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.
Class I railroads have been seeking a rugged mobile AEI (Automatic Equipment Identification) application that will provide them with detailed railcar inspection and maintenance functions in addition to asset tracking. Several are currently evaluating a promising new device offered by Trimble, a manufacturer of rugged handheld computer devices.
CSX Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Fredrik Eliasson, formerly the company’s CFO, on Sept. 9, 2015 reviewed performance to date and updated investors on the company’s third-quarter and full-year expectations at the Cowen and Company 8th Annual Global Transportation Conference in Boston, Mass.
CSX President and Chief Operating Officer Oscar Munoz has left the railroad, effective immediately, to become President and Chief Executive Officer of United Continental Holdings, Inc., parent company of United Airlines, following the scandal-laced resignation of United head Jeff Smisek and two of his lieutenants. Munoz has served on the board for United Continental since 2010 and previously was a Continental director.
An assistant to the president of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company once said, “… let us direct our thoughts toward what would be required in the way of equipment or system for the safe operation of a train with no person at the controls. It is obvious that such a step must be made if we are to approach crewless train operation. It is equally obvious that the crewless train would have no one to look at wayside signals and therefore we should begin thinking in terms of an overall system that does not require wayside signals.”
Union Pacific has promoted two public affairs officers to new positions, effective Oct. 1, 2015. Wes Lujan has been named Vice President Public Affairs, Western Region, and Liisa Stark has been named Assistant Vice President Public Affairs for Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
“As one of the nation’s premier transportation companies, with an important role in transporting agricultural and food-service products, CSX recognizes that there are communities across its network that lack the fresh foods that are essential for human health,” according to Regional Vice President for State Government and Community Affairs Randy Cheetham.
Here’s a mystery for you, but don’t anticipate—as in the board game, “Clue”—that it’s “Col. Mustard, in the library, with a candlestick.” The perp here is the U.S. Senate—the deed done under the Capitol Dome and with a pen (okay, a word processor).
Norfolk Southern unveiled on Sept. 1, 2015 its new GP33ECO switcher locomotive during ceremonies at Inman Yard in Atlanta, Ga.
Irving Oil Ltd., operator of Canada’s largest crude oil refinery, has stopped importing crude oil sourced from the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and shipped by rail in favor of cheaper crudes from such producers as OPEC, “reflecting a shift in crude costs affecting East Coast refiners during a global slump in oil prices,” the Wall Street Journal recently reported.