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Apr
12

Secure Rail 2017 highlights strategies to defend against cyber, physical threats

Rail News Home Security April 2017 Rail News: Security

More than 100 people attended this year's Secure Rail Conference.Photo – Secure Rail's Twitter account By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.At Progressive Railroading's third annual Secure Rail Conference, held April 5-6 in Orlando, Fla., attendees listened to 20 presentations on topics that addressed how railroads can improve the security of assets, passengers and employees.Starting with the event's first session, it became clear that cybersecurity risks and threats would be a primary topic addressed this year. The day opened with a panel discussion of "Railroad Cyber Risk Management," featuring speakers Nick Chodorow, chief information officer of the Belt Railway Co. of Chicago; J. Alex Lang, CIO at Carload Express Inc.; and Biff Myre, director, solutions, at OnX Managed Services Inc. Ron Schlecht, managing partner of BTB Security, served as moderator. Good morning from Orlando! We're just about ready to kick off our @SecureRail Conference. Stay tuned for live updates throughout the day. pic.twitter.com/T2UDKcZ7gI — Progressive Railroad (@rail_pro_mag) April 5, 2017The conversation began with Schlecht's observation that the application of cyber technology has spread quickly through the rail industry. Although physical vulnerabilities to rail systems remain, the greatest security risk to the industry right now may be found online rather than onboard.The industry's installation of positive train control (PTC) has led to "massive projects" to upgrade technology, Schlecht noted. The Belt Railway's entire IT footprint has expanded exponentially since the railroad began installing PTC technology along its 28 miles of mainline track in Chicago, Chodorow said."Now everything is IT connected," Chodorow said. "My team doesn't understand what that entirely means to be an IT-based network, so we're bringing in vendors to help us understand where our [security] vulnerabilities are and where someone might be able to get into our network. Those are things my peers would not have thought about in the past. They would have thought about things like, 'What happens if someone steals copper?' For me, I'm thinking, 'What if they get into our wireless network?' With that comes a lot of other risks."Myre advised that railroads eager to use Internet of Things (IoT) principles to drive efficiencies also pay close attention to protecting their data, not just how to use it."Also, if you're dealing with a lot of industrial manufacturers, you have to ask yourself how much have they been thinking about the security of their products," he said. "Build trusted networks and [use] password protection. Otherwise, you will have to rely on every manufacturer doing it right and you need to assume it is not being done right."Carload Express' Lang gave the short-line's perspective on cybersecurity concerns."For a lot of us, technology is still fairly new," said Lang. "We're crusty operations people used to doing things a certain way. The biggest cybersecurity threat for us is still the fairly broad malware and cyber attacks that take encrypted data and hold it for ransom."Railroads should have a management response prepared for a potential data breach, Myre said."You have to assume that someone will get into your [data], and how you will detect it and mitigate it," he added.Day 1 morning sessionsOther morning sessions presented during Day 1 of the conference included Jeff Watts, director of cybersecurity at RPI Group Inc., who addressed how to apply Department of Defense risk management and asset experience to the transportation sector; and Scott Carns, vice president-operations at Duos Technologies Inc., who discussed the use of multisensor technologies such as LIDAR and video analytics for detecting track safety and security at transit agencies.The morning wrapped up with a presentation by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inspectors Hans Hayes, Edison Velez and Ed Malinowicz, who described the purpose of the TSA Office of Security Surface Outreach, which offers railroads and transit agencies programs such as a voluntary "Baseline Assessment for Security Enhancements" (BASE). Using the assessment, the TSA will conduct a comprehensive review of an agency's overall security posture, then offer a report on how it compares with others in the industry.During the conference lunch breaks, attendees were free to visit and network in the Product Showcase Room, which featured new products, services and technologies from Strukton Rail North America Inc., Railhead Corp., Safety Vision, Frauscher Sensor Technology USA Inc., Parsons, DPS Telecom, RPI Group, BTB Security, Pacific Star Communications Inc. (PacStar) and Rockwell Collins Inc. Pausing for lunch in the exhibitors' room. #SecureRail17 pic.twitter.com/jBJWsMAHYx — Progressive Railroad (@rail_pro_mag) April 5, 2017After lunch, attendees returned to hear from Pamela McCombe, technical manager of transit and rail systems at WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff, who works with SunRail. McCombe talked about the process of assessing security risks at transit agencies, and noted that each agency may have a different view of what level of risk is acceptable."Some may find certain circumstances acceptable and some do not," she said. "Risk management is identifying threats and vulnerabilities and then prioritizing the allocation of resources."Security solutions for freight, passenger railroadsLater that afternoon, sessions featured Jim Lubcke, manager of systems solutions integration at CSX, and Steve Bowen, senior commercial business development manager at PacStar, who discussed the case study of a new, small form factor deployable network monitoring and analysis solution used to analyze CSX's wayside PTC network; and Northeast Logistics Systems LLC President Richard Flynn, who talked about the state of rail security post-9/11.Lubcke, Bowen and Flynn were followed by Steven Polunsky, a research scientist at Texas A&M Transportation Institute, who described a study of the homeland security implications of the proposed bullet train operation between Dallas and Houston. "If you don't have a plan to manage risk, you end up with chaos," says @CanadianPacific's Laird Pitz. #SecureRail17 pic.twitter.com/qoWQR4fRMw — Progressive Railroad (@rail_pro_mag) April 5, 2017Also speaking that afternoon were Canadian Pacific Vice President and Chief Risk Officer Laird Pitz, who offered his perspective on the importance of having a corporate strategy for managing risk; and Wi-Tronix President Larry Jordan, who discussed the concept of file-less data and asset security systems of the future.Metra Police Department Paul Riggio closed Day 1 by describing a critical response training program that his department created for Metra engineers and conductors. The program addressed how the railroad's staff should respond to an active shooter situation.Another full day of sessionsDay 2 began with DPS Telecom's Marketing Director Andrew Erickson, who described ways to remotely monitor and control mission-critical trackside and telecom facilities. He was followed by Immanuel Triea's presentation on how to leverage internal control and audits to address cyber threats and risks. Triea is senior director of information security at Gannett Fleming Inc.Next was Jim McKenney, who last week moved to a new position with NCC Group's transportation practice after spending the past two years as a solutions architect at CSX. McKenney's session, titled “How to Hack a Train Safely,” explored how to pick a methodology for cybersecurity testing, as well as how to share the results with a railroad's executive leadership team and the rank and file.Ellen Linnenkamp, managing director of Strukton Rail North America, and Lex van der Poel, director at Dual Inventive, followed with their presentation on transit-rail security. They traveled from the Netherlands to give a session on how remote-controlled shunts, monitoring systems, predictive algorithms and a secured cloud system have been used to secure Amsterdam Central Station. .@UMassLowell's Gary Gordon and @PSUHarrisburg's Richard Young assess risks for maritime-to-rail intermodal service #SecureRail17 pic.twitter.com/cGQyaO1dQ6 — Progressive Railroad (@rail_pro_mag) April 6, 2017The remaining sessions featured:
• Nick Percoco, chief information security officer at Uptake, who spoke on the importance of building a security system that protects a railroad's specific needs, rather than adapting to a system that was designed for another organization;
• Gary Gordon, adjunct faculty member in security studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and Richard Young, professor of supply chain management at The Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, who co-presented on identifying the risk factors involved with ocean containers arriving at U.S. ports, then how to develop a strategy for addressing those risks as part of intermodal service;
• Mark Kraeling, product architect at GE Transportation, who discussed security fundamentals and methods that can be applied to locomotives;
• CheeYee Tang, electronics engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST), who described the cybersecurity testbed that NIST is developing for rail transportation systems; and
• Stewart Skomra, president and chief technology officer of TeMeDa LLC, who addressed the importance of IoT in the rail and intermodal transportation corridor, as well as establishing and maintaining trust as part of doing business in those realms. .@GETRANSPORT's Mark Kraeling talks onboard locomotive security. #SecureRail17 pic.twitter.com/KVHzd07hZK — Progressive Railroad (@rail_pro_mag) April 6, 2017The 2017 Secure Rail Conference wrapped up with Progressive Railroading Publisher Kirk Bastyr thanking the event's sponsors: Parsons and RPI Group (platinum); Frauscher Sensor Technology, Railhead Corp. and Safety Vision (gold); and BTB Security, DPS Telecom, PacStar, Rockwell Collins and Strukton North America (silver).
Keywords Browse articles on Secure Rail Secure Rail Conference cybersecurity Nick Chodorow Alex Lang Carload Express Inc. BTB Security positive train control PTC Internet of Things IoT Transportation Security Administration Pamela McCombe CSX Laird Pitz Canadian Pacific Parsons RPI Group Frauscher Sensor Technology Railhead Corp. Safety Vision DPS Telecom PacStar Rockwell Collins Strukton North America Contact Progressive Railroading editorial staff.

Apr
12

Tony Hatch: Volume and earnings improvements coming for the rails?

Rail News Home Rail Industry Trends April 2017 Rail News: Rail Industry Trends

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
It's early March as I write this and we are — hopefully — exiting winter. We've already entered the spring conference season. And a good thing, too, because now that Warren Buffett Inc. has reported, we have a full set of rail earnings to make comparisons and see what, if any, key questions have been answered. Of course, we know that Warren et al. have been busy, given the Kraft Heinz Co.-Unilever Plc merger attempt. For rail intermodal, Unilever is an enlightened example of a great customer, so maybe gains at Warren's rail subsidiary BNSF Railway Co. will ease the Oracle’s pain.Railroads' 2017 previews still have validity, of course, but recent Class I management teams' comments at a few investor conferences were more positive than the cautious ones we heard in late January. Perhaps it’s the early thaw. But the rails experienced a solid end to 2016. Will we see volume and earnings improvements this year?Class I earnings in fourth-quarter 2016 essentially were in line with Street expectations. The final score was 4 wins, 3 (slight) losses, plus BNSF owner Berkshire Hathaway. That the railroads performed better than their truckload partners/competitors (they were down 30 percent) and worse than their intermodal marketing company partners is of some consequence when considering the future.The improvement in volumes over the course of Q4 continued into January: up 4.3 percent, according to Intermodal Association of North America data.During the earnings conferences, the top four critical issues I highlighted in my Q4 preview all were addressed, to varying degrees:• Strategic planning, in light of the secular mix changes and coming technological challenges, was not fully addressed ... although one could argue that the news out of CSX Corp. and related to CSX — the headcount reductions/changed leadership/probable future changes in top leadership — constitute an ongoing strategic discussion and one that, in due course, will bring accelerated change discussions to Norfolk Southern Corp.• Pricing appears to have troughed in the fall and will pretty clearly be above the rail inflation bar again in 2017 (+2 percent to +2.5 percent). And it'll accelerate over the course of the year to about a +3 percent run rate by Q4. Union Pacific Railroad did keep its promise and gave a fuller explanation of its pricing in terms of results, strategy and competitive response, while BNSF’s results didn’t show significant recent share changes in the West.• Capex will be down in 2017, and a tad more than I expected. All Class I carriers except Canadian Pacific (!) and (in the core) CSX will show varying degrees of reduction and will be in the 16 percent to 17 percent of revenues range — save for UP, which is slightly and inexplicably targeting around 15 percent. Interestingly, share buybacks have passed their peak usage, it seems. After bucking the capex trend for the entire 21st century, could railroads succumb to short-termism and re-direct cash to shareholders just as the rest of the corporate world moves in the opposite direction? I don’t think so, but it does bear watching.• Visibility and sentiment (given the coal stabilization): After an initial consensus guidance of “cautious optimism” that was more cautious than optimistic, the outlook over the course of the winter has clearly improved along with freight volumes — notably, the return to growth of intermodal. But direction and targets remain unaggressive.Tony Hatch is an independent transportation analyst and consultant, and a program consultant for Progressive Railroading’s RailTrends® conference. Email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Keywords Browse articles on Tony Hatch Warren Buffett intermodal BNSF CSX Norfolk Southern Union Pacific Canadian Pacific Contact Progressive Railroading editorial staff.

Apr
11

Rail supplier news from Dewberry, Lilee, Alstom and GREX (April 11)

4/11/2017    

Rail News: Supplier Spotlight

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Apr
11

New Mexico Rail Runner to open Zia Road Station

4/11/2017    

Rail News: Passenger Rail

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Apr
11

BART deploys technicians to cut delays in Transbay Tube

4/11/2017    

Rail News: Passenger Rail

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Apr
11

UP outlines $77 million infrastructure investment in Oregon

Rail News Home Union Pacific Railroad 4/11/2017 Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad will spend $77 million on infrastructure projects aimed at improving safety and efficiency in Oregon, the Class I announced yesterday.The railroad's investment plan for the state includes $44.7 million to maintain railroad track and $3.2 million to maintain bridges, according to a UP press release.Key projects planned for 2017 include:
• replacing 21 miles of rail on the line between Klamath Falls and Chemult, $9.3 million;
• replacing 87,978 ties on the rail line between Huntington, Ore., and Caldwell, Idaho, $12 million; and
• replacing 102,683 ties on the rail line between Oakridge and Portland, $14.3 million."Union Pacific's targeted investments fund projects that strengthen our railroad tracks, increase safety and minimize delays as trains travel through communities across Oregon," said Wes Lujan, vice president-public affairs in UP's western region. This year's $77 million capital expenditure in Oregon is part of UP's ongoing investment strategy. The railroad has spent more than $305 million between 2012 and 2016 to strengthen its infrastructure in the state.UP plans to spend $3 billion in capital expenditures across its network this year. The Class I has invested $51 billion since 2000, which contributed to a 40 percent decrease in derailments during the same time frame, company officials said. Contact Progressive Railroading editorial staff. More News from 4/11/2017

Apr
11

UP outlines $77 million infrastructure investment in Oregon

4/11/2017    

Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad

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Apr
11

UP outlines $77 million infrastructure investment in Oregon

4/11/2017    

Rail News: Union Pacific Railroad

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Apr
11

Federal commission OKs Georgia, Virginia ports pact

4/11/2017    

Rail News: Intermodal

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Apr
11

VTMI, Inc., selects Dewberry to support South Florida Freight and Passenger Rail Enhancement Project

Veolia Transportation Maintenance and Infrastructure (VTMI, Inc.) has chosen Dewberry to perform services under its design-build contract for new rail connections between the Florida East Coast (FEC) railway and the South Florida Rail Corridor (SFRC) in West Palm Beach and Miami, Fla.

 Dewberry will perform surveys and provide grading, drainage and track engineering design work for the project.

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Apr
11

TNW partners with Perry County Port Authority to expand Indiana rail offerings

TNW Logistic Services, LLC, is partnering with the Perry County Port Authority (PCPA) to expand economic development opportunities in the Tell City River Port area, which is located on the Ohio River in southern Indiana. The venture marks TNW's initial entry into Indiana.

TNW cites the area's location, land availability and existing train and port operations as an ideal place for a world-class transportation, operations and storage hub that connects the port to the Norfolk Southern at Lincoln City, Ind. TNW says the intermodal complex creates a natural gateway to locations throughout the United States for products and materials from ports on the Ohio River, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.

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Apr
11

Metra launches $216 million construction program for 2017

4/11/2017    

Rail News: MOW

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Apr
11

Norfolk Southern announces hazmat safety awards

Rail News Home Norfolk Southern Railway 4/11/2017 Rail News: Norfolk Southern Railway
Norfolk Southern Railway has presented its 2016 Thoroughbred Chemical Safety Award to 55 of its customers for their safe handling of rail-shipped hazardous materials, the Class I announced yesterday.The honorees safely shipped 208,503 carloads of chemical products over the railroad’s network last year.NS created the award in 1996 to recognize chemical manufacturers and plants that ship at least 1,000 carloads of hazardous products over the railroad without a single incident during the year. Fifty-two corporations and three plants achieved the standard for 2016, NS officials said in a press release."These valued customers understand that safe delivery of their product is essential to our nation's commerce and to the well-being of our rail and chemical industry employees, the communities we serve, and the environment," said Alan Shaw, executive vice president and chief marketing officer.This year's award winners are:Altivia Petrochemicals; Apex Terminal; ArcelorMittal USA; Archer Daniels Midland, Decatur, Ill., plant; Ascend Performance Materials LLC; BP Products North America Inc.; Buckeye Partners L.P.; Cargill Inc.; Chemtrade Logistics Inc.; CHS Inc.; Covestro LLC; Crestwood Equity Partners LP; Delaware City Refining LLC, Reybold, Del., plant; Elbow River Marketing Ltd.; ERCO Worldwide; ExxonMobil Chemical Co.; Flint Hill Resources LP; Formosa Plastics Corp. U.S.A.Green Plains Inc.; Horsehead Corp.; Hunt Refining Co. Inc.; INVISTA S.a r.l; Imperial Oil Ltd; Irving Oil; Kemira Chemicals Inc.; Kemira Water Solutions Inc.; Lima Refining Company (Husky); Linde LLC; Marathon Petroleum Co. LP; Marquis Energy LLC; Midwest Terminals of Toledo; NGL Energy Partners LP; Norfalco Sales, Glencore Canada Corp.; NOVA Chemicals Corp.; Nucor Corp.; Olin Corp.; One Earth Energy LLC; Pacific Ethanol Pekin; Paulsboro Refining Co., Paulsboro, N.J., plant; Phillips 66; Plains Midstream Canada ULC; Plains Marketing Van Hook Crude Terminal; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan.Reagent Chemical & Research Inc.; Shintech Inc.; Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy LLC; Sunbelt Chlor Alkali Partnership; Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals; The Chemours Co. FC LLC; The Dow Chemical Co.; The International Group Inc.; TransMontaigne Product Services Inc.; United Refining Co.; Valero Energy Corp.; and Vopak Terminal Savannah. Contact Progressive Railroading editorial staff. More News from 4/11/2017

Apr
11

Norfolk Southern announces hazmat safety awards

4/11/2017    

Rail News: Norfolk Southern Railway

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Apr
11

Norfolk Southern announces hazmat safety awards

4/11/2017    

Rail News: Norfolk Southern Railway

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Apr
11

Union Pacific to invest $77.1 million in Oregon rail infrastructure

Union Pacific (UP) is investing approximately $77.1 million in Oregon infrastructure this year to increase safety and efficiency.

 

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Apr
11

Trio of senators call for Amtrak funding following derailments

Three East Coast senators are highlighting the need for increased funding of Amtrak following two derailments at New York Penn Station.

 

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Apr
11

Industry-Railway Suppliers hosts Rep. Quigley for tour, public policy discussion

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL-5) joined representatives from the Illinois rail industry for a public policy discussion and a tour of Industry-Railway Suppliers, Inc., (IRS) at its Elmhurst, Ill., headquarters on April 10.

Rep. Quigley is a member of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) and industry stakeholders discussed the importance of the shortline tax credit and the effort to make it permanent through the Building Rail Access for customers and the Economy (BRACE) Act. Additionally, the discussion touched on opposing any effort to increase truck sizes and weights, as well as opposing any federal reregulation of the industry.

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Apr
11

Schumer: Congress must 'get serious' about passenger-rail investment

4/11/2017    

Rail News: Passenger Rail

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Apr
11

2017 MOW Spending Report

Rail News Home MOW April 2017 Part 1 : 2017 MOW Spending Report Part 2 : 2017 MOW Spending Report - Class Is Part 3 : 2017 MOW Spending Report - Regionals/Short Lines Part 4 : 2017 MOW Spending Report - Passenger Railroads Rail News: MOW

Thirty of the 61 railroads that provided 2017 budgets have increased spending.Photo – Union Pacific Railroad By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Managing EditorAfter perusing the submitted surveys and other available information that helped me assemble this year’s spending report, a few things stand out about the referenced maintenance-of-way (MOW) programs.Many budgets appear to be fairly flat again, as has been the case the past few years. Thirty of the 61 Class Is, short lines, regionals and passenger railroads that provided 2017 budgets in MOW surveys collected in February and March (from among more than 200 distributed surveys) or during presentations have increased spending while nine others have slotted the same amount compared with 2016 levels. Yet, half of the year-over-year increases are very slight, barely or not quite covering higher labor and material costs associated with inflation.Conversely, 23 others trimmed their budgets — some substantially — and a dozen or so cited funding challenges. For example, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority cut its spending by one-third year over year (to $44.4 million) because of budget constraints.Overall, there are fewer program breakdowns in the 2017 report, down to 65 total (see note below) from 72 and 75 in the 2016 and 2015 reports, respectively. Similar to the murky political climate, MOW appeared to be a “don’t go there” topic for a number of railroads — including some that have often participated in past surveys — perhaps given economic or traffic-growth concerns.Among those that did respond, a few mentioned delaying certain work or curtailing program aspects in 2017. One was Norfolk Southern Railway, which opted to reduce the amount of work equipment it acquires.Nonetheless, there still will be a lot of equipment in play and a lot of greenbacks invested this year in MOW. On the freight side, U.S. railroads are projected to spend $22 billion — or about $60 million per day — to maintain their networks, according to the Association of American Railroads. That includes the nearly $9 billion budgeted by Class Is and small roads in the report.In terms of passenger rail, the report lists 21 MOW budgets totaling more than $3 billion, a portion of the nearly $90 billion that the American Public Transportation Association estimates U.S. transit systems need to reach a state of good repair.As they chip away at their MOW programs, railroad managers expect to face many of the same challenges of previous years, such as scrounging up the necessary funds or finding available track time. For the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), dealing with aging infrastructure and limited resources is a constant uphill battle.“[Our] unmet capital need is approximately $13 billion and there hasn’t been a state capital bill since 2009, [so] finding funding for critical projects is a challenge,” CTA officials wrote in their survey.Following are the MOW slates for 65 freight and passenger railroads, which figure to keep seeking ways to overcome hurdles while carrying out this year’s programs.Editor's Note: The passenger railroad section of the 2017 MOW Spending Report includes a program breakdown from the San Francsico Municipal Transportation Agency that wasn't included in the report's print edition. next page
Keywords Browse articles on maintenance of way Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Norfolk Southern Association of American Railroads American Public Transportation Association Chicago Transit Authority Contact Progressive Railroading editorial staff.