Bennett, Lippy join TTCI

Jeffrey Bennett and Josh Lippy have joined Transportation Technology Center Inc. (TTCI) as Director of Business Development – Passenger and Emerging Technologies and Director of Business Development – North American Freight Railroads, respectively.

Railinc Cited Among ‘2021 Best Places to Work in IT’

Railinc Corp. has been named as one of ‘2021 Best Places to Work in IT’ by tech media company IDG’s Insider Pro and Computerworld. This award recognized the 100 top organizations “that challenge their IT staffs while providing

DeFazio to STB: Reject CN/KCS Voting Trust

Nearly one month after the Surface Transportation Board’s June 28 deadline for submitting comments on CN and Kansas City Southern’s merger voting trust application, letters continue to be filed and added to the docket. One such letter, filed July 26, comes from House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who opposes it.

Bowers Joins Hatch LTK

Donna Bowers has joined Hatch LTK as a Systems Consultant, based in Dallas.

Caroline Decker Joins WSP USA

Caroline Decker, former Amtrak Vice President for the Northeast Corridor, has joined WSP USA as Vice President of Federal Affairs. Decker succeeds Cathy Connor, who retired in June after 32 years with WSP.

AITX Expanding in Mississippi

AITX Railcar Services, LLC, with a $23.36 million investment, is expanding its Brookhaven, Miss., maintenance and repair facilty.

Mexican SAT Action Rather Ambiguous

In a July 19 press release, the Government of Mexico, through the Ministries of Energy, Finance and the Tax Administration Service (SAT), made public a list of active and suspended taxpayers on its Importers’ Registry, indicating that the suspensions were made due to several taxpayers apparently not being in full compliance with requirements under its Foreign Trade Rules. Among them were Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM) and Grupo Mexico’s Ferrosur rail freight subsidiary.

Virginia CTB Advances Intermodal, Transit Initiatives

Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) recently approved a Rail Industrial Access Grant for Norfolk Terminal LP, and adopted the framework to advance the state’s Transit Ridership Incentive Program (TRIP).

CSX 2Q21: ‘Solid Beat’

CSX in second-quarter 2021 reported an exceptionally low operating ratio (OR) of 43.4%, along with significant increases in earnings and revenue. The OR calculation included a credit against expenses resulting from the sale of certain property rights on CSX-owned line segments to the Commonwealth of Virginia for passenger rail operations. Adjusted to exclude the real estate transaction, the OR is 55.1%, still exceptionally low.

Commentary

PSR Point/Counterpoint: Fortune

Editor’s Note: Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) continues to be, in a word, controversial. This operating method traces its origins to the late Hunter Harrison and the Illinois Central in the early 1990s.

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