Railroad News

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) has awarded SPS New England, Inc., an on-call commuter rail right-of-way construction services contract worth $17,040,846.

Pandrol signed multi-year distributor partnership agreements with Industry-Railway Suppliers, Inc. (IRS), in the United States and Davanac, Inc., in Canada.

Pandrol says the agreements will involve IRS and Davanac distributing Railtech Matweld hydraulic tools and Rosenqvist rail equipment. In addition to the distribution agreement, IRS will act as a sales agent for Pandrol's equipment and welding products in the U.S. in a move designed the companies say will enhance customer service.

Sound Transit has scheduled three open houses this month as part of its early scoping work for light-rail extensions to West Seattle and Ballard, Washington.

The hearings will allow residents to offer opinions on the extensions' proposed route and station locations. The meetings will be held Feb. 13, 15, and 20.

BNSF Railway Company announced it recently became the first Class I railroad to join the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA), comprising more than 200 freight transportation companies working to develop blockchain standards for the logistics industry and the supply chain as a whole. 

"Blockchain technology has the potential to change several aspects of the transportation industry and it is important that the industry comes together to align around a set of standards," said Muru Murugappan, BNSF vice president of technology services and chief information officer. "We are excited to help drive those standards forward as a member of BiTA."

The Texas Central bullet-train developers announced yesterday that the Houston rail station will be located at Northwest Mall near the interchange of Interstate 610 and U.S. Highway 290.

The terminal will be situated in a high-growth area with access to employment centers and the downtown, Texas Central officials said in a press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board awarded a $17 million commuter-rail right-of-way construction services contract to SPS New England Inc.

The agreement provides on-call construction services for urgent repair and reconstruction needs across the agency's commuter-rail system. The contract does not relieve Keolis Commuter Services of its current contractual obligations to operate the MBTA's commuter-rail network, agency officials noted in a press release.

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has completed its $203 million reconstruction of the nearly century-old Wilson Station on the Red and Purple lines.

The final component of the project, which began in 2014, was the restoration of the historic Gerber Building, which has served as the station's main entrance.

Industry-Railway Suppliers, Inc. (IRS), a leading distributor of tools and products for railway construction and maintenance, has acquired the business assets of ESCO Equipment Company.

Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc., and Georgetown Rail Equipment Company (GREX) have completed a definitive merger agreement where Loram will acquire all outstanding shares of GREX.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has closed three safety recommendations for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

Brian Lindamood has been promoted to vice president engineering at the Alaska Railroad and will oversee the evaluation, planning and construction of the railroad's infrastructure including engineering, bridge maintenance and construction, and capital project management.

Lindamood joined the Alaska Railroad in June 2006 as capital projects manager and has led the railroad's Project Management Department since January 2012. Previously, he held senior positions in several national engineering firms, including Hanson-Wilson Inc. and TranSystems Corporation, specializing in railway design and operational analysis.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) has announced that it has pushed back the opening service date for Phase I of its Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Silicon Valley Project.

SCVTA said it will need to push back the original estimated opening date from June 2018 to the fall of 2018. The passenger line will stretch from Warm Springs in Fremont to Berryessa in San Jose.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) last week announced it awarded a $23.7 million contract to consultant Cross Harbor Partners to conduct the second phase of an environmental review for the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Program.

Expected to take up to three years to complete, the review will provide a more detailed analysis of the environmental effects and potential mitigation measures for two preferred alternatives identified in a prior Tier 1 study to move freight across New York Harbor, PANYNJ officials said in a press release. A joint venture between STV Inc. and AKRF Inc., Cross Harbor Partners will examine both the construction of a cross harbor freight tunnel and the expansion of PANYNJ's existing rail-car float operation.

Jeff Miles has been appointed port director of the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville.

Miles' industry experience includes more than three decades as a senior-level manager in the port, maritime transportation and logistics sectors.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has closed three safety recommendations for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

One recommendation called for removing all 1000-series rail cars from from service following a deadly collision outside of the Fort Totten Station in 2009. Under the recent "Back2Good" program, WMATA accelerated the retirement of both 1000- and 4000-series units and permanently removed them all from service in June 2017.

In 2017, the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) rail system served a record 82.8 million passengers.

The figure marked a 5.4 percent increase compared to the total in the previous year, when PATH logged 78.5 million riders.