Buff? Draft? CN rolls out centerbeams with new energy management tech
A fleet of new centerbeam cars are being deployed by CN, with patented energy management technology designed to reduce train separations in transit.
Breaking News
20th CP Holiday Trains ready to roll
For the 20th consecutive year, Canadian Pacific’s two Holiday Trains will soon set out across North America, collecting food and raising funds for food banks while entertaining hundreds of thousands of people along the railroad’s network.
BNSF to build $200M Seattle drawbridge
Construction of a replacement for a century-old bridge on the Everett-Seattle mainline is expected to cost BNSF about $200 million.
$2.4M FRA safety grant for short lines
Proving grant funding isn’t just for infrastructure, an industry support organization will get a large check to help improve safety.
Harsco Rail lands NYMTA equipment contract
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority has awarded Harsco Rail a multi-year contract valued at approximately $40 million for 65 maintenance-of-way flat cars to support MTA New York City Transit subway projects.
CSX-served industrial park seeks tenants
A South Florida industrial park to be served by CSX has competed Phase I of development and is actively seeking commercial tenants.
Rail shippers “undoubtedly more negative”: Cowen
Cowen and Company’s 3Q18 rail shipper survey says that shippers are anticipating price increases of 3.7% over the next 6-12 months, down from 4.7% in 2Q18, but in line with the survey’s long-term average, according to Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl.
Federal grants to improve Texas ports recovery from Hurricane Harvey
A pair of Texas ports will benefit from federal economic aid aimed at bolstering recovery following Hurricane Harvey.
Railcar market recovery remains intact: Cowen
Cowen and Company’s 3Q18 rail equipment survey indicates that the railcar market recovery remains intact, even though the survey’s results were “somewhat mixed,” according to analyst Matt Elkott. The percentage of shippers planning to order railcars “inched up very slightly, while order sizes decreased a bit. We expect strong 3Q18 orders, driven partly by crude tank car and intermodal equipment demand.”
Wood assumes Texas leadership role at WSP
WSP USA has appointed Lindsay Wood Transit and Rail Market Lead for company’s Texas-Mountain region, promotion from her prior role as Transit and Rail Manager, Texas, in which she led project and technical services roles for such clients as Capital Metro, Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, Texas Department of Transportation, Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the Gulf Coast Rail District.
Opinion
If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu
Editor’s Note: Following is an edited response to my editorial of Aug. 10, 2018, on a New Jersey Transit board meeting. See below for further clarification.
The clock is running on untreated OSA
Timely accident investigations are critical to the future of safe transportation operations, for a number of reasons. First, they must begin expeditiously. As the clock runs, evidence can deteriorate or become corrupted. Witness memories of events fade, sometimes to the detriment of actual fact-finding. Second, the search for cause factors and efforts to remediate are delayed, leaving people and property at risk of more accidents and incidents caused by the same risk factors. Third, as time passes, other accidents and incidents demand investigation, putting a strain on investigatory resources.
PTC, a different approach
Major train derailments and collisions can be spectacular. Their economic and environmental consequences are considerable, and they kill and injure people. In response, over the past 40 years, pressed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Congress (by statute in 2008) the railroads have been implementing Positive Train Control (PTC) systems to reduce the potential for these crashes.
The Amtrak era is over. It’s time for a replacement
Railway Age editor William C. Vantuono wondered recently what exactly Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson is trying to accomplish by truncating long-distance routes, replacing fresh dining-car meals with MREs*, and replacing station agents with nobody.
Amtrak reform: Attention must be paid
Watching Washington, October 2018: From operating plans to marketing to pricing, change is relentless in railroading. Where railroaders once every five years looked with suspicion at all aspects of their system, and made substantial changes after 10, scientific advances, new processes and innovative applications propelled by unremitting competition have put the transformation process on steroids.