Railroad News

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) yesterday announced plans to accelerate several rail projects in 2020 to improve service, safety and reliability. 

The 2020 Infrastructure Acceleration Plan will deliver track replacement, upgraded intersections and station improvements eight years earlier than originally planned. The accelerated schedule is the result of expanding traditional work windows and increasing work activities within those windows, MBTA officials said in a press release.

Vitro Chemicals will become the first tenant of the Southwest International Gateway Business Park, a 540-acre industrial park in El Campo, Texas, built for cross-border shippers and served by Kansas City Southern Railway.

The first phase of Vitro Chemicals' development will include a 125,000-square-foot distribution center and a 200,000-square-foot speculative warehouse, according to a press release issued by the park's real estate investment firm, Stonemont Financial Group.

Montana Rail Link (MRL) promoted Joe Racicot, Jim Lewis and Ross Lane to vice president. 

Racicot will serve as VP of administration and general counsel; Lewis, VP of sales of marketing; and Lane, VP of corporate relations.

Total intermodal volumes dropped 7.4 percent year over year in fourth-quarter 2019, the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) reported yesterday.

During the quarter, domestic containers declined 2.7 percent to 1,958,649 units compared with Q4 2018; international shipments fell 9.1 percent to 2,195,684; and trailers plunged 21.4 percent to 292,513, according to IANA's Market Trends and Statistics report.

Valley Metro crews next month will begin installing special track to enable the Tempe Streetcar in Tempe, Arizona, to cross over the area's existing light-rail system.

The work will occur near the Dorsey/Apache Boulevard light-rail station, which is across from a future streetcar stop. The work, which will be performed March 7-9, will require single-tracking on portions of the light-rail route, agency officials said in a press release.

Sound Transit tomorrow will begin the second of three construction periods that will connect the new East Link light-rail tracks to the existing light-rail system in downtown Seattle. 

Crews will test the new track and systems on the northbound platform at the International District/Chinatown Station, according to the Sound Transit blog.

A coalition of railroads, local government, labor and other organizations is asking U.S. congressional transportation leaders to oppose proposed legislation that would increase truck size or weight limits on federal highways.

In a letter sent yesterday to the chairs and ranking members of transportation committees in the House and Senate, the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT) called on Congress to reject proposed increases in truck size or weight as it prepares legislation to reauthorize the federal Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which expires Sept. 30.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) yesterday released a draft report that describes the design concept for the planned Southwest Corridor light-rail route between Portland and Tualatin. 

The report describes the preliminary design features of 13 stations and other related improvements along the 11-mile MAX light-rail extension, including bike facilities and stormwater improvements.

Reading & Northern Railroad (R&N) yesterday opened a new $14 million rail bridge over the Lehigh River in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania.

The Nesquehoning Bridge Phase 2 connects the regional railroad’s Reading and Lehigh divisions, allowing expedited movement between the Reading and Scranton area. 

For the first time in 15 years, the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials held a hearing yesterday on issues surrounding grade-crossing safety.

The hearing was called as part of the subcommittee's work on legislation to reauthorize the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, said Chairman Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) in a prepared statement of his opening remarks. Addressing issues related to grade crossings is one of his "top priorities" in the legislation, including finding more funding for grade separations and quiet zones.

Canadian Pacific moved 2.09 million metric tons of Canadian grain and grain products in January, beating the railroad's January 2019 record by 200,000 metric tons.

CP officials cited the railroad's 8,500-foot high-efficiency product (HEP) train model, dedicated train program (DTP) and new high-efficiency hopper cars as significant factors in the new record.

U.S. railroads hauled 2,410,813 carloads and intermodal units in January, down 5.6 percent compared with traffic hauled in January 2019, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

The combined number of carloads last month fell 5.9 percent to 1,165,733 units, while the number of intermodal containers and trailers dipped 5.4 percent to 1,245,080 containers and trailers versus the same month last year.

HNTB Corp. named former Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Managing Director Veronique Hakim the firm's national transit and rail market sector leader and senior vice president. In her new role, Hakim will collaborate with HNTB leadership nationwide on strategic planning and implementation, business development, and service delivery, HNTB officials said in a press release. In addition to previously serving as MTA's managing director, Hakim served stints as MTA New York City Transit's president, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority's executive director, New Jersey Transit's executive director, and executive VP and general counsel of MTA’s Capital Construction subsidiary.

DSC Logistics, CJ Logistics USA and CJ Logistics Canada have joined under one combined operating company named CJ Logistics America LLC. The company will do business as DSC Logistics in the United States through 2020, with plans to rebrand as CJ Logistics starting in 2021. As of Feb. 1, DSC Logistics is wholly owned by CJ Logistics Holdings America Corp. Freight Forwarding will be a division under the combined company, with Mexico operations to be integrated soon as well. The company's combined North American platform will include over 70 locations, DSC Logistics officials said in a press release.

Brightline, the passenger-rail service in southeastern Florida, announced last week that its five-train fleet will operate carbon neutral throughout February.

Under an arrangement with Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL), all Brightline carbon emissions will be offset with renewable energy credits.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is asking drone operators to follow Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidelines to avoid interfering with emergency responders.

The warning followed a PennDOT meeting held with other state agencies last week to discuss how increasing drone usage has the potential to delay or endanger emergency medical services (EMS).

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has acquired 145 acres next to the Port of Savannah as part of a larger plan to expand the port's capacity to more than 9 million 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) by 2030.

The addition is expected to add more than 1 million TEUs in annual capacity, GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch said yesterday during the Georgia Foreign Trade Conference.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) yesterday announced six appointments to the agency’s transformation management office, a new department created as part of MTA’s reorganization plan.

Wael Hibri was named deputy chief transformation officer; Zeb Voss, chief of staff; Eamonn Foley, special counsel; Jaibala Patel, chief financial officer; and Mildred Chua and Michael Moran, both heads of program delivery.