VIA Rail Canada strike looms
Union members of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) have approved tentative plans for strike against VIA Rail Canada, which could begin after midnight June 14, CAW officials said Tuesday, June 4, 2013.
news
Alaska Railroad begins extension project
Alaska Railroad has begun clearing right-of-way for a 32-mile, $88 million extension between Point MacKenzie and Houston, Alaska.
TriMet taps Siemens for regenerative power
Portland, Ore.’s TriMet has selected Siemens Mobility to install what is claimed to be the first regenerative “battery” for U.S. passenger rail service, the Sitras Energy Storage Unit, to be placed on the Milwaukie light rail line now under construction.
Seattle seeks to merge streetcar lines
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced plans Monday, June 3, 2013, to connect two separate streetcar lines with a link through the city’s downtown, dubbed the Center City Connector.
Alstom’s Citadis makes APTA splash
Alstom ceremonially debuted its Citadis Spirit light rail transit product Tuesday, June 4, 2013, to the North American market at the 2013 American Public Transportation Association Rail Conference in Philadelphia.
Union pickets Amtrak Board chairman’s law office
Amtrak Board Chairman Anthony Coscia’s New Brunswick, N.J., law office was targeted Tuesday morning, June 4, 2013, by the Passenger Rail Labor Bargaining Coalition (PRLBC), representing Amtrak employees who PRLBC says continue to work without a contract.
Metrolinx ponders electrified airport rail service
Metrolinx, the Greater Toronto Area’s regional planning agency, will hold a series of four open house events this month, commencing Tuesday, June 4, 2013, to revive plans of establishing electrified rail service linking Toronto’s Union Station with Lester B. Pearson International Airport.
Obituary: Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, 89
U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), an ardent passenger rail champion who first was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1982, died Monday, June 3, 2013, at the age of 89.
For EMD, a passenger rail rebirth
After an absence of 12 years, Electro-Motive Diesel Inc. (a subsidiary of the Progress Rail Services Corp. division of Caterpillar Inc.’s Rail Division) has reentered the passenger locomotive market.
Groundbreaking set for CSX Quebec site
A ceremonial groundbreaking will occur Monday, June 3, 2013, for a new CSX intermodal facility in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, which provincial officials say “will represent a significant addition to the region’s transportation and logistics infrastructure.”
San Francisco marks subway tunneling launch
San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee on Thursday, May 30, marked the start of tunneling for the Central Subway Project, a controversial extension of the Muni Metro T Third Line (light rail transit).
Commentary
LNG power: A history lesson
Is LNG the locomotive fuel of the future? Will it, over time, replace diesel, much like diesel supplanted steam during the 1940s and 1950s? Or will it be used in combination with diesel, deployed on specific runs where it makes the best logistical and economic sense? What about the safety concerns? The fueling infrastructure required?
AAR fires at NITL over forced switching proposal
Like a U.S. Navy destroyer unleashing all of its weapons simultaneously, the Association of American Railroads has launched a strongly worded attack on the National Industrial Transportation League’s proposal to the Surface Transportation Board for “forced switching,” also known as “mandated access,” “mandatory switching,” and “forced competition.”
Norfolk Southern supports “Ride 2 Recovery”
Norfolk Southern will honor more than 200 wounded military veterans Saturday, June 1, when they stop in Norfolk, Va., as part of their week-long “Ride 2 Recovery” memorial challenge.
Schumer, Lautenberg, LaHood announce major Gateway Program funding step
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced May 30 that that the USDOT “has begun the process of fulfilling Amtrak’s request for $185 million in Hurricane Sandy Relief funding.”
NS “training brains” with graphic public-safety billboards
Graphic billboards showing a cast on a person’s leg with the caption, “I raced a train and all I got was this lousy full-body cast”; two feet poking out from a white sheet in a morgue with the tagline, “I raced a train and all I got was this lousy toe tag”; and depicting a cemetery headstone with the inscription, “I raced a train and all I got was this lousy tombstone”, are all part of Norfolk Southern’s “Train Your Brain” public safety program, which warns motorists and pedestrians of the (literally) grave consequences of disregarding railroad signals and trespassing on railroad property.
AAR: Crude oil, intermodal up in latest week
Resuming a familiar pattern during the week ending May 25, 2013, U.S. freight carload traffic fell 3.3% measured against the comparable week in 2012, while U.S. intermodal volume rose 1.4%, the Association of American Railroads reported Thursday, May 30.
Boosting asset utilization: The hunt for percentage points
Lessons learned from TTX Co.
Increasing asset utilization by a single percentage point can make the difference between a typical year and a banner year. By blending operations insight with advanced technology and optimization techniques, the rail industry is achieving performance gains it previously thought were out of reach.
WMATA taps Kawasaki for more 7000 series cars
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has placed a $184 million order with Kawasaki Heavy Industries for 100 additional series 7000 metro cars, meant to augment and eventually replace Breda series 4000 vehicles supplied in the 1990s.
MTA reopens storm-damaged Rockaway Branch
Holding to its projected reopening date, MTA New York City Transit resumed A train subway service on the elevated Rockaway Branch line in the namesake Queens, N.Y. neighborhood Thursday morning, May 30.