Railroad News

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has released a final supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the second phase of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) Purple Line subway extension.

The report covers the segment that would run between the future Wilshire/La Cienega Station, downtown Beverly Hills and Century City. In particular, the document provides additional details on the Century City/Constellation Station, as well as potential public health and other impacts for the planned subway alignment.

U.S. intermodal rail traffic is on pace to set a new annual record this year, with strong gains in November and last week marking the best intermodal week in history, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) announced yesterday.

U.S. railroads logged 1,369,160 containers and trailers in November, up 3.8 percent, or 50,029 units, from the same month last year. Although U.S. railroads' carload traffic slipped last month 0.9 percent to 1,307,521 units, the combined total of intermodal and carload activity rose 1.5 percent to 2,676,681 for the month compared with November 2016, AAR officials said in a press release.

The Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) yesterday announced the appointment of Mark Miller and Dianne Costa to its board.

Miller, who serves as vice president of Hillwood Properties, will represent the city of Flower Mound, Texas. He was appointed to the board in June, DCTA officials said in a press release.

The San Mateo County Transit District (SMCTD) has launched a public engagement and education campaign to share information about solutions to the county's growing traffic problems.

Known as "Get Us Moving," the campaign also is designed to gather community feedback about proposed solutions.

CDPQ Infra has extended through Jan. 31 the tender process for a proposed 41-mile light-rail system in Montreal.

The company will launch a "period of intensive discussions" with the qualified consortiums for the project's engineering and construction contract, CDPQ Infra officials said in a press release.

A June 2016 train collision near Carvel, Alberta, occurred after one of two trains ran through a restricted speed signal, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) announced in a report issued yesterday.

The report highlights a number of safety risks, including the absence of physical fail-safe defenses to ensure that signals are consistently recognized and followed, TSB officials said in a press release.

Metrolink yesterday marked the completion of a 1-mile extension to downtown San Bernardino, California.

The commuter railroad's San Bernardino and Inland Empire/Orange County lines have been extended from their terminus at the San Bernardino Santa Fe Depot to the recently finished San Bernardino Transit Center.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) and GoRail yesterday honored House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) with the Railroad Achievement Award for his leadership on rail issues.

Shuster was recognized for understanding the critical importance of safe and efficient rail operations across the nation's 140,000-mile rail network, AAR officials said in a press release.

U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) on Monday introduced legislation that calls for reforming the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) Metro system.

The "Metro Accountability and Reform Act" would substantially increase funding for WMATA, but on the condition of "making fundamental changes necessary to meet reasonable benchmarks of a functional mass transit system," said Comstock in a press release.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) yesterday marked the completion of Americans with Disability Act (ADA) accessibility improvements at its 40th Street subway station in Philadelphia.

The agency has installed two new elevators that provide direct access from the street to the subway level. The $9.23 million improvement project also included upgrading doors, gates and employee facilities.

Bi-State Development and the St. Louis County Department of Public Health last week unveiled Links 2 Health, a new mobile health van that will visit four Metro Transit centers once a week to help improve North St. Louis County residents' access to health care services.

The Links 2 Health van's weekly visits include the Rock Road MetroLink Station in Pagedale, Missouri. Health screenings and assessments — such as blood pressure and diabetes testing — will be offered free of charge to adults 18 years and older.

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority's (HART) board yesterday named Jeffrey Seward interim chief executive officer.

He'll succeed Katharine Eagan Kelleman, who has been appointed CEO of the Port Authority of Allegheny County. Kelleman's last day at HART will be Jan. 5.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) has begun installing new switches near the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn.

The work is aimed at making operations more efficient by allowing trains to access the Atlantic Yards directly from the terminal, LIRR officials said in a press release.

New Jersey Transit announced yesterday that it has finished winterizing hundreds of rail cars and locomotives.

The work included checking the units' on-board heating systems, ventilation, thermostats, weather stripping and electronic components. The agency also changed locomotive filters and switched fuel from a summer blend to a winter one.

Preferred Proppants LLC subsidiary Preferred Sands has sold a frac sand plant in Bloomer, Wisconsin, to Frontier Sand.

The acquisition includes access to frac-sand reserves through lease agreements and royalty rights, as well as corresponding facilities and equipment. The value of the cash transaction was not revealed.

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) repealed a May 2015 rulemaking that would have required the installation of electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes on certain tank cars, according to U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). The USDOT had until Dec. 4 to publish a determination that the ECP rule either was justified or should be repealed.

The Federal Railroad Administration rulemaking had set a timetable for requiring ECP brakes on newer tank cars trains used to haul certain hazardous or flammable materials, such as ethanol and crude oil. ECP brakes issue electronic signals to simultaneously apply and release brakes throughout the length of a train instead of each car applying brakes individually —  a system the government considers more effective in emergency situations.

The Andersons Inc. Rail Group President Rasesh Shah will retire in July 2018. Shah, who began his career with the company in 1978, was "instrumental" in creating the Rail Group in 1989, according to a press release issued by The Andersons. The company has selected Joseph McNeely to serve as the new president of the Rail Group, effective Jan. 8. Shah will provide transition assistance until he retires. McNeely has more than three decades of experience in the financial, manufacturing and distribution industries, specializing in the rail-car business. Most recently, he served as president and chief executive officer of FreightCar America Inc. McNeely also held vice president roles at Mitsui Rail Capital and GATX Corp.

Wabtec Corp. has acquired turbocharger manufacturer Melett Ltd., which has operations in Europe, North America and China. Melett, which has annual sales of around $40 million, provides turbochargers and repair parts to more than 100 countries in the world, Wabtec officials said in a press release. The acquisition is aimed at complementing Wabtec's overall turbocharger strategy and its overall product portfolio. Financial details of the transaction weren't disclosed.