Railroad News

The American Institute of Architects' (AIA) Chicago chapter awarded the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) a Design of Excellence Award for the renovation of the Garfield Elevated Station.  

EXP led the redesign project, which included renovation of the active station, as well as restoration of the original station house built in 1892. The original building was repurposed into a community-based arts facility. 

The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) yesterday completed an internal investigation of a ransomware cyber attack that occurred Oct. 19.

Investigators found a virus retrieved data from five of the agency's 6,500 computers and 38 of its 1,000 servers.

Rocky Mountaineer plans to launch a new two-day scenic passenger-rail service between Denver and Moab, Utah, in summer 2021. 

Rocky Mountaineer will launch the route with a preview season of 40 departures across 10 weeks from Aug. 15 to Oct. 23, 2021. 

The Ohio Rail Development Commission yesterday approved grants that provide the state's share of matching funds for four Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) grants awarded under its Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program.

"This federal grant program provided us the opportunity to leverage both private and state funding for railroads," said commission Executive Director Matthew Dietrich in a press release. "These rail infrastructure improvements will have positive impacts on Ohio's transportation network for decades."

U.S. freight railroads hauled 527,462 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending Nov. 14, up 5.2% compared with volumes moved during the same week in 2019, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

As has been the case for the past several weeks, growth in intermodal volumes drove the overall increase in traffic. U.S. railroads logged 295,316 containers and trailers for the week, up 12.9% from the year-ago level.

The Railway Association of Canada (RAC) yesterday announced the winners of its 2020 Safety Awards to recognize RAC members for their contributions to rail safety.

Issued annually, the awards are chosen from member submissions.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) yesterday released its proposed 2021 budget and four-year financial plan that calls for slashing rail service nearly in half, eliminating 3,300 rail positions, and pausing the agency’s capital plan in the absence of additional federal aid to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Without emergency aid, the MTA is proposing service reductions of 40% for the New York City subway and 50% for the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad, for a combined annualized savings of nearly $1.3 billion, MTA officials said in a press release.