Kansas City Southern (KCS) posted record revenues, adjusted operating income and adjusted earnings per share in 2018, but fell short of its own expectations for financial and operation performance, the company reported on Jan. 18. As well, it plans to increase capital investment in 2019 substantially, compared to 2018.
R. J. Corman Railroad Group, LLC on Jan. 17 appointed 10 new people to leadership positions within its companies. “With the new leadership our company has in place, and the many opportunities that we have realized, 2019 is off to a great start for R. J. Corman,” Ed Quinn, President and CEO, stated. “We have an extremely talented leadership team stepping into key roles, and are bringing on experienced, highly respected individuals to complement their capabilities. I’m excited about the continued growth we will see in 2019 and beyond, and I look forward to working with these individuals.”
Railway infrastructure does not provide much information in and of itself, however, high-tech inspection vehicles, equipped with sensors and radars, frequently perform inspections of the track. They capture millions of data points when inspecting miles of track, by measuring numerous characteristics, such as rail, track and substructure quality. Further, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, are now being used to take images and scan tracks.
The Canadian Pacific Railway is planning extensive work in its famed Mount Macdonald Tunnel in British Columbia, at 9.1 miles the longest railway tunnel in North America.
After months of having to endure mostly cold boxed food—what some critics dubbed “Unhappy Meals”—on two Amtrak long-distance route, the New York-Chicago Lake Shore Limited (Trains 48/448 and 49/449) and the Washington D.C.-Chicago Capitol Limited (Trains 29 and 30), sleeping car passengers on those trains now have can choose from several hot food choices on the menu.
Five nominations for rail transportation federal leadership posts were announced Jan. 16 by President Trump. All are nominees from the previous session of Congress, and were cleared by respective Senate oversight committees for confirmation on the Senate floor—but none advanced for a floor vote prior to the Senate adjourning.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR), in reporting U.S. rail traffic for the week ending Jan. 12, 2019, noted that carloads and intermodal volume both experienced healthy increases. As well, there were gains in all carload commodity groups.
Tunisian National Railways (SNCFT) has taken delivery of an initial batch of 10 Progress Rail GT42AC diesel locomotives, which will be used to haul phosphate trains.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader, met with Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan the week of Jan. 7, and reportedly urged the Department of Defense (DOD) to focus on the construction of a new railhead project at Fort Drum in the Army’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Budget Request.
A joint venture of of Mott McDonald and PGH Wong Engineering has won the contract to provide general engineering services for Phase II of the 16-mile, six-station Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Silicon Valley Extension, which when completed will connect Fremont (Warm Springs) with San José and Santa Clara.
When a manufacturing or distribution company selects a new location for a facility, which factors are most important? Should the manufacturer listen to the recommendations of HR representatives and utility consultants or the construction controllers and local economic development officials? Opinions are infinite, but meaningful insights can be few and far between.
Watching Washington, January 2019: Prominently on Harry Truman’s Oval Office desk was a sign, “The buck stops here.” Newly confirmed members of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) may wish to reflect on that acknowledgment of accountability as they wade through a troubling backlog of unfinished rulemakings—some disregarded for years.
Apparently, only as a fortunate consequence of the partial federal government shutdown, the U.S. Senate returned to the Administration its three proposed appointees to Amtrak’s Board of Directors. Rather than an outright rejection, a fair question would be: Does the U.S. Senate operate in such a bubble that it acts like the House of Romanov that everything is fine with Amtrak? Is the Senate in such bi-partisan denial that it does not see Amtrak as a failing State-Owned Enterprise (SOE)?
New Jersey calls itself “The Crossroads of the Revolution” in its promotional literature and advertisements. Not only was it centrally located during America’s War for Independence, but its troops under George Washington were tested against both the heat and the British at the Battle of Monmouth in June, 1778 and against the coldest winter of the century, 1779-80, at Morristown. Both times, and on other occasions, it met the challenges and went on to help establish our nation.
A recent internal Transport Canada (TC) document warns of the safety risks posed by exhausted crew members on trains, even as Alberta pursues a plan to ratchet up already-booming shipments of crude by rail.
