Railroad News

Metra officials yesterday proposed a $700 million 2021 operating budget and a $386.4 million capital budget that would continue investments in rail cars, locomotives and stations. 

The proposed operating spending plan assumes that Metra ridership will end 2020 at about 20% of the pre-COVID-19 level and increase to 50% by the end of 2021. If that happens, Metra expects about $158 million in fare revenue, Metra officials said in a press release.

Kansas state officials yesterday announced the 13 recipients of $5 million in grants awarded through the state's new Short Line Rail Improvement Fund program.

Four grants were awarded to short lines and nine to shippers. The program is a partnership between the public and private sector; applicants are required to provide 30 percent in matching funds.

CN has appointed Margaret McKenzie to serve on its board.

McKenzie has more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector serving in management, finance, accounting, compensation and corporate governance. She was a founder and the chief financial officer of Range Royalty Management Ltd., a private entity focused on acquiring oil and natural gas royalties in western Canada, from 2006 to 2014, and the chief financial officer of Profico Energy Management Ltd., a private exploration and production company, from 2000 to 2006.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has selected Hitachi Rail to build 256 8000-series rail cars, The Washington Post reported yesterday. 

Terms of the contract have not been finalized, and the contract has not yet been awarded.

An Ontario pension fund is joining with Jaguar Transport Holdings LLC and Jaguar Rail Holdings LLC to acquire five U.S. short lines, according to Surface Transportation Board (STB) documents.

The short lines to be acquired are Cimarron Valley Railroad, which operates in Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado; Southwestern Railroad Inc., which operates in New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma; Texas & Eastern Railroad LLC in Texas; Washington Eastern Railroad in Washington State; and Wyoming and Colorado Railroad Inc. in Oregon.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) last week began phasing out paper ticket sales on its regional rail system. 

Riders are encouraged to switch to SEPTA’s Key Card, a contactless, reloadable fare card, SEPTA officials said in a press release.

The Greater New York chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) named Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. (PATH) General Manger and Director of Rail Transit Clarelle DeGraffe "Woman of the Year."

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, DeGraffe has provided "extraordinary" leadership to PATH and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) customers and employees, WTS officials said in a press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) last week began replacing its fare collection system by upgrading fare gates. 

The upgraded gates will support MBTA's new contactless, tappable CharlieTicket fare card, which will be introduced in 2021. 

Transborder freight moved by all modes of transportation between the United States and Canada and Mexico fell  11.2% to $91 billion worth of goods in July compared with July 2019 levels, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported late last month. 

Rail, the second-most used mode, moved $12.9 billion worth of goods during the month, down 13% year over year but up 14.7% compared with June 2020 levels. Rail represented 14.2% of all transborder freight moved in July, according to a BTS press release.

Amtrak and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation yesterday restored additional Keystone Service between Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and New York City. 

Some Keystone Service had been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court last week upheld the legality of the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority's (JRA) decision to award a rail-operating agreement to Carload Express Inc.

The contract dispute involving the JRA, Carload Express and North Shore Railroad Co. began in July 2015 after Carload Express was selected as the highest scoring proposer to a JRA request for proposals to operate the JRA rail lines. At the end of the RFP process, the JRA board voted to award the agreement to Carload Express, with seven board members voting for the contract, three voting against and six recused and not voting.

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (SDMTS) last week received the final light-rail vehicle of its 45-vehicle order from Siemens Mobility for the agency’s Mid-Coast Trolley project. 

The S700 vehicles will service the Mid-Coast Trolley project, an 11-mile light-rail extension, beginning in late 2021. The $2.1 billion project will extend the UC San Diego Blue Line from Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego to the University of California San Diego.

Caltrain’s board last week adopted a $35 million operating budget for the second-quarter of fiscal-year 2021, and an $84 million FY2021 capital budget as the commuter railroad evaluates the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The board also reviewed options for resolving a significant budget shortfall for the second half of the fiscal year due to fare revenue losses as ridership on the California passenger-rail system hovers around 5 percent of pre-pandemic levels, Caltrain officials said in a press release.

Effective today, Chicago commuters riding the Union Pacific North, Northwest and West Metra lines must show a valid ticket when boarding an outbound train or upon arrival at Ogilvie Transportation Center.

Union Pacific Railroad employees behind protective, plexiglass booths will verify fares as commuter enter or leave train platforms, similar to how the railroad managed large event crowds in the past, UP officials said in a press release.

Valley Metro in Phoenix has ordered 14 S700 light-rail vehicles from Siemens Mobility to support future light-rail expansion.

The light-rail vehicles — to be built at Siemens' manufacturing facility in Sacramento, California — will feature a newly designed front-end bumper for collision impact mitigation, a larger interior, bicycle storage and a heavy-duty air conditioning system.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) last week began soliciting input on the environmental impact of the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Project, a planned 9.2-mile light-rail extension connecting the G Line with the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station.

LA Metro will host two virtual community meetings later this month to answer questions about the final environmental impact statement/environmental impact report (FEIS/R) for the project, and will accept public comment through Nov. 2.