.2 percent decrease in carloads and intermodal units compared with the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week were 264,564 units, down 4.9 percent, while intermodal volume was 273,053 containers and trailers were down 5.4 percent.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec’s Minister of Transport Francois Bonnardel earlier this week announced that CA$3.3 billion in total government funding will be contributed to establish a public transit network in Quebec City. 

The planned network would extend over 34 miles and include a 14-mile tram line, two new bus lines and improvements to the current bus system, according to a press release issued by Trudeau's office. 

After a 32-year career at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), General Manager Jeffrey Knueppel will leave the agency on Dec. 31.

Knueppel is choosing not to renew his contract, which expires at year's end, so that he can retire and spend more time with his family, SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said this morning.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) yesterday announced more than $272 million in grant funding to 10 rail projects through the department's State of Good Repair Program.

The grants will help 10 states pay for projects that will help to repair and rehabilitate railroad infrastructure, FRA officials said in a press release.

Audra Rodgers, 39
Rail structure lead, U.S.
AECOM

Nominator’s quote: “Being a project manager is a demanding job, especially when you are in the first 10 to 15 years of your career. However, Audra makes it look effortless, with an ability to combine her engineering knowledge with client management, team engagement and financial accountability. Audra makes other engineers want to do their best work while empowering her team members with confidence. These traits in a project manager are impossible to teach, which makes them so much more valuable when found.” — Alanna Strohecker, AECOM, 2015 Rising Star