The Transport Workers Union demonstrated its strength in recent contract negotiations with MTA New York City Transit Authority.
An arbitration ruling made public Tuesday gives workers an 11.1% pay increase over a three-year period.
More important, the ruling disclosed that during the negotiations, the transit authority withdrew a demand for the right to operate its trains with one-person crews. The agency had wanted to start converting to one-person operation on the L and No. 7 lines, which are being modernized for that purpose with new signaling and new railcars compatible with a changeover.
This was key issue to the arbitration panel, which said the transit agency withdrew its crew demand in return for hoped-for concessions for the union on health care provisions, but there was "no evidence" that the management strategy had worked.
The TWU welcomed the arbitration awed, saying it brought transit workers up to the same level of pay and benefits given to other city employees. But thet Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the new contract would add $350 million to the authority's already-strained budget during the next three years.
Five Amtrak routes have been added to Google Transit, Google's public transportation trip planning function, for trip planning, Amtrak and Google have announced. The routes include: Empire Service (New York-Albany-Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.); Ethan Allen Express (New York-Albany-Rutland, Vt.); Hiawatha Service trains (Chicago - Milwaukee); Pacific Surfliner Service (San Diego-Los Angeles-Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo, Calif.); and San Joaquin service (Oakland-Sacramento-Fresno-Bakersfield, Calif.).
--> Five Amtrak routes have been added to Google Transit, Google's public transportation trip planning function, for trip planning, Amtrak and Google have announced. The routes include: Empire Service (New York-Albany-Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.); Ethan Allen E ...U.S. domestic container traffic continued to defy overall downward intermodal volume trends in the second quarter, gaining 0.9%, compared with the comparable 2008 period, according to the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA). Leading the advance was 53-ft. equipment moves, which jumped 5%; IANA says this segment now represents 95% of all domestic container loads.
Domestic container volume increased in the majority of IANA regions, with the Mountain Central region posting the largest percentage jump, up 17%. The Midwest region gained 4%.
In sharp contrast to such gains, international volume, which still accounted for more than half of all intermodal shipments despite its recent downtrend, fell for a ninth consecutive quarter, with double-digit declines in every region, IANA said. Western Canada logged the smallest decline, whilethe U.S. Northwest experienced the largest falloff.
Trailer shortfalls accelerated during the quarter as domestic freight continued its migration to containers; trailer volume has nowfallen during 16 of the last 18 quarters, interrupted only by a brief period of growth in mid-2008, IANA said. All trailer sizes, including the standard 53-ft. length, fell during the quarter, with total quarterly trailer volume falling below 400,000 loads for the first time since IANA started reporting in 1996.
Light rail riders throughout Portland’s TriMet system last weekend began boarding the agency’s new Type 4 cars, built by SiemensTransportation Systems, Inc., as the agency put the first of 22 Type 4s into revenue service.
TriMet had been testing its initial cars (photo at left) throughout the system throughout early summer, notching 1,000 miles on each vehicle in test runs before opening them up to passengers. All 22 cars are scheduled for delivery by October.
TriMet’s purchase is officially attributed to the targeted Sept. 12 launch of its Green Line, linking Portland State University to Clackamas Town Center in nearby Clackamas, Ore. But the new trains will run throughout the existing system both before and after the Green Line opens.
Siemens says the Type 4 is in operation in Houston, San Diego, and Charlotte, N.C., as well as in Paris. Costing $3.75 million per car, a two-car unit is seven feet longer than TriMet’s existing light rail cars but weighs 11,000 pounds less.
--> Light rail riders throughout Portland’s TriMet system last weekend began boarding the agency’s new Type 4 cars, built by SiemensTransportation Systems, Inc., as the agency put the first of 22 Type 4s into revenue service. ...Bombardier Transportation said Wednesday it has received a maintenance contract from the Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen mbH (LNVG) in Lower Saxony, Germany, for two Bombardier TRAXX locomotives and 34 double-deck intermediate and driving coaches. This order is worth roughly $26 million and will run until 2022.
Bombardier also said the duration of existing maintenance contracts between the two parties has been standardized. The contracts will run until 2022, increasing the value of these contracts by approximately $57million.
The LNVG fleet to be maintained by Bombardier will consistof 40 TRAXX locomotives and 220 double-deck intermediate and driving coaches.The fleet covers numerous routes throughout Lower Saxony.
"Bombardier Transportation has done a great job and itshigh levels of availability and reliability have contributed to passenger satisfaction. Passenger numbers have, as a result, also increased substantially. Our follow-up order is due to this excellent partnership," said Hans-JoachimMenn, spokesperson for LNVG management.
Said Bombardier Transportation Services Division President Lauent Troger, "This is a great achievement for us. With this order, LNVG is once again showing their trust in Bombardier as a quality manufacturer and service provider."
Jacksonville, Fla.-based RailAmerica says it has launched a new contract-switching business, RailAmerica Contract Switching Services (RACS), to serve industrial customers.
With contract switching, businesses that have a continuous need for railcar handling engage a third-party supplier to move railcars into, out of, and within a manufacturing or distribution facility, the company says. In addition to railcar switching, RACS will offer track maintenance, railcar andlocomotive repairs, and railcar cleaning.
“RailAmerica offers four key benefits to customers in need of a contract-switching provider–extensive experience in railway operations, a strong commitment to safety, rigorous employee training programs, and a presence throughout the country,” said Jeff Geary, vice president of the new rail-switching subsidiary.
RACS says it can supply on-site staff and equipment quickly and efficiently, decreasing the cost of transporting locomotives, equipment, and personnel. It also will offer easy access to mechanical facilities, which furnish equipment and make necessary repairs.
For customers already using a third-party provider, RACS says it will work to ensure a smooth transition to the RailAmerica approach.
RACS says its service and equipment offerings include: seven-day-a-week coverage; flexible range of hours; on-site managers who work closely with customers; railcar inspections to reduce loading dock car rejections; railcar and locomotive repair; track maintenance and inspection; plant personnel assistance; computerized yard inventory reports; locomotive models selected to meet customer needs; car-cleaning equipment; and maintenance-of-way equipment.
RailAmerica is owned by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, a global alternative asset manager.
Class I railroad employment in the U.S. dropped to 149,614 in mid-June, down 1.27% (or 2,372 jobs) from mid-May and 8.45% lower than in June 2008.
Transportation (other than train and engine) was the only group to show a year-over-year improvement. Its 6,856 workers in June represented a 3.46% increase from June 2008.
The following employment groups were still showing declines in employment in June this year compared with June a year ago: Transportation (train and engine), 55,434, down 17.45%; maintenance of way and structures, 35,382, down 0.72%; maintenance of equipment and stores, 28,619, down 5.37%; professional and administrative, 13,276, down 3.13%; and executives, officials, and staff assistants, 10,047, down 0.02%.
Ontario has moved to assist short line Huron Central Railroad in the short term, providing funding to continue operations between the railroad’s headquarters city of Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury, and averting a shutdown of the short line set for August 15.
Member of Parliament David Orazietti said a letter written to Sault Ste. Marie Chief Administrative Officer Joe Fratesi noted that an applicationto the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. would be welcomed and supported if two key rail customers, Essar Steel Algoma and Domtar, also become involved in the short-term financing plan.
"NOHFC has indicated they would welcome an application and be supportive of considering short-term financing to help Huron-CentralRail," Orazietti said Monday. "I would expect an application will come forward and I know that every effort is being made to meet that Aug. 15 deadline."
Funds would address critical short-term infrastructure improvements to assure continued operation. Long-term funding for the shortline, a subsidiary of Greenwich, Conn.-based Genesee and Wyoming, Inc., remains unresolved. Huron Central has said the short line needs more than C$33 million (US$30.3 million) in upgrades to make it feasible.
July marked the ninth straight month Amtrak ridership dropped as cuts in business travel impacted ridership, attributable to the ongoing recession, the national passenger rail corporation says.
Ridership fell 8.4% to 2.5 million from the year-ago month. Short-distance route riders declined 9.6%; long-distance ridership fell 4.9%. Northeast Corridor ridership fell 6.5%, paced by a 12% decline in Acela travelers.
The decline follows six straight year of ridership records by Amtrak, and began last November. It also occurs as federal stimulus funds have allowed the carrier to begin rehabilitating sidelined passenger equipment to expand capacity.
The Montana State Land Board Monday, fearful of conflicting effort, rejected a right-of-way application from a proposed Wyoming border coal mine seeking to build a rail spur into Montana. The rail line would connect the Youngs Creek coal operation to the existing BNSF Decker spur line.
Land board members worried the Wyoming coal mine could compete with Otter Creek coal access plans that the state seeks to advance. State Gov. Brian Schweitzer said the issue would be revisited at a September meeting focused on developing the state-owned coal.
Montana’s proposed access to Otter Creek coal reserves involves plans by the Tongue River Railroad, Inc., to construct 17.3 miles of new rail line. The project is opposed by ranchers and environmentalists, but in October 2007 the Surface Transportation Board issued a decision granting final approval to the Tongue River Railroad to construct the line, known as Tongue River III or the "Western Alignment," subject to environmental mitigation.