Railroad News

Calgary Transit ordered 15 more S200 light-rail vehicles from Siemens Mobility to replace the agency’s nearly 40-year-old U2 vehicles, Siemens officials announced earlier this week. 

Siemens has delivered over 260 vehicles for use in the agency’s CTrain light-rail system in Calgary, Alberta. The new order will be built at Siemens’ plant in Sacramento, California.

U.S. railroads logged 482,690 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Feb. 22, down 7.6 percent compared with freight moved during the same week in 2019, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

Total carloads for the week was 232,869 units, down 9.3 percent, while intermodal volume was 249,821 containers and trailers, down 6 percent.

Federal lawmakers representing New Hampshire and Pennsylvania earlier this week introduced a bill that would help finance the construction of a commuter-rail connection between Manchester and Nashua, New Hampshire, and Boston.

The Invest in American Railroads Act, introduced by U.S. Reps. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.), would expand the use of funding under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program.

ENSCO Inc.’s rail division opened a new office in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. The office will support the firm's railway research, condition assessment, asset management and cybersecurity business areas, ENSCO officials said in a press release.

The Andersons Inc. named Vanessa Knapton director of repair sales for the company’s rail group. Knapton has over 25 years of operations, sales and logistics experience in the rail industry. Previously, she was a conductor, brakeman and trainmaster at BNSF Railway Co., and a sales leader at a rail-car repair company, The Andersons officials said in a press release.

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) today completed accessibility upgrades at Royal York Station, making it the 46th accessible station in the agency’s subway system. 

The station now includes an accessible entrance and fare gates, three elevators and improved signage, TTC officials said in a press release.

The North County Transit District (NCTD) tomorrow will mark 25 years of Coaster commuter-rail service in San Diego. 

NCTD officials will commemorate the anniversary by offering free Coaster rides from the Oceanside Transit Center. NCTD will host anniversary events at a different Coaster stations each month.

Transborder freight moved by all modes of transportation between the United States and Canada and Mexico rose 4 percent to $96.3 billion worth of goods in December 2019 compared with the same month in 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported yesterday.

Rail, the second-most used mode, moved $14.4 billion of freight during the month, up 1.9 percent compared with December 2018's level, BTS officials said in a press release.

The National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) safety recommendation issued after the Lac-Megantic rail disaster has been implemented and is now closed, the agency announced Monday.

The recommendation — No. R-14-004 — was issued to the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) after a crude-oil train derailed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in July 2013. NTSB's recommendation sought revision of an existing regulation to require comprehensive response plans for worst-case discharges of oil and petroleum products from rail tank cars, agency officials said in a press release.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) on Friday will release a draft environmental impact report and statement (EIR/EIS) for an 80-mile segment of the state's high-speed rail project between Bakersfield and Palmdale.

CHSRA will host four public meetings in March and April to gather public comment on the document. The agency will also accept comments online and by email and mail between Feb. 28 and April 13

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has tapped former Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Administrator and current MTA board member Sarah Feinberg to serve interim president of New York City Transit (NYCT).

She succeeds Andy Byford, who resigned after two years in the post. His last day on the job was Feb. 21.

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) yesterday extended its automatic train control (ATC) signaling system by five stations from St. Patrick to Queen stations.

As part of the work, a train turn-back was added to King Station, providing more operational flexibility, TTC officials said in a press release.

Delmarva Central Railroad Co. (DCR) has delivered the first rail car of liquid lysine for ADM and liquid feed ingredients for Novus International Inc. to the newly opened Seaford Transload Terminal in Seaford, Delaware.

A roadway was built next to an existing rail siding at the Seaford facility to allow direct rail-car-to-truck transloading of liquid ingredients. The terminal provides Novus trucks round-the-clock access for transloading activities, DCR officials said in a press release.

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Parker yesterday promoted George Wright to deputy chief of rail operations.

Wright will oversee the agency’s rail transportation, rail-car maintenance, maintenance of way, stations and facilities, technical training and Atlanta Streetcar operations. 

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) last week issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for contractors to design and renovate the agency’s new corporate headquarters in Oakland, California. 

The $45 million to $50 million contract would include furnishing management, coordination, professional services, labor, equipment and materials for the design and renovation of an existing building that will serve as the transit agency's new corporate headquarters.

Class Is employed 128,311 workers as of mid-January, down 2.41 percent compared with mid-December's level and down 12.45 percent compared with the year-ago employment level, U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) data shows.

Five of six workforce categories posted month-to-month decreases. They were: executives, officials and staff assistants, down 0.18 percent to 7,608 employees; maintenance of equipment and stores, down 0.43 percent to 22,647; transportation (other than train and engine), down 0.91 percent to 5,346; maintenance of way and structures, down 2.04 percent to 30,152; and transportation (train and engine), down 4.48 percent to 51,709.