Railroad News

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) earlier this week released the final environmental impact document for the second phase of Bay Area Rapid Transit's (BART) Silicon Valley extension.

The document environmentally clears all potential station locations, as well as both single- and twin-bore tunneling options, VTA officials said in a press release. The report also includes responses to public comments on the draft document, which was released in December 2016.

The District of Columbia has obtained federal certification for its transit-rail State Safety Oversight (SSO) program, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced yesterday.

Under the the district's SSO program, the D.C. Fire and Emergency Management Services is responsible for providing safety oversight of the D.C. Streetcar system.

Compiled By Walter Weart

Swedish train operator SJ has selected the Trimble® R2M real-time remote diagnostic system, along with the Trimble C2M component condition monitoring system. The systems are designed to improve real-time status monitoring and analytics capabilities by accessing up-to-date fleet status, Trimble officials said in a press release. The technologies also can help reduce costs and improve safety. Trimble R2M processes diagnostic data from rail vehicles to provide a comprehensive view of overall fleet status, including specific and potential vehicle faults. The C2M system, on the other hand, analyzes and detects anomalies with particular component behavior and uses the information to identify impacts on maintenance and service, according to Trimble.

Ferrellgas Partners LP announced the sale of Bridger Rail Shipping LLC's tank cars to an undisclosed buyer. Bridger Rail Shipping is a subsidiary of Bridger Logistics, which is a subsidiary of Ferrellgas. The transaction consisted of 1,072 rail cars, including 300 DOT-117 units and 772 CPC-1232 units. Most of the CPC-1232s are in storage and incurring storage fees, while all of the DOT-117s are leased to a third-party under a multiyear contract. The cash purchase was valued at $47 million, according to a Ferrellgas press release. Proceeds from the transaction will be used to reduce outstanding debt on Ferrellgas' secured credit facility. Ferrellgas officials decided to exit the rail-car business due to changes in the market, said James Ferrell, interim chief executive officer and president.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo yesterday announced the availability of $26.5 million in state funding to preserve and improve rail and port services in major trade and passenger corridors across the state.

The funds come from the Passenger and Freight Rail Assistance Program, which was included in the New York State Department of Transportation's (NYSDOT) $29 billion, five-year state transportation plan.

U.S. railroads moved 539,963 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending Feb. 17, a 3.1 percent increase compared with the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads' (AAR) data.

The railroads logged 260,454 carloads, down 0.6 percent, and 279,509 intermodal units, up 6.8 percent, compared with the same week last year.

A garbage truck involved in a fatal Amtrak accident late last month had entered a grade crossing after the warning gates were lowered, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced yesterday.

On Jan. 31, an Amtrak train struck a garbage truck that was stopped at the crossing in Crozet, Virginia. The train was carrying Republican members of Congress on their way to a legislative retreat in West Virginia.

Metra's board yesterday approved the purchase of up to 21 used F59PHI locomotives for $1.3 million apiece. 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has appointed Catherine Rinaldi president of MTA Metro-North Railroad.

She has served as the railroad's acting president since July 2017. Before that, she was Metro-North's executive vice president.

By Richard Kloster and Rob Hart

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) yesterday announced it will expand its "GoLink" on-demand shuttle service to provide "last-mile access" for light-rail riders in southern Dallas and Plano, Texas.

Starting Feb. 26, the agency will roll out three new southern Dallas zones for the shuttle service. The Inland Port zone will cater to a largely unserved industrial and commercial area out of the light-rail stop on the University of North Texas at Dallas campus.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) is considering delaying a planned 2018 fare hike for at least another year to complete a comprehensive fare study.

The agency's operational planning and infrastructure committee recommended putting the fare increase on hold after yesterday's meeting of the full GCRTA board.

BNSF Railway Co. will spend $110 million this year on network maintenance projects in Oklahoma.

The Class I's Oklahoma capital expenditures program in 2018 will primarily focus on replacing and upgrading rail, ties and ballast, according to a BNSF press release.

As of mid-January, Class Is in the United States employed 144,329 workers, down 0.75 percent since mid-December's employment figure and down 2.76 percent compared with mid-January 2017's level, according to the Surface Transportation Board.

Five of six employment categories reflected workforce decreases in mid-January compared with mid-December. Those categories were executives, officials and staff assistants, down 3.62 percent to 7,830 employees; transportation (train and engine) down 1.29 percent to 59,684; maintenance of way and structures, down 0.99 percent to 32,132; transportation (other than train and engine) down 0.78 percent to 5,581; and maintenance of equipment and stores, down 0.12 percent to 26,564.

Sound Transit has chosen Siemens to supply 13 traction power substations and two medium-voltage substations for the Northgate and East Link light-rail extensions.

The company also will provide a cross-passage tunnel tie station on the extensions and upgrade an existing substation it supplied in 2008.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has certified an emissions-reduction system for one of the North Carolina Department of Transportation's (NCDOT) passenger locomotives.

Known as a blended after-treatment system (BATS), the technology uses catalytic reduction to chemically remove diesel engine emission pollutants from the locomotive's exhaust before it's released into the air.