Railroad News

Port Authority Transit Corp. (PATCO) and Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) officials earlier this week unveiled plans for a 22-megawatt solar energy project in the Philadelphia region. 

Under the plan, SunPower Corp. will install more than 50,000 solar panels along with 133 high-efficiency solar photovoltaic parking canopies at seven sites, including PATCO’s Ashland, Lindenwold, Woodcrest and Ferry Avenue rail stations.

Canadian Pacific officials reaffirmed the railroad's commitment to grow traffic at the Port of Saint John and stimulate economic growth and investment in New Brunswick at a meeting yesterday with Premier Blaine Higgs.

With its recent purchase of the Central Maine & Quebec Railway (CMQ), CP makes its return to Atlantic Canada. Its rail network now more directly connects Atlantic Canada to Montreal, Toronto and the U.S. Midwest to create a competitive transportation service that will support economic growth in New Brunswick and throughout Atlantic Canada, CP officials said in a press release.

The Federal Transit Administration has notified Congress that it intends to issue a full funding grant agreement for Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) Transbay Corridor Core Capacity Program to increase the number of trains the agency runs through the Transbay Tube rail tunnel under the San Francisco Bay.

A 30-day congressional review of the proposed grant is still needed to realize funding, BART officials said in a press release.

Scott Harris, 36
Vice president of operations
Chesapeake and Delaware LLC

Nominator’s quote: “I consider Scott to be an innovator in railroad technology and a true ambassador of safety. He also excels in making sure our customers receive top-notch service every day. I am proud to be his business partner, and I know he has a very bright future in this industry.” — Cathrin Banks, Maryland and Delaware Railroad Co. (2019 Rising Star)

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) on Aug. 10 will resume the Amtrak Piedmont passenger-rail service between Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina.

In May, the NCDOT suspended operations of the state-operated service due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Metro Transit-St. Louis yesterday announced that all of the agency’s uniformed and field-deployed transit security officers have been equipped with body-worn cameras since July 20 to improve scene documentation. 

The new tool will ensure transparency and accountability to the public when addressing security issues, Metro Transit-St. Louis officials said in a press release. Local law enforcement partners also will have access to the camera footage when conducting their investigations relating to crimes occurring on the Metro Transit system. 

Amtrak yesterday released renderings of the first of the diesel-electric locomotives that will replace the current fleet on its national network, including long distance and many state-sponsored routes.

Five of the first six locomotives will be painted in Amtrak's current Phase VI scheme and one will be painted to recognize the 50th anniversary of Amtrak's service launch next year. The red chevron at the rear of the ALC-42 is an homage to Amtrak's original Phase 1 livery, which also had a red chevron on the side. A final livery will be unveiled later as part of a fleet-wide plan, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

OmniTRAX Inc. is working with the Calumet Area Industrial Commission (CAIC) to launch the Rail-Ready Sites program at the Chicago Rail Link (CRL).

OmniTRAX and CAIC are marketing existing rail-served sites along the CRL and working to add more, OmniTRAX officials said in a press release.

A Federal Transit Administration grant to help pay for the construction of a 14.5-mile Southwest light-rail line in downtown Minneapolis advanced to Congress for approval this week, local news sources reported yesterday. 

If approved, the $929 million grant would contribute to the Metropolitan Council’s $2 billion light-rail project to link downtown Minneapolis to Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The line is under construction and slated to open in 2023, according to the Star Tribune.

USA Rail Terminals has been acquired by Alpenglow Rail in partnership with Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure (CC&L Infrastructure), the companies announced yesterday.

Financial terms were not disclosed in a press release.

U.S. freight-rail combined carload and intermodal volume declined 9.3 precent to 2,337,977 units in July compared with the same month last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

U.S. railroads hauled 1,042,017 carloads last month, down 17.6 percent, and 1,295,960 containers and trailers, down 1.4 percent. 

Elizabeth Graham, 39
Senior counsel
Union Pacific Railroad

Nominator’s quote: “In 2019, Elizabeth graduated from UP’s Leadership Development Program, where she collaborated to develop an online application that assisted transportation managers with identifying unnecessary cross-haul moves between terminals. … She is a member of LEAD, which is a women’s initiative employee resource group focused on issues critical to empowering and supporting women at Union Pacific. Elizabeth also volunteers as a mentor for the UP Emerging Leaders Program, which seeks to develop young employee leaders with high leadership potential.” — Beth Whited, Union Pacific Railroad

SunRail last week installed the first of 11 sensor-activated alert signs at a railroad crossing in downtown Orlando, Florida. 

When a vehicle remains stopped on tracks for more than three seconds, a new LED sign that reads “Do not stop on tracks” will activate and begin flashing to inform drivers that their current behavior is dangerous and potentially hazardous.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) late last week announced nearly $5 million in grants to fund four new Tier 1 University Transportation Centers (UTC) to advance research and education programs that address critical transportation challenges.

From 67 grant applications, the department selected and awarded grant funds to:
• Highly Automated Transportation Systems Research, $1.9 million to Ohio State University, in consortium with the University of California-Irvine, University of Texas at Austin and the University of Cincinnati;
• Communications Technology and E-Commerce Effects on Travel, $1 million, to Northwestern University in consortium with the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Texas at Austin;
• Implications of Accessible Automated Vehicles and Mobility Services for People with Disabilities, $1 million, to the University of Pittsburgh in consortium with Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, The Catholic University of America; and
• Strategic Implications of Changing Public Transportation Travel Trends, $1 million, to Georgia Institute of Technology, in consortium with the University of Tennessee, the University of Kentucky and Brigham Young University.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) this month will designate employees at rail stations to promote mask-wearing compliance and social distancing on the rail system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One to two "social distancing coaches" will be assigned per station across the system through Aug. 27. Two days per week the staff members will be located at the 69th Street Transportation Center, Frankford Transportation Center, and 15th Street Station on the Market-Frankford Line.

XpressWest, a proposed project to construct a high-speed rail line that would operate between Southern California and Las Vegas, has been awarded $200 million in private activity bonds from the Nevada State Board of Finance, a business newsletter reported yesterday.

The Nevada award comes after a California committee, overseen by California Treasurer Fiona Ma, awarded the project $600 million of private activity bonds in April. To raise additional funds for the project, both state allocations allow the company to sell up to four times the value of the awards as tax-exempt bonds to private investors, according to the Southern California Partnership for Jobs newsletter, which cited a report in Forbes.