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.
Commentary

Hunter Harrison responds to Railway Age

CSX President and CEO E. Hunter Harrison, our two-time Railroader of the Year, reached out to me personally following publication of my blog, in this space, asking about the events at CSX since he took over the railroad. What I wrote was based solely on correspondence I received from various stakeholders. I promised Hunter that I would publish his response, unedited, and he could use as much space as needed:

RSI: Railcar backlog increases 10%

The Railway Supply Institute ARCI (American Railway Car Institute) Committee on July 25 published its railcar industry order, delivery and backlog statistics for second-quarter 2017. Orders in the quarter improved sequentially to 17,665 cars from 4,814 cars in the first quarter. Deliveries of 10,625 railcars increased 5.8% from 10,042 railcars. The backlog now stands at 66,561 railcars, up 10.1% from the prior quarter’s level of 60,471 cars, and the first sequential increase in the backlog since fourth-quarter 2014—11 quarters.

NS OR hits record low in 2Q 2017

Significant increases in net income and income from railway operations combined with a small increase in operating expenses compared to the prior-year quarter produced an all-time low operating ratio of 66.3% in Norfolk Southern’s 2017 second quarter.

NCTD PTC RSD under way

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has authorized initiation of Revenue Service Demonstration (RSD) operations for Positive Train Control (PTC) on North County Transit District (NCTD) Coaster trains, including revenue (passenger-carrying) trains, on the San Diego subdivision.

Commentary

What’s going on at CSX?

Hunter Harrison, what exactly is going on at CSX? I’m hearing lots of voices. They’ve become loud and frequent and as such are nearly impossible to ignore. They’re the voices of railroaders, from the executive to the train and engine service level. They’re former and present CSX employees. They’re people who have worked for you at other railroads. And they’re all saying basically the same thing: That the changes you are making at CSX aren’t the right thing to do, or aren’t working.

WSP USA taps Bonina, Cox

WSP USA, the company formerly called Parsons Brinckerhoff, has named two rail transit industry veterans to executive positions. Stephen Bonina, P.E., joins as Vice President and Eastern Region Fleet Manager for WSP’s TEC (Transit & Rail Technical Excellence Center), Newark, N.J. Kevin Cox, P.E., rejoins the company as a Vice President providing management and technical support for transit and rail projects throughout the U.S., also in Newark.

Rio Tinto going driverless Down Under

Global mining conglomerate Rio Tinto says AutoHaul®—the US$518 million automation of its Western Australia Pilbara iron ore heavy-haul rail network—is progressing well, with about 20% of all train-miles now operating in autonomous mode, albeit with on board locomotive engineers managing certain safety and reliability systems.