Waste is a greener thing to mind with KLW

The New York & Atlantic Railway (NY&A), Waste Management of New York (WMNY) and the New York City Department of Sanitation have joined forces on a Locomotive Repower Project to redesign and repower a diesel-electric freight locomotive with state-of-the-art low-emissions diesel technologies supplied by KLW (Knoxville Locomotive Works). The U.S. EPA, through the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program, as authorized by the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA), is funding this project.

Commentary

It’s official: GE booting Transportation. (Meanwhile, the stock swoons)

Monday the 13th at General Electric: The 125-year-old corporation, among the world’s oldest, announced a massive, aggressive downsizing and restructuring, a reduced dividend, and an in-the-works divestiture of its storied Transportation division, one of the world’s largest, most successful builders of railway locomotives.

Kan moves ahead, Batory still stalled

The United States Senate has advanced President Trump’s pick for the number-three post at the Department of Transportation, squashing protests from three of the four Democrats representing New York and New Jersey, who want the Administration to commit to the federal share of the multi-billion-dollar Northeast Corridor Gateway Program. However, the number-one spot at the Federal Railroad Administration remains trapped in a contentious game of political maneuvering.

Policing California’s high-speed rail

Editor’s note: Ryan Shackleford is a law enforcement Captain with the California Highway Patrol. In 2015, he completed an 18-month program called Command College. To graduate, Shackleford was required to produce a written body of work on an emerging issue that he studied during development of a Futures Portfolio. His topic was on California’s under-construction high-speed rail system and terrorism safety concerns. This article has been edited for Railway Age:

Commentary

Guest Blog: Amtrak—another accident waiting to happen?

Editor’s note: Joe McMahon is a retired Amtrak locomotive engineer. His career in engine service spanned 1963 to 2014, beginning with the New York, New Haven & Hartford and concluding with Amtrak in 2014. McMahon says he “experienced many different forms of railroad management techniques at five railroads, and Amtrak is at the bottom of the list.” Following is his opinion on Amtrak’s hiring and training practices, which he describes as unsafe.

3Q railcar market “relatively stable”

In spite of a slowing in the movements of major commodities, demand for railcars was relatively stable in this year’s third quarter, according to the most recent report issued by Economic Planning Associates (EPA).

CSX collapses Howard Street Tunnel improvement project

CSX on Nov. 1 announced that it is cancelling its share of a long-planned P3 (public-private partnership) to rebuild and expand Howard Street Tunnel, a 122-year-old structure under downtown Baltimore originally built by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The project, of which CSX’s share was $145 million, would have cleared the tunnel for double-stack intermodal trains serving the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore, which has experienced an increase in container traffic since opening of the expanded Panama Canal in 2016.

GMS grows managed fleet to 355,000

The Greenbrier Companies subsidiary Greenbrier Management Services LLC (GMS) has expanded its railcar fleet under management by approximately 85,000 units to 355,000 since Aug. 31, 2016, an increase of more than 30% in this period. GMS now provides management services for more than 20% of the total North American railcar fleet, the company said on Nov. 1.

For NS, long strides in stewardship

Norfolk Southern’s 10th annual corporate sustainability report, Strides in Stewardship, demonstrates how the railroad is making progress in the three areas of CSR (corporate social responsibility): Planet (environmental performance), Prosperity (economic performance) and People (social performance).

Passenger rail returns to Roanoke

Thirty-eight years after the last passenger train departed Roanoke, Va., Amtrak has restored service to this historic and culturally significant city of just over 300,000 nestled in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, extending Northeast Regional service south from Lynchburg. This marks the fourth expansion of Amtrak service in the Commonwealth of Virginia since 2009, following new or additional service to Lynchburg, Richmond, and Norfolk.

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