ARMS to represent Transtector, PolyPhasor
Automated Railroad Maintenance Systems has signed an agreement with Transtector and PolyPhasor to become their North American rail industry distributor.
news
GE Transportation cuts, furloughs workers
General Electric Co. Wednesday said it will cut 350 jobs, and furlough 1,200 employees, at GE Transportation due to the economic climate, affecting roughly 14% of the 11,400 workers in the subsidiary. About 150 salaried workers and 250 hourly workers will be let go.
MidAmerica Corridor under way
The MidAmerica Corridor, a new trackage rights agreement between CN and Norfolk Southern, is designed to establish shorter, faster routes for merchandise and coal traffic moving between the Midwest and Southeast.
Riverso named president of STV
Milo E. Riverso, Ph.D., P.E., has been named president of STV, Inc., with the company’s four operating divisions—Buildings and Facilities, Construction Management, Emerging Markets, and Transportation and Infrastructure—reporting to Riverso.
Acquisitions boost Genesee & Wyoming January traffic
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. Tuesday said its January traffic was up 12.2% compared with the comparable month of2008. The increase was attributable in large measure to GWI’s rail acquisitions made during 2008, including CAGY Industries, Inc., the Georgia Southwestern Railroad, and the Ohio Central Railroad System.
Metro-North notches 2008 ridership records
While casting a wary eye on potential customer declines for 2009, Metro-North Railroad has reported anew record of 84 million rides in 2008, its 25th year of operations.Ridership in 2008 was up 3.9% compared with 2007 figures, and includescustomers using the railroad’s connecting ferry and bus services, mostly inWestchester County, N.Y.
GWI 4Q profit rises, but misses target
Greenwich, Conn.-based Genesee & Wyoming Inc. Wednesday reported an 81% increase in fourth-quarter profit compared with the comparable quarter in 2007, helped by higher revenue and an income-tax benefit which boosted earnings per share by about 30 cents. Earnings rose to $25.3 million, or 70 cents per share, from $13.9 million, or 39 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue rose almost 11% to $149.2 million.
Graham-White acquires The Vista Corp.
Graham-White Mfg. Co. says it has acquired The Vista Corp., based in Roanoake, Va., a remanufacturing facility for severe-duty locomotive engines.
GO Transit orders locomotives from MotivePower
Wabtec Corp. says its MotivePower subsidiary has been awarded an $85 million option order to build an additional 20 MPXpress locomotives for GO Transit. The contract follows an original order for 27 locomotives, already delivered.
Hill International to manage LACMTA Gold Line work
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has chosen Hill International to manage the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority, an LACMTA affiliate overseeing the design and construction of the $458 million, 11.4-mile extension of Gold Line light rail service from Pasadena to Azusa, Calif.
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NJ Transit sets sights on more EMUs
After investing heavily in Bombardier multilevel cars to augment its fleet, New Jersey Transit now says it’s ready to acquire electric multiple-unit (EMU) equipment to supplement its existing fleet of Arrow III
Video: Matt Rose interview
Editor William C. Vantuono’s interview with Railroader of the year, Matt Rose, sponsored by Western-Cullen-Hayes and Plasser American
Analyst: “Glimmer of hope” for rail traffic
Dahlman Rose & Co. Director Equity Research and Railway Age Contributing Editor Jason Seidl sees “as a glimmer of hope in an otherwise weak rail environment” as some traffic sectors are beginning to show signs of recovery.
Rail/truck partnership marks 20 years
The intermodal partnership that began with a simple handshake between railroader Mike Haverty and trucker J.B. Hunt marked its 20th anniversary yesterday.
EPA: Next two years will be “difficult”
Economic Planning Associates sees 2009 and 2010 as “difficult” years for the freight railcar industry, based on the economic and financial environments as well as EPA’s analyses of customer market activities.
Commentary
From the Editor: The battle lines are drawn—again
By William C. Vantuono, Editor February 2009 Twenty-nine years after the Staggers Rail Act freed the railroads from the shackles of excessive regulation and sparked a renaissance, the specter of re-regulation is
STB revises cost of capital methodology
The Surface Transportation Board has issued a final decision on its method for calculating the railroad industry’s cost of capital. STB has adopted a simple average of a Capital Asset Pricing model (CAPM) and a multi-stage Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model to calculate the cost of equity, which is one component of the cost of capital. STB said this methodology “will yield a more precise determination than relying on CAPM alone.”
Short Line and Regional Perspective: It never ends, does it?