MassDOT on Sept. 8 tweeted: “Rail and Transit Administrator Slesinger joined @MassLtGov Polito [Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito] in #NewBedford today to announce 3Mil in Industrial Rail Access (IRAP) Grants. These grants will help boost industrial rail freight access, jobs, and expand rail service.” (Photograph Courtesy of MassDOT via Twitter)

MassDOT Awards $3MM in Industrial Rail Access Grants

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Rail and Transit Division is distributing $3 million to seven industrial rail access projects that will help reduce truck traffic in the state.

FRA Grants CN Comment Period Extension for Virtual Training Software

Following a 45-day public comment period that ended on Sept. 8 on CN’s waiver request to use virtual 3D simulation as an alternative to hands-on training required by 49 CFR 232.203(b)(8), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is extending the comment period for an additional 60 days “to ensure all interested parties have ample time to provide their comments following a demonstration of the software scheduled for the second half of September.”

CSX, which implemented Trip Optimizer years ago, said it will be the first railroad to test Zero-to-Zero, a new feature that “allows a train to start from zero miles per hour and stop automatically using intelligent controls. It leverages air-brake control and signal-aspect information, and further expands the opportunity to save fuel and improve operations.” (Image Courtesy of CSX, via CSX Video Announcement)

Watch: CSX Testing New Wabtec Trip Optimizer Feature

CSX is working with the Federal Railroad Administration to test and implement Wabtec’s new Trip Optimizer Zero-to-Zero technology, the Class I railroad reported Sept. 7.

U.S. Army veteran Ken Killingsworth (left) is heading up Watco's Military Outreach & Hire (MOH) Program.

Small-Road Briefs: Watco, ASLRRA, Mississippi Export Railroad

Watco formalizes military outreach and hiring. Also, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) looks back at Auburn’s “greasy railroad” prank; and the Mississippi Export Railroad (MSE) celebrates its 100th anniversary.

(Photograph Courtesy of NS)

STB: Five Class I’s Revenue Adequate for 2021

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has found five U.S. Class I railroads to be revenue adequate for 2021: BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Soo Line (the U.S. affiliate of Canadian Pacific) and Union Pacific. Railway Age Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner weighs in.

Conceptual design of the 30,000 metric-ton-per-year Tennessee Lithium plant, to be served by CSX. (Rendering Courtesy of Piedmont Lithium)

Piedmont Lithium to Launch $582MM Tennessee Plant

Belmont, N.C.-based Piedmont Lithium will build a lithium hydroxide processing, refining and manufacturing facility in Etowah, Tenn. To be served by CSX, the facility is to slated to produce 30,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium per year, with production beginning in 2025.

Amtrak, CSX, NS, Port to STB: Extend Mediation

All parties in the Gulf Coast case are in agreement—on the extension of mediation. Amtrak on one side and CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS), and the Alabama State Port Authority and its Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks division (collectively, the Port) on the other are jointly calling on the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to order a 30-day extension.

Pictured: The first of 11 CN trains hauling wind turbine units to Oyen, Alberta. (Photograph Courtesy of CN)

Class I Briefs: CN, CSX

CN recently delivered 11 units trains of wind turbine components to support the installation of four different wind farms in southern Alberta. Also, CSX is supporting eastern Kentucky relief efforts following widespread flooding late last month.

“We are proud to support so many outstanding infrastructure projects in communities large and small, modernizing America’s transportation systems to make them safer, more affordable, more accessible, and more sustainable,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said during the FY22 RAISE program grant announcement.

First Look: Rail-Related RAISE Grantees for FY22

More than $332 million in FY 2022 RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) program grants will be distributed among 23 freight and passenger rail-related projects in 17 states, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) report released Aug. 11.

Team members (from left to right) Martin Ertz, Josh Saltz and Jessica Codr accept their awards for the Hack! 2022 event from UP Senior Vice President and CIO Rahul Jalali. (Photo Courtesy of UP via Twitter)

Class I Briefs: UP, CSX

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) honors winners of its Hack! 2022 event. Also, CSX employees distribute school supplies to more than 2,000 children of military families. UP UP on Aug. 4 awarded the

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