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Greenbrier Cos. notes new railcar orders

Lake Oswego, Ore.-based The Greenbrier Cos. late Monday said it is meeting “robust demand for new railcars in North American and European markets with orders for over 4,200 units valued at over $430 million since the start of its current fiscal year, which began on Sept. 1, 2012.”

Valley Metro readies next LRT groundbreaking

The city of Phoenix and Valley Metro said Monday they will host an official groundbreaking this Saturday, Jan. 12, for the 3.2-mile Northwest extension. The ceremony will occur at the southwest corner of 19th Avenue and West Dunlap Avenue, in Phoenix, beginning at 11:00 a.m.

AECOM lands Twin Cities LRT contract

AECOM Technology Corp. said Monday it has been awarded a $16.8 million contract by the Metropolitan Council for preliminary engineering work on the Southwest Lighrt Rail Transit project in Minnesota’s Twin Cities.

Amtrak fills more senior operations posts

Amtrak late Thursday said it has named Magdy El-Sibaie as the new chief safety officer and Robin McDonough as chief, business operations. Both will report directly to D.J. Stadtler, vice president of operations.

NS touts role in industrial development

Norfolk Southern said Friday it has “participated in the location of 64 new industries and the expansion of 30 existing industries along its rail lines in 2012.”

U.S. freight traffic ends 2012 on down note

Both U.S. freight carload traffic and U.S. intermodal volume declined for the week ending Dec. 29, 2012—essentially the end of the year—the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.

AECOM lands MBTA Green Line work

AECOM Technology Corp. Thursday said, as part of a joint venture, it has been chosen by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to provide advanced preliminary design services for extending Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) Green Line light rail service. The contract is worth $43.3 million.

Transit benefit restored in fiscal deal

Among the changes (and status quo) perpetuated by Congress in its Jan. 2 budgetary decision making, public transit users were offered a plus: the rise in pretax federal transit benefits to $240 per month, up from $125 in 2012.

PATH touts weekend service resumption

PATH trains linking Newark, N.J., and the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan will resume running on the weekends, beginning this weekend, Jan. 5-6, continuing an on-again, off-again pattern in place since the system was crippled by Hurricane Sandy. Operating hours on the weekends will be from 5:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.

Train operations notch solid safety gains

In a report posted Dec. 31, the Federal Railroad Administration’s Office of Safety Analysis described strong safety gains in freight train operations in the first 10 months of 2012.

CN merges two U.S. subsidiaries

Canadian National ended 2012 by completing its merger of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway into its Wisconsin Central Ltd. railroad subsidiary.

Amtrak to FRA: Lightweight HSR trains, please

Amtrak begins the new year by formally planning to request revisions to Federal Railroad Administration safety standards to facilitate lighter-weight high speed rail equipment, a move U.S. rail advocates have sought for at least two decades.

Guest Editorial: Flood-proofing; coal’s future

To the Editor:

I wanted to provide a few comments on your December 2012 edition, from my perspective as a civil engineer with over three decades of experience designing infrastructure for railroads/transit, power, and coastal protection.

MTA launches “Subway Time” app

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Friday released its “Subway Time” app for passengers with iPhones and iPod Touch devices, providing up-to-the-minute arrival times for trains on it’s “A” Division (numbered) lines, which largely serve a high-volume feeders/distributors in Manhattan.