The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) on March 2 announced its 127th Annual Convention lineup of speakers, including Association of American Railroads (AAR) President and CEO Ian Jefferies and Surface Transportation Board (STB) Board Member Michelle Schultz, who will address upcoming opportunities for grain, feed, processing and export markets at the La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, Calif., on March 21-23.
Following the completion of damage assessment inspections of the 11 Norfolk Southern (NS) hazardous materials (hazmat) tank cars, including the five carrying vinyl chloride, that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says it is “concerned that aluminum protective housing covers on some tank cars melted or were consumed when pressure relief devices (PRDs) vented burning gas while functioning as designed to relieve tank pressure.”
Metrolinx identifies new location for GO Transit layover facility. Also, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) President Nadine Lee says the agency could keep more than $80 million due to delays and changes it believes Dallas has caused to its planned Silver Line rail project; and Valley Metro awards $75,000 for arts and culture projects.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on March 1 announced a national initiative for focused inspections on routes that carry high-hazard flammable trains (HHFTs) and other trains carrying large volumes of hazardous material (hazmat) commodities.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) signs agreement with U.S. Army as part of veteran recruitment efforts. Also, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) receives AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor’s (S&P); and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey deploys independent team of experts to expedite CRRC’s (China Railway Rolling Stock Corp.) delivery of remaining train cars to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).
TransmetriQ, a Railinc® brand, has introduced its Asset Manager, which provides railcar fleet owners and managers “instant visibility of the location, health and status of their assets,” the company reported on Feb. 16.
Canadian Pacific (CP) announced Feb. 16 that Unifor members have ratified a new two-year collective agreement covering approximately 1,200 CP mechanical employees in Canada. The new contract will expire in Dec. 31, 2024.
Balfour Beatty appoints Mark Johnnie to COO and Kelly Phariss to Vice President of West operations. Also, CSX Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Diana Sorfleet has been named to Women We Admire’s Top 50 Women Leaders of Jacksonville for 2023.
Stadler announced Feb. 15 that it has signed a contract with Utah State University (USU) and the ASPIRE Engineering Research Center to develop and test a multiple-unit train with battery drive for the U.S. market based on the company’s FLIRT Akku model.
For the first six weeks of 2023 (ending Feb. 11), total U.S. weekly rail traffic was down 6.2%, compared with the same week last year, according to the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) Feb. 15 report. Both the U.S. and Mexico experienced decreases, while Canada saw an increase.