Author: William C. Vantuono

With Railway Age since 1992, William C. Vantuono has broadened and deepened the magazine's coverage of the technological revolution that is so swiftly changing the industry. He has also strengthened Railway Age’s leadership position in industry affairs with the conferences he conducts, among them Next-Generation Train Control, Light Rail, and Rail Insights. He is the author or co-author or editor of several books, among them All About Railroading; John Armstrong’s The Railroad: What It Is, What It Does; Railway Age’s Comprehensive Railroad Dictionary; and Planning, Engineering, and Operating Light Rail, With Applications in New Jersey.

Malski Springs to Top LRW Member

The League of Railway Women (LRW) has named Michele Malski, LRW Director-At-Large and Founder and President of Succession Planning for Railroads Investing in the Next Generation (SPRING), as the organization’s 2021 Member of the Year.

ARCI: 3Q21 Orders Down; Backlog, Deliveries Up

Newly released Railway Supply Institute (RSI) American Railway Car Institute Committee (ARCI) data shows that third-quarter 2021 freight railcar orders declined compared to second-quarter 2021, though they remained higher than first quarter orders reported. Deliveries and backlog, however, increased over the previous quarter.

BLET, SMART-TD Seek Injunctions Against NS

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the SMART Transportation Division (SMART–TD) have each filed Motions for Preliminary Injunctions against Norfolk Southern in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, “to stop the railroad from forcing locomotive engineers to work as conductors, and for disciplining those who don’t.”

POLB+UP+UIPA=‘Rapid Relief’

The Port of Long Beach (POLB), Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) and Union Pacific (UP) are adding capacity to an existing regularly scheduled direct rail intermodal service connecting the Port of Long Beach to Salt Lake City. The initiative is meant to “bring rapid relief from existing port congestion by optimizing rail deliveries between California and Utah.”

Amtrak Arbitration Amputation Attempt

House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Chair Donald M. Payne Jr. (D-N.J.), with Reps. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) and Committee Vice Chair Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) on Oct. 27 introduced the “Ending Passenger Rail Forced Arbitration Act” (EPRFAA), the purpose of which is “to give customers the right to sue Amtrak to resolve disputes” by “eliminating the current arbitration clause for dispute resolution that passengers are forced to accept when they purchase an Amtrak ticket.”

Two Takes on Health Care Arbitration: NRLC, Unions

The National Railway Labor Conference on Oct. 26 announced that an arbitrator has ruled that U.S. Class I freight railroads “may advance all but one aspect of a proposal to make network changes to the national railroad health plans.” Union leadership involved in collective bargaining with the NLRC put a different spin on it, saying, in part, “An arbitrator has rejected the railroad industry’s attempt to utilize a never-before-used contract clause imposed by Congress 30 years ago to reduce the healthcare networks available to over 250,000 railroad workers and family members on the National Healthcare Plan for Railroad Employees.”

Greenbrier: Tekorius Taking the Throttle; 4Q21 ‘Strong, Balanced’

Following a fiscal fourth quarter marked by a 1.5x book-to-bill and more than $80 million of operating cash flow, The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. appointed President and Chief Operating Officer Lorie Tekorius as the company’s next CEO and President, succeeding Co-founder, Chairman and CEO William A. Furman. “continuing the company’s executive succession and talent pipeline process.”

KCS Improving South-of-the Border Automotive Network

Kansas City Southern has entered into a joint venture with Suministros Industriales Potosinos SA de CV (SIPSA) and TransDevelopment Group (TDG) to develop the Central Bajío Vehicle Distribution Center (VDC), described as “a state-of-the-art origin and destination terminal for the shipment of finished vehicles.”