Union Pacific, a National Park Foundation (NPF) premier partner for the Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque movement, helps support the Open OutDoors for Kids program, which is providing 132 national parks with grants totaling $2.3 million “to connect young people to national parks through meaningful, educational and engaging activities, and encourage kids to build lifelong connections to these special places.”
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has selected Rockwell Collins to assist tenant short lines in creating safety-related documentation required to obtain permission to operate over a host railroad’s Positive Train Control (PTC)-equipped territory. ASLRRA said this is “the next step in our plan to provide a suite of services for short line railroads equipping for PTC.”
Exhibit space and sponsorships are now open for sale at Railway Interchange 2019, the largest railway exhibition and technical conference in North America. Indoor and outdoor exhibits will be available at the Minneapolis Convention Center and BNSF Railway’s Northtown yard, respectively. Exhibits will be open September 22-24.
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to “strengthen their relationship and future cooperation … in recognition of the common interests of public transportation industries in the U.S. and internationally. Both APTA and UITP will strive to work together on areas of mutual benefit to their memberships and, in so doing, maximize the quality and value of their member services in a variety of ways,” the organizations said in a joint statement.
During its 2018 Investor Day, Canadian Pacific Railway on Oct. 4 reported preliminary third-quarter results, updated its 2018 guidance and unveiled the next phase of its long-term strategy, which it said is “focused on driving sustainable, profitable growth.”
GE Transportation has joined with Roy Hill, Australia’s single-largest iron ore mine, and Hancock Prospecting to support breast cancer treatment and research with two new ES44ACi locomotives and 130 China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC)-built ore cars painted in a bright pink livery. The equipment, unveiled during an event at Roy Hill’s Port Hedland rail terminal, joins Roy Hill’s existing fleet of 21 GE-powered unit trains.
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has named LTK Engineering Services Director of Business Development Natalie Cornell as 2018 Outstanding Public Transportation Business Member. Cornell was honored at APTA’s Annual Meeting.
BNSF Railway Co. Executive Chairman Matthew K. Rose will step down and retire from the railroad in April of 2019, after 26 years of service. At the end of his tenure, Rose will have been Executive Chairman for six years, and BNSF CEO for the prior 13 years. He also served in senior marketing and operations positions at BNSF before assuming the CEO role in 2000.
Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General has released its biannual “management challenges”* report, “highlighting eight areas in which the company may face [problems] in fiscal years 2019 and 2020.”
RailPros has elevated Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ken Koff to Chief Executive Officer. Koff succeeds company founder and CEO Johnny Johnson, who moves to Executive Chairman.