Omnibus bill extends short line tax credit, funds TIGER and safety grants
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed an omnibus spending bill late last week that will keep federal agencies funded through the end of September 2016.
PTC
Wabtec lands $45 million PTC contracts with Metra, PTG
Wabtec Corporation has signed contracts worth about $45 million to provide equipment and services for a Positive Train Control (PTC) system for the Metra, the Northeast Illinois commuter rail system. The contracts are with Metra and Parsons Transportation Group (PTG).
Untangling the tale of PTC
Norfolk Southern’s Wick Moorman responds to Railway Age’s October 2015 issue cover story on Positive Train Control.
FAST Act on the fast track to approval
Congressional conferees on Dec. 1, 2015 reached an agreement on the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, a five-year surface transportation reauthorization bill and the first long-term bill of its kind in a decade. It comes after years of predeccesor-bill extensions and partisan bickering. Of interest to freight railroads are key provisions on safety enhancements for tank cars moving flammable liquids in the U.S. and electronically-controlled pneumatic (ECP) train braking.
BNSF evaluating drones in New Mexico
BNSF has tested a UAS (unmanned aerial system, better-known as a drone) supplied by Boeing Co. subsidiary Insitu Inc. in east-central New Mexico, on approximately 132 miles of main line track.
Yoho visists Balfour Beatty Rail
On Nov. 12, 2015, Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA) member Balfour Beatty Rail hosted Congressman Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) for a tour of its Jacksonville, Fla., facility and discussed public policy priorities for the rail industry at-large.
Wabtec to provide signaling, PTC for Denver commuter rail
Wabtec Corporation has signed a $27 million contract with Regional Rail Partners to provide Phase I signaling and communications systems, including Positive Train Control (PTC) equipment, for the new North Metro Rail Line in Denver, the company announced Nov. 9, 2015. The line will eventually be integrated into Regional Transit District (RTD) commuter rail services.
The tangled tale of PTC
Why is PTC so expensive? So complicated? So time-consuming? Delving into its past may provide some answers.
HSR in the Northeast: What next?
In this series published in Railway Age‘s September, October and November 2015 issues, Contributing Editor Alfred E. Fazio examines the possibilities and engineering requirements for high- or higher-speed rail in the U.S., with emphasis on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, including an improvement project in New Jersey.
Railroads get PTC reprieve as President signs Congressional transportation funding stopgap measure
The rail industry’s frenzied push to extend the Congressionally imposed deadline for implementing Positive Train Control—one of the largest unfunded mandates ever foisted upon a U.S. industry—finally came to fruition on Oct. 29, 2015.