Railroad News

BNSF Railway Co. will spend $3.3 billion on capital expenses this year, the Class I announced yesterday.

The investment is the same amount as last year's capital budget, according to a BNSF press release.

Georgetown Rail Equipment Co. (GREX) hosted an event held this week to honor the Snead family, which founded the company. The family became known in the rail and quarry industries in the 1940s, when Edwin Brazelton Snead founded Texas Crushed Stone. He also founded Georgetown Railroad in 1958 to haul limestone from Georgetown to Austin, Texas. His eldest son Ned went on to establish GREX. This week's celebration was hosted in the GREX Business Car 400, which also bears Brazelton Snead's name. The 1920s-era car recently was moved to a permanent location at the company's Georgetown headquarters, where the car will be used to host special events, customer meetings and charitable events.

Harsco Rail Europe has begun delivering 31 rail vehicles to Switzerland's national railroad Schweizerische Bundesbahnen SBB for the maintenance of the Gotthard Base Tunnel. Harsco obtained the contract for the order in 2013. Last month, Harsco held a ceremony to mark the delivery of the first six of 13 base vehicles, which weigh 80 metric tons. The units can be powered by electricity alone or a combination of diesel and electric power. The base vehicles can be operated from the driver's cab, via remote control or from other wagons.

A nonpartisan business coalition was formed yesterday to advocate for extending passenger rail from Boston to Manchester, New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire Business for Rail Expansion has released a list of more than 50 businesses, organizations and individuals in support of the extension. The list includes Northwestern Mutual and University of New Hampshire.

Caltrain announced yesterday that it will be awarded $2.5 million from California's new State Rail Assistance Grant program.

The program was created by Senate Bill 1, the landmark statewide transportation legislation signed last year. Caltrain expects to receive close to another $4 million from the program next year, railroad officials said in a press release.

TNW Corp. has hired Luis Delgado to serve as market development manager.

Delgado will support marketing of TNW's three railroads and their respective logistics centers by contributing to the company's strategic planning and managing sales initiatives and programs.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Associate Editor

[Editor's note: This story was updated at 1:40 p.m. CST.]

Texas Central earlier this week unveiled details of its planned bullet-train station in downtown Dallas.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy yesterday nominated Kevin Corbett to serve as executive director of New Jersey Transit.

The governor asked the agency's board to take up the nomination at its Feb. 4 meeting. If approved by the board, Corbett would succeed Steven Santoro, who earlier this month announced plans to resign.

President Donald Trump called on Congress last night to produce legislation that will modernize the nation's infrastructure.

In his first State of the Union address, Trump said he wants a bill that will generate "at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment we need."

A Port Authority Transit Corp. (PATCO) commuter train yesterday struck an electrical conduit hanging near track in Camden, New Jersey, resulting in four passenger injuries and extensive delays.

The train, which was traveling eastbound near the Ferry Avenue Station, was carrying 23 passengers, eight of whom were PATCO employees.

The Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) has appointed Lindsey Baker director of strategic partnerships.

In her role, Baker will identify and establish strategic partnerships for the deployment of systemwide planning for the agency, DCTA officials said in a press release.

CN has been recognized as a global leader on environmental issues by CDP, the nonprofit organization that runs the global disclosure system to help investors, businesses, states and cities manage their environmental impacts.

CDP named CN to the Supplier A List of 100 companies that meet disclosure criteria for their actions to address climate change.

The Association of American Railroads, American Public Transportation Association and Rail Passengers Association have come together to emphasize rail-crossing safety following two recent fatalities on Brightline's new passenger-rail line in South Florida.

The associations issued the message after some lawmakers and anti-rail groups called for investigations and new regulations after the deaths.

New York & Atlantic Railway (NYA) has begun screening and treating employees for obstructive sleep apnea, the short line announced yesterday.

Nearly 40 NYA locomotive engineers and conductors in New York City and Long Island, New York, will be screened for the disorder. Employees diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea will receive treatment under the support of the railway's medical team, NYA officials said in a press release.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) board late last week adopted the Twenty-Eight by '28 plan, which calls for completing 28 transportation projects ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who also serves as Metro's chair, first announced the initiative at the agency's September 2017 board meeting. At his direction, Metro staff developed the draft candidate list for projects to be completed before the upcoming Olympics.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee yesterday announced that he has accepted the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council's recommendation to reject a permit for  Vancouver Energy's proposed crude-oil terminal.

Inslee's decision followed a lengthy evaluation by the council, which voted in November 2017 to deny a permit for Tesoro Savage Petroleum Terminal LLC — also known as Vancouver Energy — to construct and operate an energy distribution terminal at the Port of Vancouver in Washington state. The terminal would have been located on the Columbia River.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) will oppose proposals that call for cutting public transportation and intercity passenger-rail programs to fund a national infrastructure initiative, the association announced last week.

APTA President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas issued a statement last week after a White House representative outlined a plan at the U.S. Conference of Mayors that called for cutting existing funding for public transit infrastructure to pay for a national infrastructure program.

Valley Metro late last week announced two additions to its management team.

The agency named Brad Cummings chief procurement officer and Phil Ozlin manager of information technology (IT).