In October 2010 Fifth Third Bank did what we wish every bank would do: It hired a rail finance veteran to head its Surface Transportation Division. Rob Hart is a veteran of the Illinois Central, where he was involved in equipment planning, capital budgets, and corporate finance, and was ultimately named Treasurer.
$7 billion is available for Class II and Class III railroads.
Ever since Warren Buffett gave his blessing to railroads by buying one, financial analysts and pundits have been examining this 175-year-old industry for clues to its re-emergence as a savvy investor’s favorite.
Rail shipper and carrier executives convened in San Francisco recently for the annual North American Rail Shippers Association meeting. Despite the anti-rail rhetoric of a minority of rail customers—who were for the most part absent—the meeting had the atmosphere of a reunion of old friends.
Coal has always been extremely important to the rail industry, as highlighted by its well-earned moniker “King Coal.” Indeed, the marriage between coal and the railroads was a natural one, with railroads being the best at bulk land shipping and coal being a widely abundant natural resource.
A Railway Age editorial I posted on line last in June 2011 about the most recent legislative attempt to break up Amtrak and privatize the pieces drew a 99% favorable response. Here’s an excerpt:
How Union Pacific achieved a record 8.6-day car cycle time. For many years, freight car shortages plagued the railroad industry.
Most global passenger rail suppliers accept a basic schism in their marketplace: Europe and most of Asia seek passenger designs based on crash avoidance. U.S. counterparts had to meet crash survivability priorities.
The economic downturn brought a great deal of hardship to carriers across the supply chain. Many shippers took the opportunity to re-bid their trucking contracts out of cycle, placing even more pressure on companies in the trucking sector.
Ongoing fiscal distress continues to roil New York’s subway operations, but system expansion literally is on a full bore. What does North America’s largest rapid transit property do for an encore? Get larger. After two decades of stagnation, New York City’s famed (and oft-maligned) subway system is adding underground mileage again.
NYC official: Newark Airport rail access is good for New York and the region! It’s unlikely that New York City Transit will ever operate subway trains to or from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
Representatives from CSX and New York State Thursday unveiled the state’s second ultra-low emission GenSet locomotive at an event at CSX’s Selkirk Yard. Jointly funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
U.S. freight carload traffic fell 0.2% in the week ending June 25, 2011, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday. Counterbalancing that, U.S. intermodal volume rose 3.3% measured against the comparable week
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Wednesday announced that transit providers will be able to compete for a share of $101.4 million in federal funding by proposing innovative projects that create “green” jobs, promote
Wabtec Corp. says it has acquired a transit aftermarket parts business from Erie, Pa.-based GE Transportation, which provides parts for propulsion and control systems for the passenger transit car aftermarket in North
Amtrak’s planned purchase of 70 Cities Sprinter ACS-64 locomotives from Siemens Mobility, initiated last October, got a boost Wednesday from the Department of Transportation, in the form of a $562.9 million loan.
Streetcars in the nation’s capital won’t return until late 2013, one year later than the most recent target date, according to the District Department of Transportation. Washington, D.C. is proceeding with two
American Trucking Associations (ATA) Chief Economist Bob Costello says tuck tonnage has encountered a "slow patch." He said ATA’s seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.3% in May after declining 0.6%
A United Transportation conductor died and another wasinjured in a fiery grade crossing collision at Fallon, Nev., last Friday thatalso took the lives of five other people. The story behind that story is toldin a tribute posted Wednesday on the union’s website, www.utu.org. Someexcerpts:
Parsons Brinckerhoff said Wednesday it has been awarded a contract by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to develop and document a transit asset management framework and implementation guide that will support the
