Railroad News

With January under three weeks away, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited contractors and construction workers building the 72nd and 86th Street Stations on the Second Avenue Subway project to view progress.

Phase 1 of the project is scheduled to be completed at the end of the year and the governor is confident the deadline will be met.

Transit systems throughout Ontario are set to undergo improvements in 2017 with CA$334.5 million (US$254.4 million) being allocated to 99 communities through provincial gas tax funding.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) and Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Dec. 8 to facilitate sharing information between the two agencies.

The signing took place in Ottawa, between STB Chairman Dan Elliott and CTA Chair and CEO Scott Streiner. The CTA is the economic regulator of the freight railroads and other modes of transportation in Canada.

Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna and Dr. Scott Streiner, chair of the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), announced this week that a three-member review panel has been formed to review the proposed Milton Logistics Hub Project in Ontario.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) Board of Commissioners approved the agency's proposed 2017 budget of $6 billion.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is requiring Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to correct issues with its traction power electrification (TPE) system following an investigation into the TPE condition.

FTA included 47 actions in the Special Directive, based on the administration's "WMATA Traction Power Electrification System Investigation Report," which it published Dec. 9.

GE Transportation (GE) has announced the company’s acquisition of Iders Incorporated, an electronic product design and manufacturing company catering to the rail industry.

The world’s longest rail tunnel, Switzerland’s Gotthard Base Tunnel, will launch service Dec. 11. The milestone project will transport passengers through the tunnel running below the Alps in less than 20 minutes, representatives say.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has granted the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) until April 30, 2017, to submit a recovery plan for the project.

In a letter to Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell from FTA Regional Administrator Leslie T. Rogers, FTA denies the original requested extension of July 30, 2017, but said the administration appreciates "the many challenges HART has faced in design and construction of the project."

The Texas Central Partners, LLC (Texas Central) Board of Directors has announced the appointment of Carlos F. Aguilar as the new CEO of Texas Central and its subsidiaries, effective Dec. 12.

KamPa International Inc. (KamPa) and voestalpine Nortrak Inc. (Nortrak) have announced a new partnership to supply North American freight and passenger railroads with noise control components and rail dampers.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) named crew member fatigue as the probable cause of a 2014 Union Pacific (UP) Hoxie, Ark., accident that killed two crew members and seriously injured two others.

Two Union Pacific trains collided in the early hours on Aug. 14, 2014, while traversing a turnout control point. NTSB's report on the accident found that the northbound crew had no indication of the impending collision and that the southbound train conductor was likely asleep at the time of the collision. The report also cited a lack of federal regulations governing sleep disorder and fatigue modeling tools as a contributing factor to the accident.

Bridge engineering firm Modjeski and Masters has been awarded a contract to complete engineering services needed for the rehabilitation and replacement of old portions of MetroTransit’s Union Station Tunnel in St. Louis, Mo.

Ottawa’s O-Train Confederation Line Light Rail Transit (LRT) project team celebrated a milestone last week as its first light-rail vehicle (LRV) assembled in Canada’s capital city began testing on the track between the system’s Blair and Cyrville stations.

Metro Vancouver, B.C., gained more than 6.5 miles of rail rapid transit Dec. 2 with the opening of the Evergreen extension.

The extension will provide service between Coquitlam, Port Moody, Burnaby and Vancouver and carry an estimated 70,000 people per day by 2021.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced Dec. 5 that $300.3 million in grants will go to 32 university transportation centers (UTCs) to accelerate research and education programs dealing with the county’s transportation challenges. 

Union Pacific completed installation of a new bridge at Bayou Lafourche in Donaldsonville, La., over the weekend.

The new 102-foot steel bridge is a key part of Louisiana's efforts to reintroduce freshwater from the Mississippi River into Bayou Lafourche. The original crossing was made up of box culverts that limited the amount of water that could pass through in the levee. The project is part of a multi-organizational partnership led by the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District (BLFWD).

Vossloh has acquired Rocla Concrete Tie, a manufacturer of concrete ties, switch ties, concrete low vibration track blocks and crossing panels.

Vossloh said that the acquisition strengthens its presence in the USA market and further expands its position as a global rail infrastructure supplier. The $117.2 million deal has been approved by the Supervisory Board of Vossloh AG and is expected to be completed at the beginning of 2017.

The Chicago City Council has approved the use of a tax-increment financing (TIF) district to allocate funding needed for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Red and Purple Modernization Program (RPM).