STB Permits Amtrak to Access CSX Yard
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) on Nov. 29 decided that Amtrak may access CSX’s Choctaw Yard in Mobile, Ala., as part of its Gulf Coast service planning efforts.
High Performance
For Moynihan Train Hall Project, Refinanced TIFIA Loan
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau has refinanced and increased a direct TIFIA loan to Empire State Development for the Moynihan Train Hall project in New York City.
Former FTA Deputy Joins WSP USA
Kenneth Feldman has been hired to lead WSP USA Advisory’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Grant Practice for major transit projects, following 19 years of FTA service.
A Comprehensive History of Amtrak That Narrowly Misses Its Mark
BOOK REVIEW: Amtrak, America’s Railroad – Transportation’s Orphan and its Struggle for Survival. By Geoffrey Doughty, Jeffrey Darbee, and Eugene Harmon. Indiana University Press, 2021.
BLET, SMART-TD Challenge Amtrak on Vaccine Policy
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) have filed suit against Amtrak over implementation of its COVID-19 vaccine policy.
For Tom Prendergast, a New AECOM Role
AECOM has given Tom Prendergast a new role: New York Metro Executive, Design & Consulting Services business. Prendergast will be responsible for delivering projects across business lines and leading more than 3,000 staff within the states of New York and New Jersey.
GoRail: What IIJA Means for Railroads
On Nov. 15, President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), described by rail advocacy organization GoRail as “a momentous, bipartisan bill for fixing and improving U.S. roads, bridges, waterways, airports and other infrastructure systems, and reauthorizing surface transportation programs for the next five years.”
FRA Renews RSAC Charter
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has renewed the charter of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) for a two-year period. The renewed charter, or “recharter,” as FRA terms it, increases the number of represented organizations by three, from 23 to 26, and the number of individual voting members by 17, from 34 to 51.
Long Appointed RSI Head
The Railway Supply Institute (RSI) has appointed Patricia Long as its new President. She assumes her role effective Nov. 29. Long and her family reside in the greater Washington D.C. area; she will operate out of RSI headquarters there.
49 CFR Part 243 Training Costs: ROI Considerations
The costs railroads can save with simulation training recertifications are significant. Railroads have to meet recertification standards for FRA compliance, performing check-in training for safety reasons. However, if railroad workers aren’t able to accurately and immediately identify danger points, disaster is imminent.