Railroad News

The U.S. Department of Transportation late last week announced the 41 recipients of nearly $500 million in discretionary grant funding for road, transit, maritime and rail projects through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program.

The list included more than $100 million in grants for rail-related projects. More than 64 percent of the funding was awarded to rural projects, a "historic number" that demonstrates the Trump administration's interest in supporting rural communities, USDOT officials said in a press release.

Union Pacific plans to invest $127 million into its Arkansas network in 2018. The Class 1 says the investment will enhance safety, operating efficiency and support customer service.

BNSF Railway is targeting a $90 million capital program for its Minnesota network in 2018. BNSF says maintenance will be the focus of the program with a special attention given to replacing and upgrading rail, crossties and ballast.

California's proposed high-speed rail system will cost $13 billion more and take four years longer to build than original estimates.

"As part of a wide-ranging effort to upgrade the subway system's capacity and reliability, all the winning ideas will be thoroughly vetted and further developed as quickly as possible with future procurements subject to any required MTA Board approval," MTA said. "Given the urgent need to effectuate near term change, the Genius Transit Challenge sought innovative ideas to rapidly modernize the New York City subways signal systems, procure new state-of-the-art subway cars and bring connectivity to underground tunnels and trains. The eight winners were chosen for their ability to deliver quickly maximum positive impact on subway service and customer experience. In some categories, judges gave out multiple awards because more than one proposal had significant promise, or because two proposals utilized similar technological strategies."

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

About seven months after he’d been nominated, longtime railroader Ron Batory was sworn in as the 14th administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Feb. 28.

[Editor's note: This story was updated at 2:35 p.m. CST.]

Canadian Pacific has placed an order for more than 400 of Thermo King's SLXi-DRC refrigeration units. The single domestic reefer containers provide room for an extra pallet row to increase cargo capacity. The units use R-452A — a next-generation refrigerant — to help meet sustainability goals, Thermo King officials said in a press release. CP and Thermo King previously performed a four-month field test of an SLXi-DRC unit to verify its performance in CP's rugged environment and climate. The railroad's purchase marked the largest, single domestic reefer container order in Canadian history, Thermo King officials said.

Caltrain next week will launch a project to rehabilitate its station in Sunnyvale, California.

The project calls for relocating the north pedestrian crossing to allow six-car trains to load and unload at the station platform without blocking existing crossings. In addition, crews will improve concrete surfaces that have become uneven.

Dozens of members of the Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA) and the Railway Supply Institute (RSI) attended Railroad Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

More than 55 individuals representing more than 30 REMSA member companies participated in the event, which is hosted by the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA).

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division-IBT (BMWE) and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART-Mechanical Division) have reached an agreement with the National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC) to achieve a final and binding agreement in the current round of contract bargaining.

The NCCC represents the nation's major freight railroads.

More than 100 individuals from approximately 60 National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) member companies helped spread the rail industry's message during the annual Railroad Day on Capitol Hill.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has chosen Jeffrey Parker as the sole finalist in its search for a permanent general manager and chief executive officer.

Parker currently serves as vice president at HNTB Corp. and leads the firm's Atlanta office. Before joining HNTB, he led the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Parker also has served as MARTA's senior director of transportation.

Canadian Pacific has hired Joan Hardy as vice president sales and marketing, grain and fertilizer. She will begin her new job April 1.

Hardy joins CP after 12 years at Richardson International — one of Canada's largest agri-businesses and a global leader in agriculture and food processing — where she served as vice president, transportation.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a finding of no significant impact on the Tier 2 project level environmental assessment for the Northern Lights Express higher-speed rail project between Minneapolis and Duluth, Minnesota.

The FRA's finding enables project staff to seek funds for final design and construction, Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) officials said in a press release.

Four rail specific and rail related projects have been awarded a total of $54.5 million in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants. This represents about 10 percent of the $500 million available in the latest round of TIGER funding.

The largest grant, $20 million, was awarded to Baltimore County in Maryland to help TradePoint Atlantic redevelop the former Sparrows Point steel mill site. Officials said this project will help increase commerce and create jobs locally, regionally and nationally. Specifically, TradePoint will make structural upgrades to the terminal's East-West Berth, add an upgraded crane rail system to allow direct transfer of cargo from vessels to rail or trucks, design changes to facilitate transfer of liquid commodities, strengthen the bulkhead and dredge the turning basin and approach channel, in addition to other improvements.

Union Pacific plans to invest $122.3 million into its California network in 2018. The Class 1 says the investment will safety, operating efficiency and support customer service.

TriMet General Manager Doug Kelsey has selected Roland Hoskins as the executive director of maintenance operations.

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) has appointed Roland Hoskins executive director of maintenance operations, effective April 9.

He now is assistant general manager of administration at Lane Transit District (LTD) in Eugene, Oregon.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on the Tier 2 environmental assessment for the Northern Lights Express (NLX) higher speed intercity passenger rail project.