A Florida judge on April 18 struck down a federal mandate requiring mask use on public transportation and at transportation hubs. While railroads were deciding whether to keep the mandate in place until May 3 or make mask-wearing optional, the Department of Justice (DOJ) on April 20 filed an appeal. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is weighing in.
Amtrak will face four main challenges as it modernizes and expands service with a minimum of $22 billion in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding, according to the Amtrak Office of Inspector General (OIG).
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.
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.
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 Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has released a report measuring the performance and service quality of Amtrak intercity passenger train operations for fourth-quarter 2021 (ending Sept. 30). Among the findings: the Cardinal, Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle were delayed most.
If you run the sort of organization that has the know-how to manage a passenger rail corridor, the ability to get some money together but need more, and an available stretch of railroad that could accommodate such a corridor, this is your chance to tell the FRA about it and apply for a grant to get that line started.
