A new train crew management and payroll system under development by PS Technology and Norfolk Southern is expected to “boost operating efficiency, lower costs and increase productivity, supporting goals of NS’s strategic plan to improve corporate performance.”
Freight car deliveries will remain relatively flat over the next two years at 42,500 units annually but will enter an up-cycle, according to the most recent quarterly report issued by Economic Planning Associates.
Canadian Pacific and K+S Potash Canada (KSPC) on May 2, officially opened the Bethune (Legacy) Project potash mine site, the first of its kind built in Saskatchewan in more than 40 years, and in terms of rail infrastructure, “the most significant engineering project undertaken by CP since the mid-1980s,” the railroad said.
The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (IHB) is partnering with OptiFuel Systems LLC and R.J. Corman Railpower Locomotives LLC to convert its entire locomotive fleet to compressed natural gas (CNG).
Norfolk Southern Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Marta R. Stewart intends to retire effective Aug. 1, 2017, after a 34-year career.
The Railway Supply Institute American Railway Car Institute Committee published its railcar industry order, delivery and backlog statistics for 1Q17 on April 25. Orders in the quarter declined sequentially to 4,814 cars from 4,866 cars in 4Q16. The industry delivered 10,042 railcars in the quarter, following last quarter’s delivery figure of 14,914 railcars. The backlog now stands at 60,471 railcars, down 9.3% from the prior quarter’s level of 66,681 cars.
The Trump Administration on April 26 released a proposed overhaul of the federal income tax system that promises to simplify the tax structure as well as reduce the rate at which large corporations are taxed to 15%.
CN has renamed its national employee training center in Winnipeg after former President and CEO Claude Mongeau.
Carlos Rojas, who is expected to become Chief of Police for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) within the next two months, will have his work cut out for him. He will be dealing with what appears to be an emerging crime problem: Old West-style ambush train robberies.
Wabtec Corp., in reporting results for 2017’s first quarter, noted that higher Transit Group sales offset lower Freight Group figures. The company also affirmed financial guidance for 2017.