The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) has unanimously passed its surface transportation reauthorization bill, a bipartisan measure supported by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA).
American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) President Chuck Baker and American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) President and CEO Chris Connor offered supply chain investment and policy recommendations during a hearing this week of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation, Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Maritime, Freight, and Ports.
U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) have introduced bipartisan legislation to create a grant program for highway-rail grade crossing separation and other track relocation projects.
Already the leader in fuel-efficient surface transportation, the railroad industry is now making every effort to be a part of the solution to improving the environment, and the short line industry is all in on a variety of fronts.
The Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) is helping small roads prepare employees to safely respond to hazardous materials incidents, and the Iowa Northern Railway is leveraging a CRISI grant to provide safety training across the industry.
Registration is now open for this year’s Railroad Day on Capitol Hill, to be held virtually April 13-14.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is allowing certain railroads to use an alternative request for amendment (RFA) process rather than the existing 49
CFR § 236.1021 process before making “certain material modifications to an FRA-certified Interoperable Train Control (ITC) positive train control (PTC) system or its accompanying PTC Safety Plan (PTCSP),” the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) reported.
The Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) has released two analyses of Hazardous Materials Training sessions held over a three-year period for short line railroad hazmat professionals, and the results indicate that the program “can effectively transfer crucial safety information from instructor to participant, as measured by pre-training and post-training testing, and that it is meaningful to participants, with 97.4% of feedback survey respondents rating the program positively,” ASLRRA (American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association) reported on Jan. 25.
Perseverance is a virtue, and 2020 required all the perseverance one could muster. The pandemic, the disruption of the workplace and of ordinary commerce, trade disputes, our unsettled politics—all contributed to a year that affected every American citizen and business.
The Short Line Tax Credit (45G) is one step closer to permanency.
