One day prior to a hearing before the Surface Transportation Board on its recent service problems, CSX on Oct. 10 posted its weekly metrics report to the STB on its website. The report, CSX said, shows that “network performance has recovered and is continuing to improve.”
TransCanada Corp’s recent decision to abandon its $12 billion plan to build the Energy East pipeline, combined with delays to other export pipeline projects, may create a resurgence in crude by rail (CBR) from Canada, according to a report from Reuters.
COVER STORY, RAILWAY AGE, OCTOBER 2017: After “a very ragged 90 days,” CSX seems to be settling down as its CEO gives his Precision Scheduled Railroading one more go.
The second Bombardier Flexity Freedom LRV for the completed yet not-yet-operating Kitchener-Waterloo LRT in Ontario, Canada, was delivered to the Dutton Road storage and maintenance facility during the week of Oct. 2, 2017.
Siemens has made a “significant strategic equity investment” in Wi-Tronix, a supplier of remote monitoring, video analytics, and predictive diagnostic systems for rail rolling stock and infrastructure and other industrial markets. The investment is equivalent to a minority interest in Wi-Tronix, which will continue to conduct business as a standalone, founder-led company out of its Bolingbrook, Ill., headquarters. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Amtrak’s Avelia Liberty, the Alstom-built integrated high-speed trainset that will replace the equipment currently used to provide Amtrak’s premium Acela Express service on the Northeast Corridor, will be significantly different in design and livery that its predecessor. The trainset sports four exterior colors: white and blue, with red accents and gray power car noses.
Approximately one week before the Oct. 11 Surface Transportation Board hearing (curiously called a “public listening session” by the STB) on CSX service issues, the railroad is pointing to extended “positive trends” as President and CEO Hunter Harrison’s Precision Scheduled Railroading is implemented.
Texas Central Partners LLC, developers of a proposed high-speed passenger rail line between North Texas and Houston, has contracted with WSP USA for pre-construction engineering support, focusing on engineering, cost estimating and scheduling.
President Donald J. Trump has named former Republican Congressman Leon Acton “Lynn” Westmoreland of Georgia—who as a member of Congress voted at least twice to defund Amtrak—to the Amtrak Board of Directors for a five-year term.
Edward Brandis has joined LILEE Systems, a provider of smart connectivity solutions for the transportation industry, as Business Development Manager, Transit. He will focus on “increasing awareness within the North American public transportation sector and bridging the gaps between the demands of the industry and LILEE’s technology-based solutions for smart connectivity,” the company said.