Railroad News

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) last week launched a rider survey to determine what future services the agency should provide with its limited resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

RTD officials will incorporate the public input gathered from the survey, along with data and budget information, into a system optimization plan. 

A new report commissioned by the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT) highlights how legislation allowing bigger and heavier trucks on the nation's highways would result in a "major diversion" of freight from rail to roads.

The study shows some scenarios in which intermodal traffic would be reduced by 20 percent to 25 percent and railroad carload traffic by as much as 20 percent. Other scenarios show that both intermodal and certain railroad traffic could be reduced by nearly 60 percent, CABT officials said in a report summary.

The Port of Pascagoula, Mississippi, is slated to receive $6.6 million in Gulf Coast restoration funding for the Jackson County Port Authority's North Rail Connector project.

The award stems from state legislation that details projects to benefit from BP oil spill funding. The North Rail Connector is new construction of 4,300 feet of rail to connect the rail bridge over the Escatawpa River to the recently relocated Mississippi Export Rail Line, which is now completed, port officials said in a press release.

New Jersey Transit last week began deploying handheld mobile fare validators to its commuter-rail crews on the Raritan Valley Line (RVL).

Crews can use the devices to scan paper and electronic tickets, eliminating contact while validating fares. The devices also display information about potential service disruptions to crews members.

Caltrain’s board last week awarded Elevate Sports Ventures LLC a consulting contract to manage the agency’s naming rights opportunities. 

The contract calls for Elevate to identify and evaluate potential naming rights assets, create marketing and sales plans and guide Caltrain through the sales and negotiation process. 

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) announced in a brief last week that it has launched an investigation after cracks were found on four wheels on three separate Ottawa Light-Rail Transit (OLRT) vehicles during maintenance activities and inspections.

The TSB described its action as a Class 3 investigation, which means it will analyze a "small number" of safety issues.

Alaska-Alberta Railway Corp. (A2A Rail) has commissioned HDR Inc. to begin preparing a detailed land survey along the Alberta segment of the railway's proposed route.

HDR will work with local contractors and subcontractors, including Quantum Spatial, a geospatial analytics company, and Lawson, a certified Indigenous owned and controlled surveying firm, A2A Rail officials said in a press release.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Transit Innovation Partnership last week launched a "COVID-19 Response Challenge" calling for the private tech industry to submit innovative solutions that could make public transit safer during the pandemic. 

The challenge calls for companies to submit proposals by July 30 that address critical pandemic-related health and safety objectives for New York City's regional mass transit network. 

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority last week began major construction on the 9.1-mile Foothill Gold light-rail line between Glendora and Pomona, California.

The project, expected to be completed in 2025, will add four stations to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s L Line in Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne and Pomona.

The U.S. Maritime Administration has released a draft environmental impact study (EIS) for the Port of Long Beach's proposed Pier B on-dock rail support facility in California.

The public has until Aug. 24 to submit comments on the draft EIS, which is available on the Federal Register and the port's website. An online public meeting and teleconference will be held July 28. 

The Greenbrier Cos. Inc.’s board announced that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Furman will continue in his current position for up to two more years, retiring in 2022. The board took this action to ensure the continuity of an experienced leadership team in the current COVID-19 crisis and accompanying environment of economic uncertainty, Greenbrier officials said in a press release. Meanwhile, Greenbrier also reported financial results for its third fiscal quarter ending May 31. Greenbrier reported Q3 revenue at $762.6 million, a $138.8 million increase compared with Q2. The increase is attributed to higher deliveries reflecting increased syndication activity. Net earnings attributable to Greenbrier for the quarter were $27.8 million, or 83 cents per diluted share.

Alstom has proposed several commitments to address the European Commission’s concerns about the company’s planned acquisition of Bombardier Transportation in the first half of 2021. The proposed commitments include a transfer of Bombardier Transportation’s contribution to the V300 ZEFIRO high-speed train; the divestment of the Alstom Coradia Polyvalent and the Reichshoffen production site in France; and the divestment of the Bombardier TALENT 3 platform and dedicated production facilities located within the Hennigsdorf site in Germany. Alstom will also provide access to certain interfaces and products for some of Bombardier Transportation’s signaling on-board units and train control management systems. The commitments are subject to European Commission approval.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) crews this weekend will install a new bridge over New Hyde Park Road on the border of New Hyde Park and Garden City in Long Island, New York, to eliminate a grade crossing. 

Over the past several months, crews have been building the new bridge adjacent to the tracks, in preparation for this weekend’s installation. 

Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad (RBMN) officials announced yesterday they will challenge a recent three-judge panel's ruling that affirmed a trial judge's decision to reject the company's lawsuit against the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority.

At issue is the process the rail authority used in 2014 when it sought proposals for a company to operate five short lines in eight central Pennsylvania counties. RBMN, which came in last in the authority's preliminary rankings, contended the process was designed to eliminate it from consideration, Pennlive.com reported.

Monarch Gold Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ontario Northland Railway that calls for rail transportation of ore from Monarch's Wasamac gold project to the Kidd concentrator in Timmins, Ontario. 

The MOU's first phase consists of an economic study of infrastructure for the transportation of ore by train from Wasamac to Kidd. The study is expected to be completed no later than Dec. 31.

VIA Rail Canada Inc. on July 8 announced it will temporarily lay off 1,000 unionized employees due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

VIA Rail does not anticipate ridership to be back to pre-COVID-19 levels in the foreseeable future, and therefore has had to adjust to the increasing financial impacts the crisis has had on the company, VIA Rail officials said in a press release.