The Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) announced Jan. 14 that it has awarded the contract for professional, technical, and multidisciplinary services on the 24-kilometer (15-mile) Gatineau-Ottawa tramway project, which will link downtown Gatineau to Ottawa, to Groupe Porteur.
The approximately 100 onboard and lead attendants at Brightline, Florida’s private-sector passenger railroad, have voted to join Transport Workers Union of America (TWU).
California has withdrawn its pending waiver and authorization requests that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not yet acted on. In a win for railroads, this includes the In-Use Locomotive Regulation.
The National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC) on Jan. 14 announced that members of the International Association of Sheet, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers’ Mechanical and Engineering Department (SMART-MD) have voted to ratify a national collective bargaining agreement.
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) President announces his retirement from the agency. Also, Sound Transit (Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority) names first Chief Strategy Officer; Port of Los Angeles appoints new Chief Financial Officer; infrastructure firm HNTB Corporation hires National Practice Consultant to support its transportation practice; American Public Transportation Association (APTA) names General Counsel; and Railway Association of Canada (RAC) President and CEO is stepping down.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) will administer a $13.2 million federal grant to the town of Wake Forest to construct a “mobility hub” on the S-Line passenger rail corridor. Also, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) receives $11.6 million to expand service along the CTrail Hartford Line; and the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency is awarded $27 million to increase Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train service.
Two years ago, I released an article cautioning the freight rail industry to expect higher railcar prices and lease rates. At the following Rail Equipment Finance conference, the article was met with
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Duos Technologies Inc. a patent for the obliquevue® Oblique Vehicle Undercarriage Examiner. This is the railcar inspection technology supplier’s 11th granted patent; it has six pending applications.
The League of Railway Women (LRW) recently named Amtrak Corporate Secretary and Ethics Officer Eleanor “Eldie” D. Acheson the winner of its 2024 Railway Woman of the Year award, an annual award that “honors a woman who establishes a strong vision and a culture of continuous improvement and creativity, and brings excellence to her organization and community, all while supporting the personal and professional growth of others in the rail industry.”
The President-elect has created a non-government Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Their goal is to make a comprehensive review of the government and target wasteful
The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) on Jan. 13 announced that it has been awarded $1 million from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) Sustainability Management Plan (SMP).
Iowa Northern (IANR) railroaders have signed on with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED) of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union reported Jan. 13.
Will the High Frequency Rail (HFR) in Canada be delayed? Also, Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) receives the final funding needed to construct the Dos Rios Station; Brightline, Florida’s private-sector passenger railroad, will boost capacity between Miami and West Palm Beach; MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) reports the strongest year in its nearly 200-year history; and applications are now being accepted for Transit Tech Lab’s challenges with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANY/NJ), New Jersey Transit (NJT), and New York City Department of Transportation (DOT).
The RailPulse™ consortium is offering a “Grandfathering Incentive” for railcar owners/lessors that have already equipped their railcars with telematics from a current RailPulse™ certified vendor partners but have not yet joined the
The Toronto Transit Commission has set a 2025 operating budget of C$2.8 billion and a capital program of C$16.4 billion. TTC touted the program as freezing fares for the second straight year,
OmniTRAX, Inc. promotes Dallas Ramos to Vice President of Operations – Central Division. Also, former Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Administrator Nunia Fernandez receives the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) Frank Turner Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Transportation; and STV’s Alexis Williams is named President-Elect of the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) Philadelphia Chapter.
In recent weeks, we’ve been highlighting positive trends in some of the operating metrics, and this augurs well for 2025, particularly on a year-over-year basis in the first half. Some specifics: Yards
STV on Jan. 13 announced that it has a five-year task order contract by the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) to provide a range of consulting services related
Synergos Companies has closed on 28 acres of prime rail-served property at Texas Gonzales & Northern Railway (TXGN), a subsidiary of TNW Corp., for a Structural Building Material Operation. The project is
The Port of Benton in Washington state will fund improvements to its Southern Connection industrial rail line from Columbia Center Blvd. in Kennewick to Horn Rapids Road in Richland using a $9.56 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
