Railroad News

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) has activated positive train control (PTC) on the eastern 108 miles of its system, the commuter railroad announced yesterday.

The trackage runs from Patchogue to Montauk, and from Ronkonkoma to Greenport, New York. The 108 miles nearly double the route miles under PTC operation to 220, LIRR officials said in a press release. Now, 72.5 percent of the railroad’s 305 route miles are PTC-operable.
 
“This latest achievement shows that we are continuing to make steady and deliberate progress as we work toward implementing PTC systemwide by Dec. 31,” said LIRR President Phil Eng.

The Transportation Communications Union (TCU)/IAM last week announced National President Robert Scardelletti will retire on July 31 after serving 29 years as the union’s leader and more than 53 years as a TCU/IAM member.

The union’s executive council has elected Arthur Maratea as Scardelletti’s successor. Maratea — who will assume the position of national president on Aug. 1 — currently is national vice president. He serves as a special assistant to the president, and heads the TCU/IAM’s industry relations and social services departments.

Ellis & Eastern Co. will receive a nearly $14.5 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help fund the rehabilitation of 7.5 miles of track between Brandon, Minnesota, and Valley Springs, South Dakota.

The nearly $34 million project calls for rebuilding 6 miles of track between Rushmore and Adrian, Minnesota, constructing a siding in Valley Springs, and upgrading 11 bridges and a number of grade crossings.

Transit agencies across the United States have been taking precautions in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, a disease caused by the new coronavirus.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority today will implement an enhanced cleaning schedule, which calls for sanitizing rail cars every 72 hours and buses daily.

Alstom will conduct a two-week test of its Coradia iLint hydrogen fuel cell-powered passenger train on track between Groningen and Leeuwarden, Netherlands, in first-quarter 2020. The test's objective is to demonstrate that hydrogen fuel cell technology is an appropriate way to achieve zero-emissions rail traffic on nonelectrified lines in the Netherlands diesel trains now operate, Alstom officials said in a press release.

The Andersons Inc. hired Christine Castellano as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective in February 2020. Castellano will succeed Naran Burchinow, who will retire in March 2020 after more than 15 years at The Andersons, company officials said in a press release. Castellano is the former SVP, general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer for Ingredion Inc.

American Public Transportation Association (APTA) President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas yesterday lauded the U.S. Senate’s adoption of an amendment that blocks a 12 percent funding cut to transit agencies in fiscal-year 2020. 

The U.S. Senate yesterday adopted Jones-McSally Amendment No. 1141 and passed H.R. 3055, a minibus appropriations bill that includes the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations bill. 

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) earlier this week launched a seven-day, systemwide inspection of its containment baskets that are installed under elevated structures to prevent debris from falling.

The inspection blitz follows an Oct. 29 incident in which a 15-pound metal D-wedge separated from an elevated structure on the A Line, fell into a containment basket that was not properly secured, and fell on a car, according to a local report. A D-wedge is a component designed to maintain correct spacing between running rail and a guardrail, NYCT officials said in a press release.

The National Defense Transportation Association (NDTA) last month presented Anacostia Rail Holdings Co. (ARH) with the Corporate Distinguished Service Award.

The award recognizes NDTA corporate members who have provided “outstanding support” for the association’s goals and programs that facilitate an environment where government, military and private sector professionals can address challenges in logistics and transportation, ARH officials said in a press release.

The Canadian province of Alberta will ease oil production limits on energy companies if they move the additional oil on trains, provincial government officials announced yesterday.

The announcement was made after industry representatives proposed shipping more crude by rail in exchange for curtailment relief.

Union Pacific Railroad implemented positive train control (PTC) on 1,113 route miles during the third quarter, bringing PTC-required route miles to 93 percent completion, including all passenger train routes, the Class I announced yesterday.

Nearly all UP trains operated on PTC-mandated rail lines are operating with PTC locomotives. UP expects to have implemented PTC on all required lines by the end of this year, a year before the federal deadline of Dec. 31, 2020, company officials said in a press release.

Two major rail industry suppliers this week announced acquisitions to expand their track work portfolios. 

Progress Rail yesterday signed an agreement to acquire the Cleveland Track Material (CTM) business from Vossloh North America.

New Jersey Transit and the Middlesex County Improvement Authority (MCIA) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU), laying the groundwork for the development of the North Brunswick commuter-rail station, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced yesterday. 

The MOU calls for the design and construction of a train station at the North Brunswick Transit Village along the Northeast Corridor. Under the agreement, MCIA will serve as the project manager.

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) earlier this week awarded $15.3 million in grant funding to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA), which will use some of the funds for its rail-car replacement program.

Under the Ohio Transit Preservation Partnership Program (OTP3), the ODOT awarded to GCRTA $5 million toward rail-car replacement. With the additional funds, GCRTA now has a total $57.2 million committed from a mix of local grants, reserve funds and expected future federal grants for rail-car funding, agency officials said in a press release.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) yesterday announced that select trains operating on the Far Rockaway, Long Beach, Oyster Bay and West Hempstead branches in New York have begun operating with positive train control (PTC).

As a result of the implementation, 65 route miles of LIRR's system are in PTC operation, or 21.5 percent of the PTC system, LIRR officials said in a press release.

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday announced six new industrial locations have been awarded the Class I's Certified Sites designation.

Four of the sites are the first for their state in Arizona, Minnesota, Mississippi and Missouri. Two new sites were named in Illinois, bringing that state's count to four, BNSF officials said in a press release.

U.S. freight railroads logged 513,147 carloads and intermodal units during the week ending Oct. 26, down 8.8 percent compared with the same week last year, Association of American Railroads (AAR) data shows.

Total carload traffic for the week plunged 9.4 percent to 243,321 units, while intermodal volume dropped 8.3 percent to 269,826 containers and trailers.

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Cap Metro) on Nov. 4 will open a temporary MetroRail Station in downtown Austin, Texas, to resume service that has been suspended since June.

In June, Cap Metro closed its downtown rail station next to the Austin Convention Center to allow for  construction of a new station. Rail service was replaced by shuttle service to accommodate riders from Plaza Saltillo Station to and from the downtown.