TRRA Selects CloudMoyo OTS
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) has contracted with CloudMoyo for the company’s Operational Testing System (OTS), which will be deployed across the entire railroad for safety and regulatory compliance.
Breaking News
OL Canada Unveils New Safety Training
Operation Lifesaver Canada (OL) recently unveiled its new online Rail Safety Ambassador training.
Henderson Bypass Receives CSX Select Site Designation
CSX has designated the Henderson Bypass Rail Site in Henderson, Ky., as a CSX Select Site, a “development-ready property along the CSX network where standard land use considerations and comprehensive due diligence items have been previously addressed … able to meet the needs of a wide variety of manufacturers, significantly reducing the time required to construct facilities and ultimately bring products to market.”
Baker to Congress: Short Lines Have “The Right Stuff”
Chuck Baker, President of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), on Dec. 5 testified before a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing entitled “Where’s My Stuff?: Examining the Economic, Environmental, and Societal Impacts of Freight Transportation.” Two subcommittees—Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials and Highways and Transit—jointly hosted the hearing.
Free KC! Bus Service Now Gratis in City of Fountains
Kansas City just extended its fare-free streetcar service to its buses, according to 435Mag.com.
First 10 ES30ACi Locomotives Delivered to ENR
Wabtec Corp. on Dec. 5 marked delivery of 10 ES30ACi Light Evolution Series locomotives to Egyptian National Railways (ENR) and the Ministry of Transportation (MoT). The delivery marks the first stage in fulfilling Wabtec’s 2017 order and services agreements, originally forged with ENR by GE Transportation.
NJT Awards ARINC Contract for Control, Data Upgrades
NJ Transit (NJT) has awarded the ARINC rail solutions team at Collins Aerospace Systems a three-year contract to replace its Train Management and Control (TMAC) and Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) Systems.
CP, KCS, USD, Gibson Energy, ConocoPhillips Canada Forge Diluent Recovery Deal
US Development Group, LLC (through wholly-owned affiliate SD) and Gibson Energy Inc. (Gibson) jointly announced this week an agreement to construct and operate a diluent recovery unit (DRU) near Hardisty, Alberta, Canada. ConocoPhillips Canada has contracted to process 50,000 barrels per day of inlet bitumen blend through the DRU to be shipped by Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern to the U.S.
MTA, TWU Local 100 Reach Tentative Agreement
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Foye and Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 President Tony Utano announced a tentative agreement between the two parties for a new contract.
FTS Opens New Headquarters
Focused Technology Solutions, Inc. (a Marmon/Berkshire Hathaway Company) has relocated to a brand new executive office and manufacturing facility in Hackettstown, N.J. The new headquarters is described as “a cutting-edge research and development site instrumental for the company as it looks to expand and reach manufacturing goals in 2020 and beyond.”
Opinion
Impeachment Saved ICC/STB Independence
While talk of Presidential impeachment is difficult to avoid, probably few can recite how the impeachment of a federal judge in 1912 helped to secure the independence of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and its Surface Transportation Board (STB) successor.
STB: Heed Seriously the Yak Fat Ghost
On 74 acres in central Virginia, there graze for commercial production some two-dozen Himalayan yaks—a largely fat-free, shaggy, handlebar-horned and oft cantankerous animal first imported to North America during the 19th century. If the connection of yak and its fat to transportation economic regulation is not obvious, blame your youth, as more than half a century has passed since the Great Yak Fat Caper of 1965 entered railroad lore—a dirty-trickster’s fraud now indelibly stained on the Interstate Commerce Commission’s (ICC) reputation, and, by association, its Surface Transportation Board (STB) successor.
MTA Capital Program: The Devil Is In The Details
Commuters, transportation advocates, taxpayers and elected officials have good reason to be concerned about whether or not the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $51 billion, Five Year 2020-2024 Capital Plan is realistic or accurate.
Amtrak Dining Cars as Profit Centers
One of the great hurrahs of Amtrak dining cars came in the late 1990s, when the transcontinental Sunset Limited diner featured 12 entrees on its dinner menu. Traditional white linen tablecloths draped the tables, along with china plates and stainless-steel cutlery. It was not unusual to have flowers on the table and lit candles at the dinner hour.
HS2 Advances BIM and GIS Integration
The United Kingdom Department for Transport has embarked on a world-leading infrastructure project. By the 2030s, London will connect to Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester via a new rail line with 18 trains per hour traveling at speeds up to 225 mph. The line, High Speed 2 (HS2), builds upon the more-than 15-year success of HS1, which carries 20 million passengers per year through the Channel Tunnel between the U.K. and Continental Europe.