Anacostia Rail Holdings (ARH) has created an Advisory Board consisting of four individuals “with extensive leadership experience in the railroad industry.” Ronald L. Batory, Rodney Case, Andrew Fox, and Dean H. Wise will assist the company “in meeting its strategic objectives.”
Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads (AAR), is establishing an independent training and on-track testing facility in Pueblo, Colo., the company says “is capable of meeting the needs of today’s rail industry and testing tomorrow’s transportation solutions.” Located south of TTCI’s existing USDOT-owned facility, it will be operational in 2022.
New Jersey Transit is moving ahead on two major passenger facilities improvements, one at Hoboken Terminal, the other at the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden, N.J.
The Port of Savannah achieved its busiest September ever, moving 472,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent) container units, a 14.5% increase. Port officials say the facility’s Garden City Terminal “has seen steady improvement in the speed of cargo moving from dock to destination.”
OT (Operational Technology) cybersecurity company Shift5 has raised $20 million in Series A funding that will be used “to provide enhanced cybersecurity and operational intelligence for commercial transportation fleet operators and military platforms—aircraft, railways, military vehicles.” 645
New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Scott M. Stringer has released a report, “Beyond Rush Hour: COVID-19 and The Future of Public Transit,” calling for adjustments to subway and bus schedules and a major change in how New York State’s gas tax is allocated, among other measures. The report contains ridership variations found by borough, time of day and transit mode “underscoring the need to better align public transit with today’s economy.”
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) reports that its investigation following the June 30, 2021 fire that destroyed the town of Lytton, B.C “has not revealed any evidence to link railway operations to the fire. Unless new information establishes that a TSB reportable event occurred, no further work will be performed and no TSB investigation report will be produced.” The wildfire remains under investigation by BCWS (British Columbia Wildfire Service) and the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police).
Now that approvals and permitting have been secured from the Federal Railroad Administration and State of Texas, “terminal development is the next step,” high-speed rail hopeful Texas Central said on Oct. 13, when its announced formation of the Texas High-Speed Rail Station Development Corporation (SDC). Meanwhile, two Texas Republican congressmen have sent a letter to the USDOT accusing Texas Central of attempting to engage in questionable business practices.
An “incremental positive for orders” and “sequentially flat” rate increases characterized Cowen and Company’s third-quarter 2021 Rail Equipment and Rail Shipper Surveys, respectively, report analysts Jason Seidl (Railway Age’s Wall Street Contributing Editor), Matt Elkott and Elliot Alper.
Cowen Inc. and AFS Logistics, LLC on Oct. 11 launched the Cowen/AFS Freight Index, which they say “will serve to provide Cowen’s institutional clients with predictive pricing tools for multiple sectors within the freight industry, on a quarterly basis.”