For NYCT
New York City Transit broke new ground in North American rapid transit when it procured a radio-frequency-based Communications-Based Train Control system on the Canarsie “L” line. The innovation apparently hasn’t stopped with
news
High-riding CSX rewards its shareholders
CSX Corp., a Wall Street favorite because of its high earnings and low operating ratio, announced moves today that are likely to strengthen its appeal to investors. CSX announced that its directors have approved a 3-for-1 stock split, a 38% increase in the quarterly dividend on its common stock, and a $2 billion share buyback program.
Bills would freeze truck size, weight limits
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) have introduced House and Senate versions of the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act, which would freeze national truck size and weight limits on the interstate highway system. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-V.A.) is the lead co-sponsor of H.R. 1574.
CN’s scheduled potash trains cut car cycle times
Canadian National customers continue to reap benefits from the railroad’s system-wide productivity push. Scheduled potash rains provide the latest evidence.
Calgary picks Telvent fare collection system
The City of Calgary has selected Telvent to provide a contactless smart card based fare collection system for Calgary Transit’s light rail and bus system, which serves more than 94 million passengers
Rail-related fatalities up 18.5% in two months
Fatalities caused by grade crossing collisions and trespassing are making U.S. railroads look far less safe than they are.
EPA: 37,000 new freight cars this year
The “explosion of orders in this year’s first quarter” has led Economic Planning Associates to increase its projection of freight car deliveries this year from 22,000 to a “conservative” 37,000. EPA expects
Inspection and planning: Keys to NEC maintenance
Amtrak runs North America’s only existing high speed rail corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C. Maintaining the more than 450 miles along the Northeast Corridor presents its share of challenges in the form of time coordination, machine productivity, and long-lasting, quality maintenance.
NREC 2GS-37C DE
National Railway Equipment Company’s new, six-axle 2GS-37C DE N-ViroMotive utilizes existing SD40-2 main frames, rebuilt trucks with D87B traction motors (70:17 gear ratio), and twin gensets equipped with 1,850-hp Cummins QSK50 ULEL certified diesel engines.
What shippers want—what railroads demand
Pricing concessions vs. pricing freedom: A battle is won, but the threat lingers.
Asymmetric wheel flange wear: A new twist
TTCI seeks a remedy for uneven flange profiles.
“A story with no end in sight”
Senior Consulting Editor Luther Miller aptly describes a sometimes-adversarial relationship that is at least partially fueled by the success of our freight railroads, which are without a doubt the best in the world. The testy relationship involves the railroads and a small but vocal group of customers that seek to re-regulate them.
Railcar operating lease market heats up
Recently I fielded a call from the president of a regional railroad who is an old friend. He had some boxcars on his railroad that he was leasing from one of the major operating lessors. The cars were up for renewal and when he received the lessor’s rental quote, he went into sticker shock. He was calling me to get my view on the rents he was quoted to see if the market rates had, indeed, risen to the heights he was quoted.
How motive power boosts productivity
Railroads have made powerful strides in efficiency with the diesel-electric, and more are on the way. Here’s what the experts see. Of all the technological advances that have occurred in the railroad industry in the past half-century or so, maintenance-of-way mechanization is the one most closely associated with major productivity gains.
Big spending’s big payoff
Prudent and persistent capital investment has positioned Union Pacific for a robust recovery. For a railroad the size of Union Pacific, planning and spending multibillion-dollar capital budgets is an exercise in prudence, precision, and vision.
What impact on Class II and III?
Although the Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2008 was written primarily for the Class I’s, many of the short line and regional railroads that touch roughly one out of every five carloads the Class I’s handle will have to deal with this mostly unfunded mandate.
SkyTrain is not the limit
Vancouver’s TransLink incentive to expand, and market, rail and transit options. The momentum is likely to continue. TransLink, part of British Columbia Rapid Transit Co., by almost all accounts performed admirably during the 2010 Winter Olympics, held Feb. 12-28 in Vancouver, British Columbia,
Ground broken for NS Memphis intermodal site
Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam joined state and local dignitaries and business and community leaders Friday at the groundbreaking for the new Memphis Regional Intermodal Facility in
Builders
The feast-or-famine pattern of freight car orders has made a sharp turn inthe builders’ favor. The American Railway Car Institute released figuresThursday showing that the manufacturers’ backlog of cars on order andundelivered
Kinkisharyo hybrid LRT displayed in Dallas
Kinkisharyo International, LLC put its electro-hybrid ameriTRAM streetcar on display in Dallas Friday, continuing its national promotion of the streetcar designed for U.S. urban needs in a city already pursuing several streetcar