Opinion

Commentary

Choosing Locomotive Lighting For the Long Run

As transportation costs continue to rise, railways remain one of the most cost-effective ways to move people and products. Engineering hubs are the heart of keeping locomotives safe and getting them back on the rails as soon as possible. There are many components that work together for railway safety; one critical area is locomotive lighting.

Commentary

49 CFR Part 243 Training Costs: ROI Considerations

The costs railroads can save with simulation training recertifications are significant. Railroads have to meet recertification standards for FRA compliance, performing check-in training for safety reasons. However, if railroad workers aren’t able to accurately and immediately identify danger points, disaster is imminent.

Commentary
  • News

A Hard Sell and a Long Shot

In October, I reported on three events that took place within three days, all of which concerned the possibility of more Amtrak-operated state-supported trains in the Midwest. The events are now over,

Commentary

Trucks and Barges: “Here They Go Again”

One needn’t possess a doctorate in economics to understand that when someone obtains something for nothing, another receives nothing for something—akin to parking in a metered space where there is time left on the previous occupant’s nickel.

Commentary

What’s in the Infrastructure Package for Passenger Rail? (Updated)

It’s the big news in Washington and everywhere else in the country. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for which the Biden Administration had fought so hard and made so many deals finally made it through Congress on Nov. 5, and President Joe Biden signed it into law on Nov. 15.

Commentary

Infrastructure Bill: The Cowen Insight

Late Nov. 5, Congress passed the bi-partisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which President Biden is expected to sign soon. While not nearly enough went to traditional infrastructure needs, this was a clear win for the transportation space.

Commentary

2021 Elections: Little About Transit; VA, NJ Leave Future Unsettled

The election of 2020 was one of the most dramatic in recent times. That included the transit scene, where Bay Area voters agreed to chip in to keep Caltrain going and Austinites voted to expand their rail transit. But voters in Portland, Ore., voted down a tax on employers that would have financed a new light rail line, and Gwinnett County residents in the Atlanta suburbs voted again to keep a MARTA rail line out of their county.

Commentary
  • M/W

NIMBYs, YIMBYs and the Political Moonscape

FINANCIAL EDGE, NOVEMBER 2021 ISSUE: In 2015, following a 2014 Amtrak derailment, The Economist published an article on the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel calling for replacement while noting that any planned replacement