Vancer Earns ASLRRA Veterans Engagement Award
The American Short Line Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has selected Vancer, a maintenance-of-way equipment manufacturer, as its 2021 Veterans Engagement Award honoree.
American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association
IHR, LSRC, Pan Am, R.J. Corman Earn ASLRRA Business Development Awards
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association has recognized four members as 2021 Business Development Award honorees: Iron Horse Resources (IHR), Lake State Railway Co. (LSRC, Railway Age’s 2018 Short Line of the Year), Pan Am Railways, and R.J. Corman (Railway Age’s 2007 Short Line of the Year, West Virginia Line).
Senate Approves Infrastructure Bill, Which Moves to the House—Where it Could Sit (UPDATED AUGUST 11)
The U.S. Senate on Aug. 9 passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill by a 69-30 count. The legislation now moves on to the House, where it could sit for months.
Commentary
Short Lines Need CRISI to Avoid a Crisis
ASLRRA PERSPECTIVE, RAILWAY AGE, AUGUST 2021: The New Jersey School of Architecture offers a master’s degree in infrastructure planning. In preparing for his course on infrastructure, Professor Alex Marshall used Google’s Ngram Viewer, which can search millions of books and publications to determine when a word was first used. He found that the word “infrastructure” made its first appearance in French publications in the 1880s in conjunction with railroad engineering.
Commentary
Congress Needs to Move Forward, Together
ASLRRA PERSPECTIVE, RAILWAY AGE, JUNE 2021: In May, I was one of four witnesses fortunate enough to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Surface Transportation as it began work on surface transportation legislation. In another hopeful sign, the hearing was held face-to-face in the Committee room, and I am taking it as a good omen that my first in-person appearance in Congress in more than a year was to present the short line industry’s case for a robust infrastructure package with beneficial policies.
Patriot’s Johnson, Crosson Earn ASLRRA Safety Awards
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) is honoring George Johnson, Jr., as Safety Person of the Year, and Herman Crosson as Safety Professional of the Year.
For OneRail, Executive Leadership Changes
Anne Canby is stepping down from the OneRail Coalition, after leading the organization since its launch in 2009.
Senate Commerce Committee’s Bipartisan $78B Surface Transportation Bill Advances
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has passed its five-year surface transportation bill authorizing $78 billion for rail, freight, safety and research programs; it is a bipartisan measure supported by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA).
Senate Commerce Committee Debuts $78B Bill for Surface Transportation
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has released a bipartisan five-year surface transportation bill authorizing $78 billion for rail, freight, safety and research programs; it is a companion to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works’ (EPW) recently advanced, and also bipartisan, $303.5 billion Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021.
ASLRRA Honors 346 Railroads With Jake Awards
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has selected its annual Jake Award recipients, recognizing 346 member railroads for their above-industry-average safety performance in 2020; this includes 19 President’s Safety Award winners.