The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has given the go-ahead for Revenue Service Demonstration (RSD) of North County Transit District’s (NCTD) Positive Train Control (PTC) implementation project, managed by by Herzog Technologies, Inc. (HTI).
Ron Zullig has joined railroad engineering and field support firm RailPros Field Services (RPFS) as Manager of Communications and Signals, a new position. He will oversee the RPFS Signal Department, and provide expansion of signal inspection, maintenance, training, cutover and testing services.
John Daza, P.E., P.M.P., has joined HNTB Corp. as Senior Project Manager-Rail and Associate Vice President. Based in the firm’s New York City office, his responsibilities include serving as a key point of client contact, and managing rail transit project implementation, including staffing, quality control and budgets.
Interbrand Canada, the Canadian division of global consulting firm The Brand Consultancy, has named CN “one of the 150 companies, organizations and institutions that are the most iconic in Canada.” CN’s selection is part of “The Interbrand 150: Iconic Canadian Brands Report: Our Time to Grow, which “showcases the influence and impact of Canadian brands in honor of Canada 150.”
Harsco Rail Ltd., the British operation of Harsco Rail (Harsco Corp.’s railway track maintenance division) on June 29 received an order from Network Rail for seven Stoneblower track geometry machines. Network Rail owns and manages Britain’s main line railway infrastructure.
Unnamed sources inside Bombardier and Siemens AG have told the Montreal Gazette that the two companies are considering various joint ventures as part of the planned merger of their respective railway divisions.
On the final day of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Genius Transit Challenge Conference, and two days after an unsecured segment of replacement rail apparently caused a New York City Transit subway train to derail in Harlem, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an edict to the MTA to focus on “transformational change” for the city’s rapid transit network, the first segment of which opened in 1904.
San Bernardino-area transit provider Omnitrans has named railroad operating veteran Trischelle Baysden as director of its new passenger rail department, which in 2020 is expected to launch the nine-mile Arrow line connecting with Redlands.
The Federal Railroad Administration has named public relations practitioner Heath Hall as Deputy Federal Railroad Administrator, a post that does not require Senate confirmation. Hall will serve as Acting Administrator and is known to USDOT Secretary Elaine Chao from her days with the Deputy DOT Secretary’s office and the Peace Corps.
Brightline, Florida’s soon-to-open higher-speed passenger rail service, conducted a training seminar for first responders from Broward and Palm Beach counties at Workshop b, the rail operator’s maintenance facility, in West Palm Beach on June 24.
