Two experienced railroad professionals—Sarah Yurasko and Eileen Reilly—have joined the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) in legal and technology consulting roles, respectively. Yurasko is the Association’s new General Counsel, replacing Keith Borman, who retired after 15 years. Reilly’s company, Global Train Services LLC, has signed on as a consultant for Positive Train Control services.
Wabtec Corp. has acquired RELCO Locomotives for $29 million, on a cash- and debt-free basis. All conditions for the acquisition are complete and the transaction will be accretive in year one. RELCO’s projected sales for 2019 are roughly $50 million.
INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY JOURNAL, JANUARY 2020 ISSUE: A stagnant North America freight market is set to continue in 2020. However, technological advances and potential growth in intermodal and heavy-haul offer Class I railroads room for optimism.
The 57th annual recipient of Railway Age’s Railroader of the Year Award is Kansas City Southern President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick J. Ottensmeyer, a leader in positioning North American railroads as a critical part of the globally competitive, integrated supply chain. In this interview with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono, Ottensmeyer talks about his efforts on behalf of the North American rail industry to support mutually beneficial trade and robust economic growth to help ensure that the rail industry has a voice, working with public- and private-sector leaders to strengthen bilateral commercial ties.
The following is a fictional account written in the Year 2000 predicting what train dispatching might or could have been like 20 years later. It was published as a sidebar in the Federal Railroad Administration’s “Five-Year Strategic Plan for Railroad Research, Development, and Demonstrations,” March 2002. I was, in retrospect, excessively optimistic about how train dispatching would change over two decades. Perhaps the title of the story should be changed to “2050 Dispatching”?
Union Pacific recently completed Positive Train Control (PTC) implementation, activating its final track segment. The technology is now implemented on all the company’s federally mandated rail lines, including required passenger train routes. Union Pacific will continue working with partner railroads on their interoperability efforts, ensuring seamless operation onto the company’s tracks.
Wabtec Corp. recently inaugurated its Wabtec India Engineering and Technology Center (WITEC) in Bengaluru, which is aimed at supporting growth and innovation.
Siemens USA has named Marsha Smith Chief Financial Officer, an expanded responsibility to her current role as CFO for Siemens Mobility North America, a position she has held since 2017. Her appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2020. Smith will succeed Heribert Stumpf, who will be retiring after 38 years with Siemens.
NJ Transit (NJT) has awarded the ARINC rail solutions team at Collins Aerospace Systems a three-year contract to replace its Train Management and Control (TMAC) and Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) Systems.
Wi-Tronix, LLC and Grupo Mexico Transportes (GMXT) continue to build a long-term partnership aimed at leveraging Wi-Tronix technologies to save fuel, improve productivity and enhance safety as part of Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR).