Kawasaki Rail Car USA, Inc. is currently assembling the prototype trainset of the Washington Area Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) new 7000 Series Metrorail rapid transit cars in Kobe, Japan.
Part of a high speed rail line ongoing operations testing collapsed in central China following heavy rains, state media reported Monday, renewing global concerns about the safety and efficiency of China’s HSR program. The railway line affected currently is due to open in May.
The American Public Transportation Association said Monday Americans took 10.4 billion trips on public transportation (bus and rail) in 2011, the second-highest annual figure since 1957. “Only ridership in 2008, when gas rose to more than $4 a gallon, surpassed last year’s ridership,” APTA said.
U.S. travelers may be hard-pressed to incorporate high speed rail into their domestic travels, but apparently have few problems adding Eurostar as a component for their itineraries abroad. Eurostar said Monday U.S. passenger numbers rose 21% during 2011, contributing to an unaudited net profit of 20.8 million euros ($27 million) during the entity’s first year as a standalone company.
Beleaguered by low ridership and an oft-criticized marketing effort, a public-private train for gamblers linking New York and Atlantic City was permanently canceled Friday.
Fairport, N.Y. based RailComm said Thursday it has provided a wireless remote control derail system at Amtrak’s Maintenance Facility in Hialeah, Fla., outside Miami.
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday suggested the House majority might consider the Senate version of a surface transportation bill, following the collapse of support (even among many Republicans) for the $260 billion House version.
Operation Lifesaver, Inc. noted in a report Wednesday that a preliminary report by the Federal Railroad Administration indicates that there was a reduction in highway-rail grade crossing collisions in 2011 but an increase in fatalities.
U.S. freight carload traffic fell significantly for the week ending March 3, 2012, down 6.2%, measured against the comparable week in 2011, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday. Offsetting that decline, U.S. intermodal volume rose 6.0% for the same week compared with last year.
Wabtec Corp. will supply components for 130 new Amtrak passenger cars being built CAF USA, Inc. a railcar builder with manufacturing facilities in New York state. The cars are scheduled for delivery in 2013-14. Amtrak has an option to purchase an additional 70 cars from CAF.
The Port of Stockton, Calif., said late Tuesday that, in a public-private partnership with Union Pacific Railroad and Metropolitan Stevedore Co., it has completed a project to add 5,828 feet of track to the East Port interchange Tracks.
Railway Age magazine has named Vermont Railway the 2012 Short Line Railroad of the Year, and the Indiana Rail Road Co. its 2012 Regional Railroad of the Year. The awards will be presented at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s annual meeting in Indianapolis, Ind., Tuesday evening, April 24, 2012.
Canadian Pacific will be moving additional Bakken crude oil by unit train from a planned industry logistics hub served by its North Dakota network. The Van Hook, N.D., facility, to be developed by U.S. Development Group (USD), will handle crude oil and related products from the Bakken formation and will have initial capacity of up to 35,000 barrels per day at eight automated truck unloading positions.
In a remarkable and continuing visible display of modal political strife, Toronto’s City Council Monday removed five allies of Mayor Rob Ford from the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), replacing them with new members likely to vote to reinstate a rail capital program largely driven by light rail transit.
Thales announced Tuesday that it has been awarded a contract from Hyundai Rotem for communications-based train control (CBTC) signaling on the Sin Bundang Line, linking Seongnam, South Korea, with Seoul, the capital.
The Seattle City Council Monday approved a $68 million contract to Stacy & Witbeck to oversee the First Hill streetcar project, expected to begin construction next month.
Camp Hill, Pa.-based Harsco Corp. late Monday announced new U.S. and international orders in its Harsco Rail track maintenance services, equipment, and parts business totaling more than $25 million.
Three Class I railroads—Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern and CSX—and Berkshire Hathaway, parent company of BNSF Railway, have been named by Fortune magazine as among the world’s “Most Admired Companies” in 2011. UP,
Madison, N.J.-based Maersk Line announced on Monday its new “Flagship import service direct from Asia to five key markets in North America—Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Memphis, and northwest Ohio”—in conjunction with Class I railroad BNSF Railway.
MTA New York City Transit says annual ridership on New York’s subway system continued advancing in 2011, up 2.3% from 2010. That translates into about 1.640 billion riders for the year; the exact annual figure was not released immediately by MTA. Annual ridership in 2010 was 1.604 billion, itself the second-highest amount since 1950.
