A second day of debate by the Toronto City Council Thursday resulted in the council's affirming more light rail transit (LRT) for Canada's largest city, rejecting Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's preference for subways-only construction.
U.S. freight carload traffic for the week ending March 17, 2012 fell 5.3% compared with the same week in 2011, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday. But U.S. intermodal volume advanced 2% compared with the same week a year ago, continuing the trend of recent weeks.
Caltrain said Thursday a regional agreement between the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and more than a half-dozen Bay Area public agencies, including Caltrain, " will fully fund the electrification and modernization of the Caltrain system— a long-planned, critically-needed improvement that will dramatically improve the service and help ensure the long-term viability of the commuter rail system."
Class I rail employment numbers released by the Surface Transportation Board show Class I railroads employed 159,333 people in mid-February, up 3.93% from February 2011, and down just 105 positions, or only 0.07%, from January 2012.
Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation late Thursday publicly protested a decision by Norfolk Southern enacting speed restrictions of 25 to 30 mph on NS track between Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor. The decisions slow Amtrak Wolverine Service trains linking Chicago and Detroit from previous speeds of 79 mph; Amtrak advised passengers to expect delays of 45 to 90 minutes more than scheduled running times.
Washington, D.C.-area municipality Alexandria and nearby Arlington County, both in Virginia, are jointly planning a five-mile streetcar line that local media suggest may come to fruition more quickly than the higher-profile Columbia Pike streetcar project.
Applications for the Railway Supply Institute's 2012/2013 Academic Year Scholarship are now available online—but the deadline of April 20, 2012, is not all that far away, so apply now.
Fairport, N.Y.-based RailComm on Thursday announced that Michael Dampier has joined the company as vice president of Sales and Marketing. Dampier will be based in Jacksonville, Fla.
Union Pacific directors have named Eric L. Butler executive vice president, Marketing and Sales, succeeding Jack Koraleski, who is serving as acting president and CEO while Chairman Jim Young is on medical leave.
U.S. freight traffic continued its mixed trends in the week ending March 10, 2012, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday. U.S. freight carload traffic declined 4.8% for the week measured against the comparable week in 2011. By contrast, U.S. intermodal volume for the week was up 4.2% compared with the same week last year.