Railroad News

Wabtec Corp. this month marked its 150th anniversary. The company’s origins began with founder George Westinghouse Jr.’s invention of the automatic air brake. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers recognized the significance of Westinghouse’s air brake to society with an historic mechanical engineering landmark designation. Meanwhile, Wabtec also celebrated the grand opening of its global headquarters in Pittsburgh. The office will house 250 employees, company officials said in a press release.

Hy-Tech Engineered Solutions Inc. has acquired Blaz-Man Gear and Gear Products & Manufacturing. The acquisitions will triple Hy-Tech’s capacity in gear production; allow the company to expand into more complex spiral and straight bevel gear design and manufacture; and lower costs, company officials said in a press release. The new companies will operate together with Hy-Tech’s existing gear company, Quality Gear, forming a new Power Transmission Division in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of Harris County (METRO) earlier this week launched a pilot program to provide free Wi-Fi access to riders on the Green and Purple light-rail lines.

Wi-Fi will also be available on select bus routes until mid-January 2020. The rail and bus routes were chosen because of their proximity to universities and other schools, METRO officials said in a press release.

MTA Metro-North Railroad today will continue its Connect With Us rider feedback program by hosting a forum discussion at its commuter-rail station in Mount Kisco, New York. 

The railroad launched the program in 2014 to foster dialogue between riders and Metro-North leadership about service and progress on major issues, Metro-North officials said in a press release. 

The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) reached a record high of 140.6 in August, up 4.1 percent from the index in August 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).

The index — which is based on the amount of freight carried by for-hire transportation entities — rose 1.4 percent from July's index and marked the second consecutive monthly increase.

The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program partners yesterday joined community leaders from Chicago neighborhoods to announce educational programs for students and residents as part of the 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project.

The CREATE partners agreed to support educational programs in the Ashburn, Auburn Gresham, Englewood and West Chatham neighborhoods to encourage students' interest and foster learning in transportation, engineering and technical fields throughout the design and construction of the project, which is anticipated to last through 2024.

New Jersey Transit yesterday began construction at the New Brunswick, Trenton Transit Center, Princeton Junction and Elizabeth train stations, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced

As part of the work, NJ Transit crews will extend the eastbound platform at New Brunswick Station, as well as install an escalator and make improvements to the elevator system. 

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) yesterday honored individuals and organizations for leadership and vision during its 2019 TRANSform conference in New York City.

The APTA Honors recognize leaders in the North American public transportation industry who are models of excellence, have demonstrated significant leadership and whose accomplishments have advanced public transportation, APTA officials said in a press release.

Americans took more commuter-rail trips last year than they did in the previous year, but overall ridership on commuter-, heavy- and light-rail systems was down slightly by 0.41 percent (based on passenger trips) in 2018, according to the American Public Transportation Association’s latest annual ridership report, which was issued in April.

Transdev North America has hired Andre Zardini as chief information officer and promoted DeeDee Hanc from vice president of human resources to chief human resources officer, the company announced last week.

Zardini has 20 years of information technology leadership experience in large- and medium-sized organizations in several industries, Transdev officials said in a press release.

MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) crews today began the final stage of work to replace two century-old rail bridges in East Hampton, New York, at North Main Street and Accabonac Road. 

LIRR will raise the vertical roadway clearance of the bridges with the installation of single span steel bridge structures to allow trucks to safely pass underneath the bridges.

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) board yesterday elected Paul Wageman chair and Michele Wong Krause, vice chair.

Wageman has been a member of DART's board since in 2012. He is a past chairman of the North Texas Tollway Authority and is a shareholder at Dallas law firm Winstead PC, DART officials said in a press release.

New Jersey Transit will resume weekday off-peak, one-seat Raritan Valley Line (RVL) train service to New York Penn Station beginning Nov. 4, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced yesterday.

The commuter-rail service was suspended in September 2018 to allow NJ Transit to install positive train control equipment on its rail fleet, according to a press release issued by Murphy’s office.