Railroad News

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) yesterday released preliminary details of its COVID-19 pandemic recovery plan, a flexible blueprint for ramping up service as the District of Columbia region prepares for recovery.

The recovery plan will follow four phases:

Customers were notified late last week that Union Pacific Railroad is ceasing operations of Cold Connect, a Loup Logistics service that moves refrigerated products from the West Coast to UP's warehouse in Rotterdam, New York.

On May 8, employees were informed that the service would permanently close and most Cold Connect-related positions have been eliminated, said UP spokesman Tim McMahan in an email.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board approved a nearly $159 million contract with Skanska DW White JV to build the Fall River Secondary Line between Fall River and Boston. 

The construction is part of Phase 1 of South Coast Rail, a project to build a new southern line of the MBTA commuter-rail system along several abandoned and freight-only rail lines. The line will connect southeastern Massachusetts and Boston in fall 2023, MBTA officials said in a press release.

Infinity Intermodal has launched a new expedited temperature-controlled intermodal service from Salt Lake City to Chicago. 

The three day, door-to-door service will allow Infinity to provide refrigerated intermodal transport throughout the greater Salt Lake City market, including areas of southern Idaho, company officials announced today in a press release.

Some U.S. and Canadian passenger railroads and transit agencies are gearing up to resume regular service as stay-at-home orders are lifted or modified during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

SunRail today resumed regular commuter-rail service in Orlando, Florida, and stepped up train and station cleanings. 

Oil, is it? Black gold? Texas tea? I don’t think Jed’s a millionaire anymore … unless he took his money from Mr. Drysdale’s bank and invested in Cushing cash or super-tanker treasure — but not rail car reward.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) on May 18 will close the Blue Line subway route to begin accelerated track and infrastructure work between the Bowdoin and Airport stations in Boston.

The 14-day project will include track replacement to address a speed restriction between the Airport and Maverick stations.

Vermont Rail System (VRS) last week announced it has entered into an agreement with New England Southern Railroad (NES) to purchase certain assets and operating rights from the New Hampshire railroad.

The acquisition will allow VRS to expand freight operations in New Hampshire and build on the development of new rail traffic, VRS officials said in a Facebook post.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is urging Congress and the Trump administration to provide $23.8 billion in additional emergency funding to help U.S. public transit agencies continue to provide essential services as they and the local communities they serve seek to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the $25 billion that agencies received under the federal stimulus legislation known as the CARES Act helped address immediate needs under the crisis, the public transportation industry continues to experience increased costs and dramatic revenue losses as the pandemic and related stay-at-home orders continue, APTA officials said in a press release.

San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (SDMTS) Chief Executive Officer Paul Jablonski died yesterday. He was 67. 

The agency announced that Jablonski died suddenly, but did not release further details.

The Societe de transport de Montreal (STM) reported steady rail ridership growth in the last several years, according to the agency’s 2019 Annual Report published yesterday.

In 2019, STM logged 283.5 million boardings, an increase of 4.5 percent compared to 2018. 

Port Freeport in Texas yesterday announced it has received its first rail shipment from Vulcan Materials Co. to the port's Parcel 14 multimodal industrial park.

Union Pacific Railroad, which has long served the port, delivered 95 gondola rail cars loaded with aggregate limestone rock from Medina County, Texas, port officials said in a press release.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) yesterday announced more than 200 transportation industry leaders — more than double the agency's goal — have answered Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s call to help fight human trafficking.

USDOT’s initial commitment in January was to obtain “100 Pledges in 100 Days” from transportation, labor and nongovernment organizations that would commit to raising public awareness about human trafficking and to training more than 1 million employees to help fight the crime.

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) yesterday announced the agency has accelerated construction on a new passing siding track in Laguna Niguel and San Juan Capistrano, California.

A recent work window with no train traffic through the area allowed construction crews to relocate and move new rail into place adjacent to existing track. 

Texas Central officials yesterday hailed a Texas Appeals Court ruling yesterday that determined the bullet-train company is a both a railroad and an interurban electric railway.

The company is developing a high-speed rail line between Houston and Dallas. Yesterday's court decision stems from a legal challenge from landowners along the route in Leon County who argued that Texas Central was not a railroad and therefore did not have the rights associated with a railroad, including eminent domain and access to property for surveyors.