The other day I found a buried snippet of information on the Federal Railroad Administration website pertaining to high speed rail. Dated March 11, 2016, it’s a “Notice of Request for Proposals for Implementing a High-Speed Rail Corridor.” Hmmm . . . This looks interesting. I wonder why it was kept so quiet?
Carlo Patrick will join Herzog Services, Inc., as Vice President effective March 21, 2016.
Union Pacific (UP) employees set an all-time reportable personal injury rate record in 2015, improving 11% from 2014 to 0.87, making UP the safest Class I railroad in the United States, according to data reported by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). A railroad’s reportable injury rate is the total number of injuries reported to the FRA per 200,000 employee hours, which is equivalent to 100 employees working a full year.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has awarded nearly $10 million in grants for nine projects in eight states to upgrade and increase the safety of railroad crossings along energy routes, the agency announced Feb. 18, 2016. Rail Program provides the funding under the Railroad Safety Grants for the Safe Transportation of Energy Products (STEP). FRA received 34 eligible applications requesting five times the $10 million available for the program, or $50.8 million.
Gilbert Ellzey “Gil” Carmichael, former Federal Railroad Administrator, and founder of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver, died Jan. 31, 2016 at Anderson Regional Medical Center in Meridian, Miss. He was 88.
Wi-Tronix®, a Bolingbrook, Ill.-based supplier of wireless systems to “improve the operational efficiency, service reliability and safety of locomotives” announced Nov. 4, 2015 its launch of the Mobile Phone Detection System. This new solution, integrated into Wi-Tronix’s Wi-PU™, detects mobile devices located in a locomotive’s cab that transmit or receive communications over cellular frequencies.
The U.S. Senate on Oct. 28, 2015 confirmed Acting Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg as the agency’s official head. Her appointment was simultaneous with the Senate’s vote passing H.R. 3819, which extended transportation funding for three weeks as a stopgap measure, and also extended the deadline to implement PTC until at least year-end 2018.
A new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that most U.S. railroads will not be able to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) technology by the current Dec. 31, 2015 deadline, and that legislation extending the deadline is necessary.
Acting Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg will respond to questions before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation at her confirmation hearing to become permanent FRA Administrator on Thursday, Sept.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is soliciting applications from states for $10 million in competitive grant funding to improve highway-rail grade crossings and right-of-way along routes that transport energy products such as crude oil and ethanol. Funding comes from the STEP (Safe Transportation of Energy Products) by Rail program administered by PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration).
