Railroad News

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System's (SDMTS) board last week approved a $100 million capital improvement budget for fiscal-year 2021, which begins July 1.

The budget allocates funding for rail, including $26 million toward 47 new low-floor trolleys, and $10.9 million to keep the rail network in a state of good repair. 

Gerald Reynolds has been named chief counsel for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the agency announced yesterday.

As the principal legal adviser to FRA Administrator Ronald Batory, Reynolds is responsible for overseeing all FRA legal matters. This includes providing counsel on freight and passenger-rail issues, including those related to safety and financial assistance programs. He also manages the FRA's legal department, which consists of 50 attorneys and staff.

TransLink yesterday announced it will lay off 1,492 employees, further reduce SkyTrain service and cut senior executive and board pay by 10 percent to save money, as ridership and revenue continue to fall during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

With ridership down 83 percent, TransLink is losing $75 million a month, which is an unsustainable rate of financial loss, TransLink officials said in a press release. 

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday announced three more of its top safety recommendations have been implemented, including one related to a fatal rail accident that occurred in Pennsylvania in April 2016.

After an Amtrak train struck a backhoe, killing two workers in April 2016 near Chester, Pennsylvania, the NTSB recommended that train dispatchers not be allowed to participate in potentially distracting activities, including making phone calls, while responsible for safe train operations.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) yesterday announced that 5,033 employees systemwide have returned to work following mandatory quarantines, and 4,112 employees remain in quarantine. 

Those who returned to work include 3,306 employees at MTA New York City Transit, 691 at MTA Long Island Rail Road and 522 at MTA Metro-North Railroad, MTA officials said in press release.

Canadian Pacific logged its best first-quarter record for hauling Canadian grain and grain products during first-quarter 2020, during which the Class I hauled more than 6.35 million metric tons (MMT).

The 2020 results broke the company's previous Q1 record, set in 2016, by 300,000 metric tons, CP officials announced yesterday in a press release.

Bombardier Transportation signed a 10-year, $113 million contract with Fraport AG to continue operating and maintaining the Bombardier Innovia automated people mover system at the Frankfurt Airport in Germany. The contract also calls for Bombardier to install its CITYFLO 650 communication-based train control signaling technology on the system.

The Skanska, Costain and STRABAG joint venture signed a contract with HS2 Ltd. to design and construct tunnels in the approach to Euston Station in London by 2026. The project is part of Phase 1 of the United Kingdom’s high-speed railway.

Sound Transit this week will begin demolishing buildings in Federal Way, Washington, to make way for the agency’s future Link light-rail station near the Federal Way Transit Center. 

The demolition work, which will continue for several weeks, is part of critical construction on the agency's 7.8-mile Federal Way light-rail extension project, agency officials said in a press release. 

The Kansas City City Council last week approved $7.4 million in design and construction contracts that will enable the Kansas City Streetcar Authority (KCSA) to begin pre-construction work on its Main Street extension later this year. 

About $4.7 million was allocated for design services and $2.7 million for pre-construction activities for the 3.6-mile streetcar extension that would connect Union Station to 51st Street in Kansas City, Missouri. 

The Dakota, Missouri Valley and Western Railroad (DMVW) last week received approval from the South Dakota Railroad Board to install a switch and access to track on a state-owned rail line.

The project is necessary so that soybeans can be hauled by rail from the Wheaton Dumont grain terminal in Britton to the Ag Processing Inc. (AGP) plant on the east side of Aberdeen, South Dakota, according to a report on keoland.com. 

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) last week released a framework for the allocation of more than $780 million of federal funds for transit agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief an Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law last month.

The proposed allocations, which were developed through a partnership between MTC and transit agency staff, represents the first of two distributions of the estimated $1.3 billion in CARES Act funding for which Bay Area transit agencies are eligible and will be considered by the commission on April 22, MTC officials said in a press release.

New Jersey Transit Senior Vice President and General Manager of Rail Operations Raymond Kenny died last week from complications of COVID-19, Newsday reported. He was 68.

Kenny had nearly 50 years of rail industry experience, including a stint as acting president of MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR).

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) late last week unveiled a notice of funding opportunity for up to $311.8 million in capital projects under the Consolidated Rai Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program.

With funding provided in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, the federal dollars can be used for freight- and passenger-rail projects that improve safety, efficiency and reliability. Eligible applications for competitive selection include projects that address congestion and grade crossings; upgrade short line or regional infrastructure; relocate rail lines; improve intercity passenger-rail capital assets; and deploy rail safety technology.

PT Kereta Indonesia (PT KAI) ordered 36 EMD® GT38AC freight locomotives from Progress Rail. The locomotives will enter service at PT KAI’s coal haulage operation in South Sumatra, Indonesia. Delivery will begin in late 2021.

Cambridge Systematics Inc. launched Mobility Forward, a suite of services designed to help transit agencies support riders during the COVID-19 pandemic and through recovery. The suite addresses how agencies can assess impacts on finance and performance; plan for modified operations; prepare grant and funding applications; and transform service to meet future mobility trends, Cambridge Systematics officials said in a press release. The company also is deploying an open-source trip planning software to help riders plan safe trips to essential places.

The Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport) earlier this week announced it is deferring the application fee for all new Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 64 applications received by July 31. 

An FTZ is a secured site within the United States, but technically considered outside of U.S. Customs' jurisdiction, allowing shippers to clear cargo as it leaves the FTZ while saving on import clearance costs.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Metra have reported ridership drops of over 80 percent, and project they will face millions of dollars in lost revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Metra ridership is projected to fall 97 percent in April, compared with the same month last year. Meanwhile, CTA ridership is down about 80 percent compared with normal levels, the Tribune reported.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) yesterday issued a letter to the New York State Congressional Delegation requesting an additional $3.9 billion in federal funding as Congress considers its next COVID-19 relief package. 

Last month, the MTA secured nearly $4 billion in federal funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. However, MTA is projecting significant additional losses as the pandemic in New York City worsens, MTA officials said in a press release.