MTA, Unions Agree on $0.5MM Death Benefit

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Transport Workers Union of America have reached an agreement establishing a $500,000 COVID-19 death benefit for TWU members who died after being infected with the virus. Under the agreement, the MTA will pay the $500,000 in a lump sum to the spouse, beneficiary or estate of each deceased member who was in active service on or after Feb. 1, 2020. The TWU agreement extends the COVID-19 death benefit to members of four TWU Locals: Local 100, Local 106, Local 2001 and Local 2055.

Rail Group On Air: The Power of the P3

Strategic Rail Finance Chairman and CEO Michael Sussman and President John Elliott discuss how railroads can leverage P3 (public-private partnership) resources to grow business with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono.

Amtrak CARES Act Appropriation: $1.02B

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is making more than $1 billion under the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act available to Amtrak “to support the railroad’s activities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the spread of COVID-19) in the U.S. and its impacts on operations and business.”

Cowen Shipper Surveys in a COVID-19 Environment Show Declining Expectations

The results of Cowen and Company’s 1Q20 Rail Equipment and Rail Shipper Surveys, conducted by Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl, with Airfreight and Surface Transportation Analysts Matt Elkott and Adam Kramer, indicate declining railcar order and pricing expectations. Following are summaries:

Stantec Lead Technical Advisor for Hurontario LRT

Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario (IO) have selected global design firm Stantec to provide technical advisory services for the 11-mile, 19-station Hurontario Light Rail Transit project, which will link the GO Transit Lakeshore West Line Port Credit regional rail station in Mississauga with Brampton Gateway Terminal. The project also includes an OMS (operations, maintenance and storage) facility at Highway 407.

BNSF “Delivering What Matters”

Editor’s Note: The following story was posted on the Rail Talk area of the BNSF website. It is shared here in its entirety, with permission. We think it presents yet another useful example of how the rail industry is performing an essential service in the national supply chain, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. — William C. Vantuono

Commentary

“My Dad Is Essential”

Somnang “Sam” Pha is a Union Pacific track machine operator and BMWED (Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters) member presently working near Arlington, Ore., out of Blue Springs, Mo. Sam and his wife Kristina have four children, Lliyah, Khyson, Zayden and Isaiah. Kristina sent these photos to Union Pacific Senior Director Corporate Communications and Media Relations Raquel Espinoza, who has shared them with permission.

ZTR, Blackberry Partner on Digital Remote Railcar Monitoring

Locomotive modernization solutions and industrial IoT (Internet of Things) technology provider ZTR has partnered with security software and asset tracking provider BlackBerry Limited on what the two companies describe as “an advanced digital railcar remote monitoring solution.”

Commentary

Applying the “Old-School Philosophy” of “Free Outages”

Soon after the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S., a former passenger railroad chief engineer approached Railway Age with ideas for performing much-needed trackwork during a time when traffic is lighter than normal, and track time—difficult to schedule and manage under “normal” circumstances—is more readily available.

Greenbrier FY2Q2020: “Strong Liquidity, $3.2B Backlog”

Greenbrier’s fiscal second-quarter 2020 financial results (the company begins its fiscal year on Oct. 1 of the prior year) are based on orders of 8,500 railcars valued at more than $815 million, a “Strong liquidity position targeting $1 billion of available liquidity,” and a $3.2 billion backlog that “provides forward visibility.”

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