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.

Cowen: Railcars “robust,” locos “rebounding”

Inquiries and orders for new railcars remain robust, with strength in tank cars, intermodal equipment, box cars and steel gondolas, and the locomotive new-build market appears set for a gradual rebound, report Cowen and Co. Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl, and Cowen Vice President Matt Elkott from the firm’s annual Transportation Conference. “This reinforces our confidence in our 3Q18 forecast of 20,500 units in industry orders,” they said. CBR (crude by rail) could enjoy relative strength through 2022. We continue to favor Wabtec, Trinity, Greenbrier, and ARI.”

Miner and TTX: 27 years of Excellence

Miner Enterprises, Inc., has earned the Supplier Evaluation Committee Award (SECO) from TTX Company for the 27th year in a row, achieving Supplier Excellence status each year since the program’s inception.

Commentary

TWU’s “crappy boxed lunch,” a PTC paper tiger—and silence

I don’t need to write much about how the Transport Worker’s Union looks upon Amtrak President and CEO Richard Anderson’s purported quest to eliminate dining car service and dismantle the long-distance train national network. The poster below says it all. It’s funny, to be sure, but for thousands of Amtrak customers, the meaning behind it is sad and dehumanizing.

Amtrak selects PSSA recipients

Amtrak on Sept. 6 announced the recipients of its President’s Service and Safety Awards (PSSA), described as “the highest recognition given to Amtrak employees.” The awards were recently distributed to more than 50 employees during a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

What’s inside dome car number two?

Stadler Pankow GmbH’s second double-deck dome car for Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer luxury tourist train is on its way to Kamloops, B.C., crossing the Atlantic Ocean and making its way to the West Coast through the Panama Canal and the Pacific Ocean.

CSX overhauling intermodal; UP customers affected

The peak season for intermodal traffic is fast approaching, and CSX in late July announced numerous changes to interline service, in particular, those affecting Union Pacific customers with eastbound shipments. The changes are in effect as of Sept. 17, 2018.

KCS, for the long haul (and Christmas, too)

Kansas City Southern’s 2017 sustainability report, “For the Long Haul: Delivering Prosperity, Valuing People, Protecting the Planet,” was created “to clearly communicate why our sustainability priorities are important to our business,” according to President and CEO Patrick J. Ottensmeyer.

  • News

‘A Train’ arrives at LTK

LTK Engineering Services has added Sarah Wineman and Brian Leibowitz, previously president and vice president, respectively, of A Train Enterprises, an engineering services company they operated for the past 19 years, to its San Francisco staff.

  • News

Brightline: On to Phase 2?

The Florida Development Finance Corp. (FDFC) has approved Brightline’s request to act as a conduit for the issuance of $1.75 billion in Private Activity Bonds to finance construction of rail infrastructure in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Brevard and Orange counties for Phase 2 of the higher-speed passenger rail system.

  • News

MTS receives first new Siemens LRV

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has received the first of 45 new S70 low-floor light rail vehicles from Siemens for the San Diego Trolley as part of an order placed in 2016. The remaining 44 LRVs are scheduled for delivery over the next two years.