The June 13, 2018 report from PFL Petroleum Services, a full-service railcar company covering the North American rail market (sales and leasing, loaded and empty storage, mobile railcar cleaning, blasting, scrapping and mobile repair) says that CBR (crude by rail) traffic is growing in the U.S. and Canada, albeit with some short-term headwinds.
Rail freight continues to benefit from tight trucking capacity as spot market demand for highway haulage exploded this month.
All politics is local, the saying goes, and U.S. railroads are taking their case for favorable public policy directly to the country’s local political influencers.
Among the Europe-based rail industry suppliers, the big are going to get bigger, it’s just going to take a little longer than expected.
HDR Vice President Maggie Walsh was recently appointed Chair of the WTS (Women’s Transportation Seminar) International Board of Directors. WTS, of which Walsh has been a member for 20 years, focuses on promoting equity and access for women in transportation careers. Her two-year term started in May.
North Carolina’s capitol will open a new train station later this month, as the city becomes the second-busiest Amtrak stop in the state.
A new handheld device packed with powerful computing and wireless capabilities is as rugged as the mobile railroad working environment it’s designed for.
Amtrak, working with BNSF, will the week of June 11 implement Positive Train Control (PTC) on BNSF-owned subdivisions that host the Southwest Chief and California Zephyr, marking the first activation on host-owned territory used by Amtrak. Full PTC activation on BNSF routes that host these two long-distance trains is expected by the end of August.
The CREATE (Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency) partners—Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), Cook County, Association of American Railroads (AAR), Metra, Amtrak and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP)—have received a $132 million U.S. Department of Transportation INFRA (Infrastructure For Rebuilding America) Grant for the $474 million 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project (CIP). This project will grade-separate several freight and passenger rail lines in Chicago’s Englewood, Auburn Gresham and West Chatham neighborhoods that currently intersect, creating significant delays and congestion.
The Railway Association of Canada (RAC) on June 11 appointed Marc Brazeau President and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 3, 2018. Brazeau succeeds Michael Bourque, President and CEO from April 2012 to November 2017. Gérald Gauthier has been running RAC in the interim.
