Railroad News

CSX has appointed Fredrik J. Eliasson as president, effective Feb. 15, 2017. Michael J. Ward, chairman and CEO of CSX, and Clarence W. Gooden, president, will retire effective May 31, 2017.

Eliasson, who is currently CSX's chief sales and marketing officer, will maintain his current responsibilities in his new position. Gooden will assume the role of vice chairman until his retirement.

A $647-million Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) for Caltrain's Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project (PCEP) has been deferred until the Trump Administration develops a budget for Fiscal Year 2018.

Caltrain says electrification would be "the most transformative effort ever undertaken on the Caltrain Corridor." The agency is evaluating options for maintaining a viable project in the face of uncertainty about the timing of FFGA approval and the question about whether it will be approved at all.

Three shortlisted teams have been invited to submit a Request for Proposals by Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx to design, build and finance the Highway 401 Rail Tunnel project.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) Board of Commissioners approved a $32.3 billion 2017-2026 Capital Plan on Feb. 16.

It is the largest capital plan in agency history and $29.5 billion in direct spending on PANYNJ projects and the $2.7 billion commitment to support debt service on the Gateway passenger rail tunnel project. PANYNJ expects it to result in the creation of 235,400 job years, $20 billion in total wages and $56 billion in overall economic activity.

Peter Gertler has rejoined HNTB Corporation as a senior vice president in a corporate and national strategic business development role, based in Oakland, Calif.

HNTB calls Gertler a nationally recognized rail and transit expert who brings three decades of infrastructure leadership to the firm's clients across the country. He previously worked at HNTB from 2004 to 2014 as rail and transit market service leader and principal project manager. During that time, he served as national thought leader and subject matter expert on high-speed and intercity passenger rail, as well as serving in leadership roles for projects with a total construction value of over $100 billion.

French Railways operator SNCF is busy connecting its entire rail system using IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT) on IBM Cloud that the tech company said will allow SNCF to enhance customer experiences, operational efficiency and rail safety.

Thousands of specialized industrial sensors are being installed along SNCF's more than 18,600 miles of track, 15,000 trains and 3,000 stations in France. These sensors will securely send tens of thousands of data points to the IBM Watson IoT Platform on IBM Cloud all in real-time. IBM said by connecting the entire rail system and gathering insights from real-time information on data, SNCF will be able to manage its equipment and, thus, improve quality, security and availability of its trains.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is calling for Transport Canada to develop strategies to reduce the severity of derailments involving dangerous goods, following its investigation into the derailment and fire of a Canadian National train near Gogama, Ontario in February 2015.

The TSB's recommendation asks the Department of Transport to "conduct a study on the factors that increase the severity of the outcomes for derailments involving dangerous goods, identify appropriate mitigating strategies including train speeds for various train risk profiles and amend the Rules Respecting Key Trains and Key Routes accordingly."

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has launched the search for a permanent CEO and general manager for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker made the announcement during an address before the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, he recommended that the MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) exercise the two-year extension of its governance of the MBTA, as permitted by statute. Chief Administrator Brian Shortsleeve will continue to serve as acting general manager in the interim and will sit on the search panel.

Canadian Pacific Railway on Tuesday launched an awareness campaign highlighting the safety benefits of the preventative use of inward-facing cameras in the cabs of locomotives.

The head of Amtrak told lawmakers a new era of infrastructure investment is needed to ensure a healthy future for long-distance passenger rail travel in the U.S.

Amtrak President and CEO Wick Moorman urged a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security to invest in the carrier's infrastructure, fleet, and stations.

CSX has called a special meeting of shareholders for March 16, 2017, "to seek shareholder guidance on certain extraordinary requests of Mantle Ridge and Hunter Harrison."

Canadian Pacific has enhanced its sales and marketing team in a move the railroad said will better meet the needs of its current and potential customers.

CP named John Brooks senior vice president and chief marketing officer where the railroad said he will apply his two decades worth of experience in a way to be "CP's continued and future success."

The Port of Virginia (VPA) began a three-year, $320-million expansion effort at the Virginia International Gateway (VIG) on Feb. 13.

The project is one of two large-scale expansion projects that when complete, will increase overall annual container capacity by 40 percent by 2020.

Michelle Dippel has been promoted to transportation environmental services director at HDR and will be based in Austin, Texas.

Dippel will be responsible for providing leadership in support of program development, project delivery and the pursuit of environmental services projects in the transportation market, which is a similar to her previous position at HDR as South Central Region transportation environmental services lead.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will withhold five percent of federal funds to the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia until a new Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) State Safety Oversight Program (SSOP) is in place.

FTA notified the transit systems in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia that effective immediately the transit formula funds from Fiscal Year 2017 will be held until a SSOP is certified for WMATA rail operations. The funds will be withheld until the jurisdictions pass identical legislation and meet related requirements in order for FTA to certify a new SSOP for WMATA Metrorail and can be restored once the jurisdictions establish a federally-compliant, FTA-certified SSOP.

The Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC), citing reduced business and revenues, has cut 49 positions, laying off 31 employees.

ARRC said the current round of position eliminations is part of a "major corporate restructuring effort" as the railroad attempts to counter a 44-percent downturn in freight tonnage since 2008. Of the 49 positions eliminated, 18 were left vacant, lowering the actual lay offs to 31 employees.

Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, has been selected by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to develop a transportation and freight master plan for the new Carolina Connector (CCX) intermodal train hub in Rocky Mount, N.C. This facility will serve as a major intermodal transportation center for CSX in the southeast.

Dewberry's efforts will focus on the transportation connections to potential freight nodes across the state and the strategic infrastructure investments that will be crucial to the success of the facility. In addition, the firm will identify key markets for targeted future investment to facilitate continued growth for the benefit of the Eastern North Carolina region and the state.

Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC,  has appointed Scott Raffaelli as its new vice president and general manager.

The Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) launched a new safety initiative aimed at providing small railroads with seasonal safety tips.

The Safety Tip Tuesday program is meant to be posted in breakrooms and discussed during daily safety briefings. The tips are designed to be colorful with a new tip available on the Institute's website and Facebook page each Tuesday.

Scott E. Trommer has been named a principal with the U.S. Advisory Services division of WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff.