Railroad News

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has approved a recovery plan for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit's (HART) passenger-rail project, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) announced yesterday.

Approval of HART's plan was key to receiving $744 million in federal funding that the FTA was withholding until it was confident in HART's plan for containing costs and minimizing further delays in the city's construction of a 20-mile elevated passenger-rail system.

R. J. Corman Railroad Co. announced today it has finalized a long-term agreement to lease and operate a short line from the City of Childersburg Local Redevelopment Authority, CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway.

The newly formed R. J. Corman Railroad Co./Childersburg Line is a 13.32-mile line in Coosa Pines, Alabama, southeast of Birmingham, company officials said in a press release.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) are soliciting public comment on the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and other draft documents related to the proposed Long Bridge project.

A public hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 22 and public comments on the documents will be accepted until Oct. 28, according to an FRA announcement.

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Progressive Railroading recently asked the honorees of the 2019 Rising Star Awards what they think will be the most important trend or trends to affect railroading over the next 10 years. Because they are considered by their peers to represent the industry's leaders of tomorrow, their answers to this question may be instructive for today's leaders and decision-makers.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's (VTA) board today will consider a tentative labor contract with members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265.

VTA staff will recommend the board approve a three-year ATU labor agreement, which was ratified on Aug. 29. Alternatively, the board may instruct staff to continue negotiations, according to the labor contract agreement.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday announced it had removed three safety recommendations from its "Most Wanted List" of transportation safety improvements after the board's concerns that led to the recommendations were adequately addressed.

The three listed items were related to pipeline safety, which the NTSB said were improved through recommendations that called for better inspection programs, records and documentation of natural gas systems, as well as procedures to mitigate risks identified during management of change operations.

MTA Long Island Rail Road earlier this week resumed service of 14 trains that were previously canceled or rerouted during Amtrak’s infrastructure renewal project at New York Penn Station in New York City.

The repair and rebuild work reduced LIRR’s train activity at the station to 260 daily trains during rush hour. On Sept. 3, the LIRR restored its number of trains operated during rush hour to 274, a 5.4 percent increase, LIRR officials said in a press release.

Total U.S. freight-rail carload and intermodal traffic declined 5 percent to 2,145,235 units in August compared with the same month last year, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data.

U.S. railroads logged 1,055,386 carloads last month, down 4.6 percent. August was the seventh straight month that carloads have fallen on a year-over-year basis, AAR officials said in a press release.

Plasser & Theurer has named Daniel Siedl chief operating officer and Winfried Budenbender chief technical officer. Most recently, Siedl led site development and process optimization. Prior to joining the company, he was managing director of ROBEL Bahnbaumaschinen GmbH in Germany. Budenbender previously held management positions in various companies in the technical sector, Plasser & Theurer officials said in a press release.

Alstom announced it has equipped the Wuppertal Suspension Railway in western Germany with its Atlas ETCS train control system under a contract with WSW mobil GmbH. The system includes interlocking and a radio block center, as well as an interface to the computer-aided operation control system. The entry into service marks the completion of Alstom’s first full train control and signaling contract in Germany, Alstom officials said in a press release.

The TCU/IAM Advanced Training Services Department held a dedication ceremony last month for a recently donated Union Pacific Railroad rail car at the Excelsior Springs Job Corps Center in Missouri.

Students enrolled in the TCU/IAM trade will now be able to learn the skills of their craft by practicing on a real rail car stationed on campus, Transportation Communications Union/International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers officials said in a press release.

VIA Rail Canada Inc. logged a 6.4 percent increase in ridership and a nearly 5 percent increase in passenger revenue in the second quarter compared with the same period last year.

Total passenger revenue in the quarter grew to CA$94.3 million, an increase of CA$420,000, compared with the previous year’s quarter. Total revenue reached nearly CA$100 million, according to VIA Rail’s financial report.

CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway issued advisories yesterday for service that will be affected by Hurricane Dorian.

CSX is anticipating the storm will impact portions of its network in Florida today, and in Georgia and the Carolinas today and tomorrow. As a result, freight moving through affected areas may be delayed or rerouted, CSX officials announced on Twitter.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (LA Metro) board last week awarded a $25.9 million contract to KDG+DE Construction Support Services to provide construction support for the Airport Metro Connector (AMC) 96th Street Transit Station project. 

The award marks the first time LA Metro has selected a woman-led consultant group to work on a large project, authority officials said in a press release. 

Sound Transit yesterday began construction of the 8.5-mile Lynnwood Link Extension, which will extend light rail from the Northgate Station in Seattle to the Lynnwood City Center Station in Lynnwood, Washington, by 2024.

The Stacy & Witbeck/Kiewit/Hoffman joint venture and the Skanska L300 joint venture are tasked with construction of the $2.9 billion extension, which includes four new stations in Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Shoreline and Seattle, Sound Transit officials said in a press release.