Cowen and Company’s Matt Elkott and Jason Seidl (Railway Age’s Wall Street Contributing Editor) spent a couple of days “on the road” in Portland and Seattle with Greenbrier Assistant Vice President Corporate Finance/Assistant Treasurer Justin Roberts. Following is their report.
RailWorks Corp. has appointed John Brohm, a 30-year veteran of the transit and rail supply industry, as Executive Vice president with responsibility for the Ontario operations of PNR RailWorks Inc., its Canadian subsidiary.
In reporting U.S. rail traffic volumes for the week ending Feb. 25, 2017 and the month of February 2017, the Association of American Railroads noted that coal rose 14% and 19.2%, respectively.
Thomas F. Prendergast, recently retired Chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Railway Age’s 2017 Railroader of the Year, has joined STV Inc. as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategic Officer.
TRAC Intermodal’s TRAC Select is premium chassis pool “fleeted with a wide array of specialty chassis and services to meet specific customer and marketplace needs . . . designed to provide equipment choice to motor carriers, Beneficial Cargo Owners and NVOCCs (non-vessel operating common carriers*).”
Balfour Beatty and Stadler U.S. Inc., the Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project’s principal contractors, have provided Caltrain with the flexibility needed to survive a deferred decision on a crucial federal grant imposed by the USDOT under pressure from California’s Republican delegation.
As we’ve been reporting and editorializing on for the past couple of weeks, Caltrain’s electrification project has been jeopardized by a delay of federal funding that is based on the state’s Republican delegation’s efforts to shut down the only-loosely connected high-speed rail program.
MTA Metro-North Railroad and Zipcar, a leading provider of vehicle sharing services, on Feb. 24 launched the Hudson Valley Car Share initiative at nine train stations in New York State’s Hudson Valley. Passengers “can conveniently take a Zipcar from the station and easily travel to tourist destinations and other locations throughout the region,” Metro-North said.
Semi-autonomous Level 3 trucks will be ubiquitous on America’s highways within 5-10 years; driverless Level 5 vehicles some time after that, according to Cowen and Company Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl. Cowen’s analysis by its various sector heads looks at potential impacts on the freight transportation industry, including railroads.
The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) has presented a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement to the New York City-based team of WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, STV and AECOM for developing the system-level design of Amtrak’s Gateway Project, which will improve rail access between New Jersey and Manhattan.