Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) are awarding Nebraska Operation Lifesaver an Innovative Rail Safety Grant in support of its September 2022 Whistle Stop Tour and campaign.
President Joe Biden on March 28 submitted to Congress a $5.79 trillion budget plan for fiscal year 2023 that calls for $105 billion to be distributed to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). With an additional $37 billion in guaranteed advance appropriations provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL; also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA), the USDOT’s total budget would be $142 billion. Included in the budget for USDOT’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is funding for four new rail-related projects; the Gateway Program’s Hudson Tunnel project in New York and New Jersey, and the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) Silicon Valley Phase II rail project in California are among them.
Jennifer Mitchell is moving on from her position as Director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) to join the Federal Railroad Administration in April as Deputy Administrator, DRPT reported on March 11. Jennifer DeBruhl will serve as acting Director starting March 18.
The Missouri and South Dakota departments of transportation have issued draft 2022 freight and rail plans for public feedback.
Railway Age is honoring the Vermont Railway (VTR) and the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL) as its 2022 Short Line (Class III) and Regional (Class II) Railroads of the Year.
WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE MARCH 2022 ISSUE: “The farmer and the cowman should be friends,” wrote Rodgers and Hammerstein for the 1943 musical, Oklahoma! In 1967, Aretha Franklin recorded R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Five gets you 10 that neither friendship nor respect exist at the bargaining table where rail management and labor have been negotiating contract amendments since January 2020.
Longtime rail executive Donald A. (DJ) Stadtler Jr. has joined the Board of Directors at Wi-Tronix, LLC, a Bolingbrook, Ill.-based provider of advanced IoT platforms for the rail industry.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Feb. 23 held a town hall meeting in Boynton Beach, Fla., to address best practices and strategies for reducing highway/rail grade crossing and trespassing incidents; officials from private-sector passenger rail operator Brightline, Florida East Coast Railway, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (Tri-Rail), Amtrak and CSX were among those in attendance.
The Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) has rejected Ensco’s offer to keep the Strategic Research Initiatives (SRI) program at the Pueblo, Colo., facility.
The Chicago Transit Board has approved a new agreement with Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) largest union. Also, Icomera U.S. is improving Wi-Fi service for Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner riders; and San Bernardino County (Calif.) Transportation Authority (SBCTA) is starting train testing this month along the nine-mile Arrow passenger rail corridor.
