Railroad News

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), will establish a new University Transportation Center (UTC) to study rail infrastructure with funds from a federal grant.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) announced the $1.4 million grant on Dec. 1 and said the Tier-1 UTC will improve rail infrastructure in Nevada and throughout the country.

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff  (WSP) has named Michael Harris-Gifford as a senior principal technical specialist for organization’s the Orange, Calif., office.

Harsco Rail, Harsco Corporation’s railway track maintenance division, has announced new sales of its track grinders throughout North America for service in contract rail grinding programs.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued its accident report on the July 2016 derailment of a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) train traversing a crossover in the East Falls Church interlocking.

The NTSB report confirms what a WMATA-led preliminary investigation found a few days after the derailment: Deteriorated ties allowed track gauge to widen resulting in the derailment. However, NTSB's official probabe cause places culpability on WMATA's maintenance practices writing in the report, "the probable cause of this accident was a wide track gauge condition resulting from the sustained use of deteriorating wooden crossties due to [WMATA's] ineffective inspection and maintenance practices and inadequate safety oversight."

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) has been released for the B&P Tunnel replacement project, which would rebuild this critical link on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) that was originally built in 1873.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) Board of Directors has voted to certify the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for its Airport Metro Connector 96th Street Station.

New York state funds totaling at $30 million will go toward Alstom Transportation, Inc.’s $66 million expansion project, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Nov. 30.

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) announced Dec. 1 that Genesee & Wyoming Australia (GWA) has acquired Glencore Rail (GRail) for A$1.14 billion (US$844.9 million) and issued a 49-percent equity stake in GWA for clients and funds handled by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) rolled out a new initiative aimed at boosting service.

WMATA says the "Back2Good" plan moves beyond the track repair it is taking on with its SafeTrack program and will focus on getting trains running safely and reliably.

Federal, state and local officials participated in a ground breaking ceremony for the first phase of the North Coast Corridor (NCC) Program, which will make $700 million in infrastructure improvements over the next five years.

Sound Transit, the Greater Seattle area’s regional transportation system, has awarded a contract to Hoffman Construction Company to begin building its Roosevelt Station in early 2017.

DBi Services, a global provider of infrastructure operations and maintenance, has acquired the assets of the Ohio-based company Mercier’s Inc., effective Nov. 29.

Dr. Andreas Hoffrichter has been named executive director of Michigan State University's Railway Management Certificate Program. Hoffrichter succeeds Steve Ditmeyer who retired in December 2015.

In addition to his role as executive director, Michigan State says Hoffrichter has joined the team as Burkhardt Professor in Railway Management. Hoffrichter is from Germany and has lived in England for 10 years, which the school says extends the team's international perspective.

As forecasters continue to warn the Chicago area of an exceptionally cold and snowy winter, Metra has completed preparations for the likely challenging season ahead.

President-elect Donald Trump has named Elaine Chao as his choice for U.S. Transportation Secretary. Chao is a former Deputy Transportation Secretary and a former Labor Secretary, and wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) since 1993.

Chao served as Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush from 2001 through 2009, the longest tenure in the position since World War II and the only Bush Cabinet member to serve all eight years of his Presidency. She was also the first Asian-American woman to serve in a Cabinet position. According to The New York Times, "While enjoying the praise and admiration of her colleagues, she also invited scorn from organized labor, whose leaders accused her of being too cozy with business interests."

After partnering with Fortress Investment Group in 2014 and leading the transformation of the former Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway into the CM&Q, President and CEO John E. Giles will assume the duties of Executive Chairman. Chief Operating Officer Ryan Ratledge will succeed Giles as President and CEO.

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc. (BBII) teams say they have implemented site-specific measures to ensure environmental maintenance is practiced throughout construction and into 2019, when the line of the Southeast Rail Extension (SE) is set to open.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) called progress made by railroads in the third quarter of 2016 in implementing Positive Train Control (PTC) "uneven" across the country and across the railroads.

The report says freight railroads now have PTC active on 12 percent of their tracks, up from 9 percent last quarter. Passenger railroads increased their percentage to 23 percent this quarter compared to 22 percent last quarter. FRA noted the measurable progress made by passenger railroads has been predominately on the West Coast and called progress on East Coast passenger railroads, with the exception of SEPTA and Amtrak, as "relatively stagnant."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Expansion Project has released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, moving the project one step further toward construction.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has announced that its board approved an amendment to its Capital Improvement Plan for FY2016–FY2020 to include $75 million in funds for the transit authority’s Red Line Extension (RLE) project.