The U.S. Department of Transportation reported on June 11 that 22 transit projects in the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program will receive a total of $250 million in American Rescue Plan funding allocations; four are rail-related and will receive a total of $64.9 million.
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s (MARTA) Board of Directors has adopted a nearly $1.3 billion budget for FY 2022.
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board of Directors has approved a $2.44 billion FY 2022 budget, which will take effect July 1.
Indiana Rail Road (INRD) has appointed Dewayne Swindall as President and CEO, succeeding Peter Mills.
Organizers of “‘Big Data’ in Railroad Maintenance Planning 2021” have issued a call for presentations for the Dec. 15-16 conference, to be held in person at the University of Delaware; topic descriptions are due by July 30.
Operation Lifesaver, Inc., (OLI) and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) are among those in the global rail community marking International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD) on June 10.
Two of CSX’s Total Distribution Services Inc. (TDSI)-operated facilities have received Terminal of the Year Awards from the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
RAILWAY AGE, JUNE 2021 ISSUE: Welcome to the 2021 Guide to Equipment Leasing. Let’s start out by addressing the space in the room left by the exiting elephant: The U.S. economy and its residents clearly are looking forward to the end of the pandemic era and the opening of the economy.
The Chicago (Ill.) Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) have released preliminary design plans for modernizing the 100-year-old State/Lake station; and New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) has partnered with Waze, a traffic navigation mobile app, to improve safety at highway/rail grade crossings in the state.
California’s Port of Long Beach and the Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA) have signed a four-year agreement to improve their cargo flow and reduce air pollution.
Historians may look back on the Great Pandemic of 2020-21 and notice that February 2020 was the month in which commuting by train peaked in the United States. Beginning in March 2020, Railway Age has reported the overall decline in service on our local railroads, which came in reaction to the shutdowns that suddenly appeared to sweep the country on Friday the Thirteenth of that month.
In a somewhat-unexpected action, Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Martin Oberman recently suggested some ideas and offered borderline critique about pending public railroad issues. During my long railroad career, such displays of opinion were restricted normally to written official procedural decisions text. A lot of this is geographically following congestion and related intermodal rail service issues around Memphis. Here is my strategic view.
Having been one of the three Surface Transportation Board (STB) Members who voted on the 2001 Major Merger Rules, it seems clear to me that the CN voting trust satisfies the new rules requirements addressing “unlawful control” and the “public interest” when deciding to approve or reject a voting trust. As such, it should be approved so that the Board and the public may move forward to consider the merits of the proposed transaction.
As part of a larger initiative stemming from “key findings” from reviews directed under President Joe Biden’s Feb. 24, 2021 Executive Order (E.O.) 14017, “America’s Supply Chains,” as well as “immediate actions the Administration will take to strengthen American supply chains to promote economic security, national security and good-paying, union jobs here at home,” the Administration has established a Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force (SCDTF).
First, let me make one thing very clear: The United States is way behind the rest of the world in high-speed rail. That needs to change. There have been some efforts in the right direction, but despite these efforts, domestic HSR for the most part has gone nowhere.
