The Railway Association of Canada (RAC) on Aug. 8 announced the winners of its annual Safety Awards, which recognize RAC member-companies’ initiatives “that help to ensure our country’s rail network remains among the safest in the world.” Canadian Pacific, VIA Rail, Cando Rail Services and Genesee & Wyoming received awards for their “outstanding safety leadership” in 2018. Winners will receive their awards at an RAC ceremony in November.
The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. has entered the growing freight rail market in Turkey with a majority stake in railcar manufacturer Rayvag Vagon Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (Rayvag). Greenbrier believes there are growing opportunities for private operators to access freight rail in Turkey, as the country “offers a key rail transportation connection between Asia and Europe,” and “transcontinental rail shipments through Turkey create a need for European rail standards, favoring Greenbrier’s leadership in design and manufacturing.”
The National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel (NARTC) installed David A. Damico, of Pittsburgh-based Burns White LLC, as President during its annual conference on July 29 in Chicago.
New Jersey Transit, the nation’s third-largest public transportation agency, on Aug. 8 adopted a Fiscal Year 2019 budget consisting of $2.32 billion in operating expenditures and a $1.46 billion capital program. The budget, which NJT stressed does not include any fare increases, “supports continued investments in personnel, infrastructure and equipment to maintain the system in a state-of-good-repair and enhance the overall customer experience.”
BNSF Railway realized significant gains in operating income and revenue in this year’s second quarter and first half, attributable to volume increases in most commodities, tight truck capacity leading to highway-to-rail conversions, pricing and other factors.
The Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink) has named Kimberly Yu as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Yu has served as Deputy COO for Planning and Project Delivery since she joined Metrolink in September 2015.
Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Director of Rail Transit and PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) General Manager Michael Marino is scheduled to retire in January 2019 after a distinguished 45-year railroad industry career. The Port Authority has launched a nationwide executive search for a replacement.
CSX has implemented a new operating management structure that “decentralizes operational and support functions,” are “designed to enhance safety, improve service, accelerate decision-making and drive operating efficiency,” and are “a continuation of the company’s scheduled railroading transformation.”
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have each passed versions of a U.S. Department of Transportation 2019 appropriations bill that would impose a one-year ban on new procurements of transit railcars or buses from companies owned or subsidized by the Chinese government (namely, CRRC, China Railway Rolling Stock Corp.), if the procurement uses any Federal Transit Administration formula or bus funding, according to an Aug. 1 Eno Center for Transportation report written by Jeff Davis, Senior Fellow and Editor of Eno Transportation Weekly.
After 15 years with the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), Executive Director Jack Stephens will retire at the expiration of his contract on Dec. 31, 2018. The executive placement firm KL2 Connect has been retained to conduct a national search to work with the SFRTA Governing Board to identify Stephens’ successor.