Railroad News

In the third quarter, U.S. transit ridership slipped 3.65 percent year over year to 2.503 billion total trips.

Nine of the 10 largest transit agencies in the nation reported declines for the quarter. Some agencies attributed the downtick to an increase in auto travel and continued low gas prices, according to the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) Passenger Transport newsletter.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) late last week signed key environmental documents for privately funded, high-speed passenger-rail projects in Florida and Texas.

The agency on Dec. 15 issued a record of decision for Brightline's second phase, which will run from West Palm Beach to Orlando, Florida. The decision marks the final federal environmental approval needed to build that segment of the system, Brightline officials said in a press release.

Rail industry leaders hailed the late E. Hunter Harrison for his influence on the rail industry during his 50-plus-year career.

Harrison, president and chief executive officer of CSX Corp., died Saturday after experiencing "unexpectedly severe complications from a recent illness," the company said in a statement. He was 73.

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

[Editor's note: Story was updated at 3:16 p.m. to include a statement from the Association of American Railroads.]

CSX Corp. today issued the following statement announcing the death of E. Hunter Harrison:

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon's (TriMet) board on Wednesday ratified a new three-year labor contract with the agency’s employees represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 757.

The agreement runs from December 2016 through November 2019, and will cost $2.2 million, TriMet officials said in a press release.

Chicago's Regional Transit Authority (RTA) yesterday adopted 2018 operating budgets for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra and Pace totaling $3 billion.

The budgets mark the first time in nine years in which all three agencies' boards proposed a fare increase, RTA officials said in a press release.

The Quebec Port Authority (QPA) on Tuesday announced plans to build a container terminal that could serve as a new international economic hub geared toward logistics facilities, distribution centers and other new businesses.

The CA$400 million terminal project will include an extension of the Port of Quebec’s wharf line and links to 
existing rail and road networks. The port is served by CN, Canadian Pacific and the Quebec Gatineau Railway.

The National Conference of Firemen & Oilers SEIU (NCFO) on Wednesday announced its members have ratified a five-year agreement with the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC), which bargains with 12 rail labor unions for more than 30 U.S. railroads, including the Class Is.

Expiring Dec. 31, 2019, the contract covers NCFO members employed by BNSF Railway Co., CSX, Norfolk Southern Railway, Kansas City Southern, Union Pacific Railroad and numerous smaller freight railroads. The contract’s effective date is Dec. 1, 2017, although some new pay rates and health-care plan modifications take effect Jan. 1, 2018. In addition to retroactive and previously approved wage hikes, the contract calls for a 2.5 percent pay increase on July 1, 2018, and a 3 percent increase on July 1, 2019.

Amtrak co-Chief Executive Officer Wick Moorman will step down Dec. 31 and then assume the role of senior adviser, the railroad announced yesterday.

Richard Anderson, who joined Amtrak in June 2017 as co-CEO, will assume full chief executive responsibilities in addition to serving as president.

The governors of New York and New Jersey on Wednesday pledged to fund 100 percent of their states' share of the new Gateway Hudson Tunnel.

The tunnel is an essential part of the Northeast Corridor that connects New York and New Jersey and is the nation's most critical major infrastructure project, according to a joint press release issued by the governors' offices.

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

CSX President and Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison has taken medical leave due to unexpected complications from a recent illness, the Class I announced last night.

On Oct. 13, Amtrak and New Jersey officials hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the Portal North Bridge project, a $1.5 billion effort to replace the century-old, double-track swing-span bridge that carries thousands of rail commuters daily from New Jersey into Manhattan. For Amtrak, the ceremony was a milestone. It marked the start of construction on one of its major projects designed to improve the national passenger railroad’s deteriorating infrastructure along the highly trafficked Northeast Corridor (NEC). Replacing the Portal North Bridge is one component of Amtrak’s Gateway program, a comprehensive plan to build, repair and expand the NEC passenger-rail network between New York and New Jersey.

Expanded Amtrak Cascades service will start Dec. 18, following years of planning, construction and $800 million in passenger-train improvements, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced yesterday.

Additional trains will run daily and riders will be able to use the new Amtrak Cascades Tacoma Dome Station for the first time, according to WSDOT's blog.

In October, the Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) reached an all-time high of 129.2, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). The previous record index of 129.0 was set in August.

The Freight TSI inched up 0.6 from September’s level and climbed 5.3 percent from October 2016’s mark. The index measures month-to-month changes in shipments moved by rail, truck, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

Amtrak and the Illinois Department of Transportation have opened a new station in Carlinville, Illinois, along the Chicago-St. Louis passenger-rail corridor.

The $3.76 million project was funded by a federal grant administered by IDOT to introduce higher-speed passenger-rail service on the Union Pacific Railroad line between Chicago and St. Louis. Amtrak trains started serving the station last month.

For the week ending Dec. 9, U.S. railroads registered 560,756 carloads and intermodal units, up 4 percent compared with volume in the same week last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Their carloads increased 3.4 percent to 267,963 units and intermodal volume rose 4.6 percent to 292,793 containers and trailers.