Railroad News

Union Pacific Railroad yesterday announced the status of its positive train control (PTC) implementation plan.

UP will meet all required deadlines for installing PTC on its network, and will continue to test and refine the system's "immature technologies" in 2019-2020, according to a company press release.

U.S. railroads' combined traffic for January was steady, logging a 0.1 percent increase in carloads and intermodal units compared with the same month a year ago, according to Association for American Railroads (AAR) data.

Last month, U.S. railroads moved 1,217,405 carloads, down 3.4 percent, and 1,310,141 containers and trailers, up 3.5 percent, compared with January 2017. Combined carload and intermodal traffic was 2,527,546 units.

Progress Rail announced that it's contemplating closing its engine manufacturing facility in LaGrange, Illinois. The company is considering transitioning manufacturing and assembly to other U.S. facilities, including its plant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In addition, Progress Rail may transfer certain engine and locomotive component manufacturing to outside suppliers, company officials said in a statement. The company is "evaluating how to use its existing manufacturing space as efficiently as possible to remain a competitive supplier to the rail industry," Progress Rail officials said. The closure of the LaGrange plant would affect about 600 full-time jobs directly related to engine manufacturing, but would not affect other non-manufacturing jobs on the campus, including 600 administrative roles and engineering support roles.

American Railcar Industries Inc.'s (ARI) board has appointed John O'Bryan president and chief executive officer. He began his duties on an interim basis last month. O'Bryan joined the company as chief commercial officer in June 2017 and has made "great strides in building a leading sales team," said ARI Chairman SungHwan Cho in a press release. O'Bryan previously served as president and CEO of American Railcar Leasing, president of Mitsui Rail Capital, and chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Rescar.

Industry-Railway Suppliers Inc. (IRS), a tool and products distributor for railroad construction, has acquired the assets of ESCO Equipment Co.

Since 1962, ESCO has provided sales and business representation for global railroad product and equipment manufacturers with a mix of maintenance-of-way products. The company brings with it "rail industry professionals with an established reputation for delivering outstanding service and expertise," IRS officials said in a press release.

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) earlier this week opened the first track on a new rail bridge over the San Diego River.

An Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train was the first to cross the 900-foot bridge, SANDAG officials said in a press release.

Alaska Railroad Corp. (ARRC) late last month presented its 2017 Gold Spike awards to the company's top employees.

The annual awards program recognizes railroaders who demonstrate the railroad's values of safety, service excellence, integrity, sustainability, teamwork and leadership.

Six former employees of the Montreal Maine & Atlantic Canada Co. and the Montreal Maine & Atlantic Canada Railway Ltd. (MMA) pleaded guilty to violations of the Railway Safety Act in connection with the July 2013 train disaster in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, Transport Canada announced Monday.

Charges were brought against the individuals, including senior officers of the railway, for violating obligations related to the application and testing of brakes under the federal law.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has filed a draft supplemental environmental impact report (DSEIR) for the proposed South Coast Rail project, which calls for restoring commuter-rail service between Boston and the state's southeast region.

The report analyzes new components of the project's first phase, which would extend the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Middleborough/Lakeview Line to New Bedford, Fall River and Taunton using existing active freight corridors.

BNSF Railway Co.'s customers invested nearly $7.7 billion in new or expanded facilities in 2017, the Class I announced yesterday.

Last year marked the seventh consecutive year that BNSF customers and local economic development organizations invested more than $1 billion in a calendar year on new or expanded facilities. The investments are expected to generate 3,500 new jobs in local communities, according to a BNSF press release.

Two commuter-rail accidents at train stations in the New York City were caused by engineer fatigue resulting from undiagnosed sleep apnea, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined yesterday.

The Sept. 29, 2016, accident involving a New Jersey Transit train at the terminal in Hoboken, New Jersey, killed one person and injured 110. The MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) accident that occurred Jan. 4, 2017, at the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, New York, injured 108 people.

Bryan MacDonald was elected chairman of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency, which oversees Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner route.

An Oxnard, California, city councilman, MacDonald  served as the agency's vice chairman for the past year. He succeeds outgoing Chairman Tony Kranz, who remains a voting board member representing San Diego County.

Sound Transit has scheduled three open houses this month as part of its early scoping work for light-rail extensions to West Seattle and Ballard, Washington.

The hearings will allow residents to offer opinions on the extensions' proposed route and station locations. The meetings will be held Feb. 13, 15, and 20.

The Texas Central bullet-train developers announced yesterday that the Houston rail station will be located at Northwest Mall near the interchange of Interstate 610 and U.S. Highway 290.

The terminal will be situated in a high-growth area with access to employment centers and the downtown, Texas Central officials said in a press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board awarded a $17 million commuter-rail right-of-way construction services contract to SPS New England Inc.

The agreement provides on-call construction services for urgent repair and reconstruction needs across the agency's commuter-rail system. The contract does not relieve Keolis Commuter Services of its current contractual obligations to operate the MBTA's commuter-rail network, agency officials noted in a press release.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has completed its $203 million reconstruction of the nearly century-old Wilson Station on the Red and Purple lines.

The final component of the project, which began in 2014, was the restoration of the historic Gerber Building, which has served as the station's main entrance.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) last week announced it awarded a $23.7 million contract to consultant Cross Harbor Partners to conduct the second phase of an environmental review for the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Program.

Expected to take up to three years to complete, the review will provide a more detailed analysis of the environmental effects and potential mitigation measures for two preferred alternatives identified in a prior Tier 1 study to move freight across New York Harbor, PANYNJ officials said in a press release. A joint venture between STV Inc. and AKRF Inc., Cross Harbor Partners will examine both the construction of a cross harbor freight tunnel and the expansion of PANYNJ's existing rail-car float operation.

Jeff Miles has been appointed port director of the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville.

Miles' industry experience includes more than three decades as a senior-level manager in the port, maritime transportation and logistics sectors.