4/13/2017
Rail News: Rail Industry Trends
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The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for a proposed Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) expansion project has been issued following more than a year of data collection, analysis and public outreach.
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Union Pacific (UP) is boosting safety and efficiency with an approximately $135 million infrastructure investment in Arkansas this year. The company is also consolidating its Wichita Service Unit management with its Kansas City, Fort Worth and North Little Rock service units.
UP's investment plan funds a range of initiatives in Arkansas: $119 million to maintain track and $7 million to maintain bridges in the state. Key projects planned this year include a $20-million investment in the rail line between Rison and Camden to replace 47 miles of rail and a $14-million investment in the rail line between Little Rock and Benton to replace 61,005 crossties and install 16,838 tons of ballast.
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Veteran railroad signal engineer Keith Holt has left Amtrak, where he was deputy chief engineer, Communications and Signals, to become director of engineering for Railroad Systems at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff.
Holt will be responsible for leadership, direction and management of engineering services for railroad and rail transit projects and will support WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff's related business initiatives across the U.S.
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In-house data warehouses create fact-based information streams on human and physical assets — a data repository approach that opened the door for Conrail to measure the time and motion of all static and mobile assets at Pavonia Yard from both an operating and maintenance perspective, says Batory. Real-time monitoring at the yard is a unique management tool that supports more sound business decisions, he says.
“Without fact-based data, it’s just an opinion,” says Batory.
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4/12/2017
Rail News: Safety
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4/12/2017
Rail News: Passenger Rail
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4/12/2017
Rail News: Passenger Rail
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The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ending April 8, 2017.
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4/12/2017
Rail News: Canadian Pacific
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4/12/2017
Rail News: Canadian Pacific
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Canadian Pacific last week commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, in which Canadian troops won a key military victory in northern France during World War I.
The battle, which took place April 9-12 in 1917, is considered a defining moment in Canada's history. It also came at a heavy cost, as more than 3,598 Canadians were killed and another 7,000 wounded, according to the Canadian War Museum.
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4/12/2017
Rail News: Passenger Rail
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Metrom Rail hired Tom Harding as vice president of engineering. Harding will lead the company's engineering operations and expand its product development capabilities.
Harding brings nearly 30 years of engineering experience to the company. Most recently, he worked for Wi-Tronix, a railroad telemetry provider. He also has extensive experience in the telecommunications industry with Nokia and Motorola.
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The San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) approved $5.46 million in funds to advance engineering associated with the second phase of the Transbay Transit Center/Caltrain Downtown Extension (TTC/DTX) project.
The money comes from and allocation of Proposition K, a voter-approved sales tax that funds a General Fund. The allocation totals $5,464,675 and includes $4,549,675 for DTX preliminary engineering and $915,000 for a Tunneling Options Engineering Study. TTC/DTX is the largest project in the Prop K Expenditure Plan, which designates up to $270 million (in 2003 dollars) for this purpose.
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The Hawaii House of Representatives extended the general excise tax (GET) that helps fund Honolulu's first rail transit project on April 11. The funding package will contribute an additional $1.2 billion to the project.
The action will extend Oahu's .05 percent GET surcharge through 2029, which is expected to generate $792 million for the rail project. The House also agreed to reduce the funds it collects as a GET administrative fee by 90 percent, which will generate an estimated $397 million for the city project. The funding package brings the state's financial contribution to the project to $8 billion, which is close to the estimated total project cost of $8.1 billion.
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4/12/2017
Rail News: Amtrak
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The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has approved the five-year plan for the Crossing Safety Improvements Program at grade crossings and highway-rail grade separations across the state.
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4/12/2017
Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
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4/12/2017
Rail News: Canadian National Railway - CN
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