Railroad News

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) has promoted Kimberly Sewell to executive director of its labor relations and human resources division.

For the past seven years, Sewell served as director of TriMet's legal services. Before that, she was TriMet's deputy general counsel.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and Union International des Transports Public (UITP) last week signed an agreement to work together on mutual areas of interest, the organizations announced today.

UITP is an international network of 1,500 members, which include public transportation authorities, policy makers, research institutes and the transit supply and service industry.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) has appointed Marla Blagg executive director of safety and security effective Oct. 22.

Blagg will succeed Harry Saporta, who plans to retire in early 2018 after eight years leading the agency's safety and security efforts.

The boards of the Port of New Orleans and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Corp. last week approved separate resolutions that authorize nonbinding cooperative endeavor agreements between the port, the short line, Jefferson Parish and Avondale Marine LLC to facilitate the proposed redevelopment of the former Avondale Shipyard.

The port will issue a jurisdictional permit to Avondale Marine for use and development of a port and intermodal facility. When the rail extension is completed — at Avondale Marine's expense — New Orleans Public Belt Railroad will connect and provide service that will ensure the site has neutral access to Class Is operating in the New Orleans gateway, port and railroad officials said in a press release.

A Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) trolley operator's repeated use of antihistamine medications likely played a role in two trolleys colliding with each other in January 2017, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

On Jan. 4, 2017, a SEPTA trolley traveling on Route 10 struck a stopped trolley unloading passengers on the same line. The striking trolley was moving at about 10 mph, NTSB investigators wrote in an accident brief.

Norfolk Southern Foundation will donate $100,000 toward Hurricane Florence recovery efforts in North Carolina.

The foundation will direct $50,000 to the American Red Cross and $50,000 to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina relief efforts.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) in November will mark the 50th anniversary of its Red Line rail extension to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

When the extension opened in 1968, Cleveland became the first city in the Western Hemisphere to offer direct rail service between its central business district and an international airport, agency officials said in a news release.

CSX Corp. yesterday announced a change in leadership for its merchandise and intermodal sales and marketing teams with the appointment of Dean Piacente to vice president of industrial products and Maryclare Kenney to VP of intermodal and automotive.

Piacente previously served as VP of intermodal. He now is responsible for the Class I's chemicals, metals, paper and forest product businesses. He has more than 30 years of experience across different segments at CSX.

Amtrak will seek a deadline extension from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to complete positive train control (PTC) implementation on all its railroad operations, an Amtrak executive told a congressional committee yesterday.

Railroads required by federal law to implement PTC have until Dec. 31 to complete the process, unless they qualify for an extension from the FRA of up to two years.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Associate Editor

Following a recent audit, Amtrak's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has determined that the railroad's information technology (IT) management has room for improvement if it wants to minimize the possibility and impact of IT service disruptions.

The audit evaluated Amtrak's business continuity planning and testing efforts, then compared them to private- and public-sector IT management controls standards issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and ISACA, according to the OIG report, which was released this week.

Duos Technologies Group Inc. has reached a software license and application models agreement with an undisclosed Class I transportation and logistics company. The pact covers the development and licensing of 17 artificial intelligence-based detection algorithm models aimed at monitoring potential defects on rolling stock at rail inspection portals. The agreement will enable rail operators to deploy algorithms to "force-multiply and streamline" their inspection processes, said Duos Chief Operating Officer Noel Heiks in a press release.

E-J Electric Installation Co. has obtained a subcontract for systems, electrical and transmission line work from the design-build team for MTA Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) third-track expansion project, which broke ground this week. The expansion calls for adding 9.8 miles of third track along the railroad's Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville, New York. The project also includes expansion of eight existing LIRR bridges over local streets, improvements to six stations and the elimination of seven street-level grade crossings. E-J will provide upgraded signal, traction power and communication systems, company officials said in a press release.

The Jacksonville Port Authority's (Jaxport) earlier this week elected John Falconetti as chairman.

Falconetti is chairman and chief executive officer of Drummond Press, a Jacksonville print services provider. He previously served as Jaxport's chairman from 2014 to 2015.

The Durham County Board of Commissioners in North Carolina yesterday agreed to provide $57.6 million to fill a funding gap for the $2.5 billion Durham-Orange light-rail project.

The added cash was needed after the the state's General Assembly changed the funding makeup for the project earlier this summer, The Herald-Sun reported.

Canadian government officials announced CA$3.3 million in funding will be used for 18 rail safety improvements in Alberta.

The money will be used to pay for construction of fencing and other barriers along rail properties; installation of flashing lights, bells and gates at crossings; and installation of advanced train detection and crossing control systems.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) on Aug. 25 restored Muni light-rail service in its century-old Twin Peaks Tunnel following two months of rehab work.

During the tunnel closure, the agency updated tracks, walls and drainage systems to "keep up with the demands of the Muni system," SFMTA officials said in a press release. The new tracks will enable the agency to lift a speed restriction in the tunnel.

Thirty-three weeks into the year, U.S railroads’ traffic continued to mount. During the week ending Aug. 18, they moved 567,477 carloads and intermodal units, up 3.7 percent year over year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

U.S carloads increased 2.9 percent to 278,701 units and intermodal volume rose 4.4 percent to 288,776 units. Nine of 10 carload commodity groups tracked by the AAR posted a gain in the week, including grain, up 5,491 carloads to 23,404, and petroleum and petroleum products, up 1,544 carloads to 10,898. Coal carloads fell by 4,534 units to 93,248.