Tech Mahindra will launch a subscription-based Positive Train Control (PTC) digital training program customized for employees of short line railroads in the U.S. for American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) members.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), announced that it is publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The proposed rule will seek comment on changes to the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to authorize the transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by rail in the DOT-113 specification tank cars.
Are short lines offering a better customer experience than Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR)? The Class I railroad business seems to be all about the benefits of PSR. That’s the name of a cost minimization business strategy introduced more than a decade ago at CN, now expanding as the service model at five of the other six large North American railroad companies (Norfolk Southern, CSX, Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern and Canadian Pacific). Class I’s annually earn more than a Federal Railroad Administration-set threshold of $500 million in revenues.
Wabtec Corp. recently celebrated its 150th anniversary, as well as the grand opening of its new headquarters in Pittsburgh.
J.B. Hunt Transport’s (JBHT) third-quarter 2019 financials fell below expectations as, among other factors, “intermodal rail service appears to have improved, but not to the railroads’ goals associated with Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR),” according to Cowen and Company analysts Jason H. Seidl (Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor), Matt Elkott and Adam Kramer.
R. J. Corman Switching Company, LLC was awarded a contract to be the switching and transloading provider for the 137-acre multi-modal Hempstead Logistics Park owned by McAlister Assets and operated by RCR Rail Co. The Union Pacific-served logistics park is in Hempstead, Texas, approximately 50 miles northwest of Houston, Texas.
Metra announced a record-breaking capital investment over the next five years. The financial boost comes with no increase in train fares.
According to Cowen and Company freight transportation analysts Jason Seidl (Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor), Matt Elkott and Adam Kramer, inquiries about new railcars appear to have risen slightly in the past month, while locomotive modernizations should remain solid, in the midst of a continuing weak new-build market. Industry-wide Precision Scheduled Railroading implementation has not been tested in a volume growth environment.
RAILWAY AGE at RAILWAY INTERCHANGE 2019: Knox Kershaw Inc. debuted an all-new ballast regulator, the KBR-925. Marketing Manager Courtney Kershaw describes the machine’s numerous features and improvements, among them a touch-screen-operated control system, to Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono.
Railway Interchange 2019, the largest Rail Industry Conference and Exhibition in North America, is in the books. Each year the event, which was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center Sept. 21-25, aims to serve as the one-stop for innovation in rail technology and education.
