BNSF, Wabtec Advancing the Future of Motive Power
In a wide-ranging interview with Railway Age in December 2018, BNSF’s then-Executive Chairman Matt Rose had this to say about the future of locomotive propulsion technology:
C&S
What Happened to Stop, Look and Listen?
The news on July 26, 2019 of the derailment at speed of Amtrak 393 at University Park, Ill., due to a careless truck driver created a PTSD-like reaction for me. Instantaneously, I thought back to the derailment of Amtrak 59 at Bourbonnais, Ill., the night of March 15, 1999. Despite denials, this wreck was due to the overt negligence of a driver attempting to beat fully functional grade crossing warning devices with a truck loaded with 22 tons of steel pipe. Regrettably, the driver’s reckless behavior resulted in 11 people killed; much equipment was destroyed in the ensuing fire.
Wabtec Offering Additional GE Shares
Wabtec Corp. recently filed a 20,485,156 share offering of GE, and expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,048,515 shares. Wabtec said it will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares in the offering.
Gehl Named RECO COO
Railway Equipment Co. (RECO) has named Russ Gehl as Chief Operating Officer, with leadership responsibility for all operations at the company’s headquarters in Minnesota. He rejoins RECO after serving as Vice President of Maintenance-of-Way Sales at Holland Company, “where he drove consistent growth for Class I and International,” the company said.
Commuter Rail Coalition Testifies Before Congress
Commuter Rail Coalition chair and Metra CEO Jim Derwinski recently testified before the Senate Commerce Committee, where he requested a new grant program specifically for commuter railroads that are struggling to meet the resource demands of implementing Positive Train Control (PTC).
Alexy named FRA chief safety officer
Karl Alexy has been named the Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). He was most recently the FRA’s Deputy Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and had responsibility for the Office of Safety Analysis, the Office of Technical Oversight and the Office of Regional Operations.
Reese Tabbed As Bytemark COO
Bytemark, Inc., a pioneer in mobile commerce ticketing and integration for the mass transit industry, recently announced the appointment of Eric Reese as Chief Operating Officer.
Reading & Northern Promotes Two
Reading & Northern Railroad recently announced the promotions of Jonathan Barket to Vice President of Communications and Signals and Matthew Collins to Assistant Vice President of Communications and Signals.
Morrison to serve as HDR freight tech leader
Engineering firm HDR, Inc. recently announced that Doug Morrison has joined the company as Freight Technology Leader.
Wabtec to provide PTC for Iowa Northern
Wabtec Corp. recently announced that it was selected to provide fully integrated Positive Train Control (PTC), digital imaging, and data transfer and analytics capabilities for Iowa Northern Railway Company.