Author: Douglas John Bowen

LACMTA gets funding for Crenshaw LRT

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been granted $545.9 million under a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan to proceed with construction of the Crenshaw/LAX light rail transit poject.

VIA Rail car refurbishment adjusted

A New Brunswick provincial judge has approved an adjusted arrangement that will see 14 VIA Rail cars refurbished in Moncton, New Brunswick, during the next 19 months, as a part of the former Industrial Rail Services contract.

Train accidents again down sharply

Continuing a three-year decline, train accidents on U. S. railroads dropped 19.2% to 980 in this year’s first seven months, compared with the same period last year, according to a preliminary account by the Federal Railroad Administration’s Office of Safety Analysis.

  • News

GWI completes RailAmerica acquisition

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. Monday said it has completed its acquisition of RailAmerica, Inc., and also “entered into a new five-year Senior Secured Credit Facility comprised of a $1.875 billion term loan and $425 million revolving credit facility.”

Bombardier lands orders in Austria, Germany

Bombardier Transportation on Monday said it had landed two significant orders, one for 32 streetcars (trams) by Innsbruck, Austria, and a second involving TWINDEXX Vario double-decker electric multiple-unit (EMU) trains for Germany’s Deutsche Bahn AG (DB).

CTC Inc. to install Wyoming wayside horns

Fort Worth, Tex.-based CTC, Inc. says it will install Wyoming’s first wayside horn systems at nine grade crossings in Newcastle and Torrington, Wyo. The project was awarded by Wyoming’s Department of Transportation.

STB to Berkshire Hathaway: Divest two railroads

The Surface Transportation Board has directed BNSF Railway’s parent, Berkshire Hathaway, to “promptly remedy its noncompliance with railroad control requirements” stemming from its acquisition of BNSF in 2010.

Sumitomo eyed for multistate bilevel order

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) on Thursday said that, on behalf of the departments of transportation from Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri, it has issued a Notice of Intent to Award to Sumitomo Corp. of America to design, build, and deliver 130 bilevel passenger railcars for use in regional intercity rail corridors in California and the Midwest.

U.S. freight carload traffic still struggles; intermodal up

U.S. freight carload traffic declined 4.1% for the week ending Sept. 22, 2012, measured against the comparable week in 2011, the Association of American Railroads reported Thursday. U.S. intermodal volume sustained its winning streak, though in relatively modest fashion, up 0.7% for the week compared with a year ago.