Railroad News

The League of Railway Industry Women (LRIW) has extended its nominations deadline to Aug. 11 for the 2017 Outstanding Woman of the Year Award, which is co-sponsored by Progressive Railroading.

For two decades, the LRIW has been recognizing women who have made significant contributions to the rail industry through leadership, dedication and vision. Women working in the North American rail industry are eligible to receive the award.

U.S. Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R-Ind.) earlier this week joined R. J. Corman Railroad Services LLC representatives to tour a trackwork project on the Louisville & Indiana Railroad (L&I).

The 106-mile short line has contracted R. J. Corman to perform improvements that will enable the railroad to increase rail-car weight capacity to 286,000 pounds. From 2015 through 2017, 94 miles of continuous-welded rail and more than 80,000 ties will be installed.

Rail Construction Equipment Co. has rebranded itself as RCE Equipment Solutions Inc. The new name reflects the company's "growth and diversification goals," RCE officials said in a press release. Although the company has been primarily focused on rail maintenance equipment, RCE within recent years has received several requests for custom equipment design projects outside the rail market. RCE Equipment Solutions will serve as the umbrella company for three different divisions: RCE Rail, which continues to cater to the rail market; RCE Energy, which develops machinery for the energy sector; and RCE Engineering. Meanwhile, RCE's facility in Rockford, Illinois, is undergoing an "extensive" expansion, company officials said. To support the additional products, the company added 11,000 square feet of production space and 6,000 square feet of additional engineering and support space.

In Alstom's first fiscal quarter, the company booked $2.18 billion worth of orders compared to $1.03 billion for the same period in its last fiscal year. The quarter runs from April 1 through June 30. In addition, Alstom logged sales of $2.13 billion, up 6 percent. The company's orders this year include two contracts for almost 100 light-rail vehicles in Canada, a fleet modernization project in the United States and a metro system contract in Vietnam. By 2020, Alstom expects its sales to grow by about 5 percent each year.

The province of Alberta will provide CA$1.53 billion to support the first stage of Calgary's Green Line light-rail project.

The funds will come from Alberta's "Climate Leadership Plan," which includes a carbon levy. The province's contribution will cover about a third of the $4.65 billion project; Calgary's municipal government and the Canadian federal government will fund the remainder.

By This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Senior Associate Editor

Caltrain's board on July 6 will solicit public feedback on proposed changes to fares and parking rates.

Under the proposal, the cost of traveling within one of Caltrain's zone would remain the same, but fares for additional travel would increase by 25 cents per zone.

The probable cause of a BNSF Railway Co. ethanol train derailment two years ago in South Dakota was related to the railroad’s decision to defer track maintenance and continue operating high-hazard flammable unit trains on the Aberdeen subdivision, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced last week.

The incident occurred Sept. 19, 2015, when the train derailed at a small bridge near Lesterville, S.D. The train was hauling three locomotives, 96 loaded tank cars and two hopper cars filled with sand, according to the NTSB report.

CN officials yesterday participated in a ground-breaking ceremony at Whirlpool Canada's distribution center now under construction at the railroad's Calgary Logistics Park in Rocky View County, Alberta.

The 425,000-square-foot building will serve as a distribution center for finished Whirlpool alliances coming to Alberta from across North America, CN officials said in a press release.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has presented this year's John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence Award to Norfolk Southern Railway's Andrew Paul, the association announced yesterday.

The AAR issues the award annually in honor of the late senator from Rhode Island. Chafee was a strong advocate for environmental causes and the eco-friendly benefits of rail transportation.

Southern California transit agency Omnitrans has appointed Trischelle Baysden director of rail.

Omnitrans made the appointment as it prepares to launch the Arrow passenger-rail service between Redlands and San Bernardino, California. The route is slated to open in 2020.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has talked with Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk about the possibility of digging a tunnel for a high-speed rail line that would extend from downtown Chicago to O'Hare International Airport, according to Chicago news media.

Emanuel described the discussions as "preliminary," according to the Chicago Tribune. The mayor told the newspaper he will have Musk's team visit Chicago to see if digging a line makes more sense than other options such as using an existing railroad right of way or double-decking the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line to transport riders to the airport.

Valley Metro's Rail Board has approved Kiewit as the construction manager at-risk for the South Central, the agency's next light-rail extension.

Kiewit will partner with Valley Metro, the city of Phoenix, project designer AECOM, station artists and local community to build the extension, Valley Metro officials said in a press release.

Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI) yesterday announced the award of $217,000 in grants for rail safety education projects in 15 states.

The grants, funded by the Federal Railroad Association (FRA), will be distributed to Operation Lifesaver chapters in the states to pay for public education and awareness programs that promote rail-crossing safety and trespass prevention, OLI officials said in a press release.

Minneapolis Metro Transit today will partially close its Blue and Green line light-rail routes to install new tracks.

The closure will continue through July 3.

GE today announced that John Flannery has been named chief executive officer effective Aug. 1 and chairman effective Jan. 1, 2018.

As CEO, Flannery succeeds Jeff Immelt, who will remain chairman until his retirement from GE on Dec. 31. In addition, Jeff Bornstein, chief financial officer, has been promoted to vice chairman.

6/12/2017    

Rail News: Mechanical

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) yesterday marked the 125th anniversary of Chicago's "L" train system.

In 1892, trains began operating on a line between a terminal at 39th Street to Congress Street in Chicago. Those trains consisted of four wooden passenger cars pulled by a small coal-burning steam locomotive.