The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) issues a request for information (RFI) to gather views on plans to replace its existing Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contract and considers increasing service on the Fairmount Line with a new fleet of electric battery-powered trains. Also, Brightline cuts its 2024 ridership forecast; and NC By Train ridership continues to grow.
The Port of Long Beach (POLB) and the Port of Los Angeles report an increase of trade in February.
The Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) on March 18 issued a Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) for CSX Transportation’s (CSXT) request to acquire and operate the assets comprising the rail line of Genesee & Wyoming-owned Class III Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, L.L.C. (MNBR) that runs approximately 93.7 miles between Burkville and Myrtlewood, Ala., and Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s (CPKC) request to acquire from MNBR and to operate approximately 50.4 miles of rail line between Meridian, Miss., and Myrtlewood, Ala.
Union Pacific made history on Jan. 6, 2024, when we became the first Class I railroad to modernize the “big three” core operating platforms: Positive Train Control (PTC), Computer-Aided Dispatch (CADx) and Transportation Management (NetControl).
FreightCar America (FCA) delivered solid results for fourth-quarter 2023 with gross profit up 62% on significant year-over-year margin expansion, President and CEO Jim Meyer said during a March 18 earnings report, also announcing that Chief Operating Officer Nick Randall, effective May 1, 2024, will succeed Meyer as President and CEO and become a member of the company’s Board of Directors.
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) will fully retire its legacy trains next month and is advancing a systemwide fare gates project. Also, Denver (Colo.) Regional Transportation District (RTD) launches an elevator pilot program and joins the White House’s “Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose” initiative; Chicago’s Metra plans a new layover yard near the McHenry County community; and Seattle’s Sound Transit will test new Link LRV (light rail vehicle) seat material.
Norfolk Southern (NS) hires new corporate communications and compliance leaders. Also, Trifleet Leasing Holding B.V. (Trifleet), a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago-based GATX Corporation, promotes a veteran employee to Managing Director.
CSX will use a $5 million grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to support equipment upgrades, track work, and paving the dirt and gravel yard at its Detroit Livernois Intermodal Facility in southwest Detroit.
CSX donates $10,000 to the Red Cross for storm relief efforts. Also, CN and Union Pacific (UP) are recognized by CDP as 2023 Supplier Engagement Leaders; CN sends a “supply chain salute” to MacroSource, LLC for their new facility in Memphis, Tenn.; and Norfolk Southern (NS) honors customer sustainability achievements.
One of the first stadiums purpose-built for a women’s professional sports team opened March 16 under the banner of Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), which last fall reported signing a 10-year naming rights agreement with the National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) Kansas City (KC) Current.
Transport Canada on March 15 announced an investment of up to C$6.7 million for two projects at the Port of Thunder Bay through the National Trade Corridors Fund.
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on March 14 announced that it has denied a motion for protective order filed by Union Pacific (UP) to keep certain required, temporary employment data reporting confidential. STB also directs UP to submit public versions of previously submitted data.
The bearing related derailment that occurred in East Palestine Feb. 3, 2023 on a Norfolk Southern line was tragic in many ways. Following months of investigation, the NTSB held a hearing on
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Board approves a $243 million capital budget for transit improvements. Also, the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) new video series addresses rider questions; Tri-Rail’s ridership recovers; the Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) invites applicants for Red Line Community Advisory Team (CAT); and AECOM publishes a new high-speed rail report.
LeAnna Gutierrez Cumber has joined rail and heavy/highway contractor Herzog as Chief Strategy Officer. She will work to expand the St. Joseph, Mo.-based company’s capabilities and reach, including helping customers obtain project financing.
The Smokehouse Creek wildfire in Texas, which severed BNSF’s Transcon route on February 27, was the latest in a series of problems that have significantly slowed BNSF’s network and impacted service. After
Wichita, Kans.-based Great Plains Transportation Museum is now selling lithograph and canvas giclee prints of John Winfield’s “Warbonnet Renaissance” to aid in its effort to cosmetically restore Santa Fe Railway diesel-electric locomotive No. 93, which
Three entities will share $900,000 in Interstate Rail Compacts (IRC) Grant Program funding from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to help improve and expand passenger rail networks in the Midwest, South and Southeast.
We spent a day in two Ohio cities with GATX CFO Tom Ellman and Head of Investor Relations Shari Hellerman. Takeaways include: continued strength in North America railcar leasing; growth in India, where GATX constitutes substantially all the private-sector railcar leasing landscape; Europe growth; and a commitment to investing in long-lived, service-intensive assets, an investment grade, and returning excess cash.
President Joe Biden on March 14 announced his intention to nominate Jennifer Lynn Homendy for Chair and Member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
