NARS: Elections, Honors and Awards
The North American Rail Shippers Association (NARS) elected new officers, honored members and awarded scholarships at its annual meeting last month in Kansas City, Mo.
Commuter Regional
Senate confirms Batory as FRA Administrator
The Senate by voice vote early Tuesday evening, Feb. 13, confirmed Ronald Batory as Federal Railroad Administrator, the nation’s rail safety watchdog agency.
Acting FRA chief Hall resigns
Heath Hall, the acting administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, the nation’s rail safety watchdog, resigned Feb. 11 amid allegations that he was working a second job as a public relations consultant.
En voiture! Montreal REM on the move
Montreal’s futuristic, for-profit passenger railway system, Réseau express métropolitain (REM), moved from concept to concrete Feb. 8 with the award of $C6.3 billion of construction contracts by its owner-operator, Caisse de dépot et placement, Quebec’s huge public pension fund.
Century-old tunnel chokepoint for Canadian passenger projects
A 100-year-old tunnel through Mont-Royal has become a choke point for parallel projects to build new intercity and regional commuter railways radiating from Montreal’s Central Station.
California Senate boosts CalMod program
California Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the statewide transportation funding legislation signed into law in 2017, is now providing Caltrain with funding necessary to continue work on Caltrain Electrification, a key component of the Caltrain Modernization Program (CalMod) to electrify the Caltrain corridor from San Francisco’s 4th and King Station to approximately the Tamien Station in San Jose, and convert diesel-hauled trains to EMUs (electric multiple units).
Commentary
NJT a “national disgrace”? No way!
As is the tradition in New Jersey, the state I’ve called home since birth, the incoming governor 1) trashes New Jersey Transit and 2) proceeds to “fix” everything by cleaning house and starting fresh. This political circus has been going on since the state took over a collapsing commuter rail system in the early 1980s. So what else is new?
HNTB elevates Sweeny to EVP
HNTB Corp. has named Michael Sweeney, P.E., an Executive Vice President after holding various high-profile leadership positions since joining the company in 2012, including New York office leader and Northeast Division president. He continues to serve as Eastern U.S. Region president, overseeing more than 2,000 professionals in the firm’s Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast Divisions.
Development extended for BART Silicon Valley project
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has granted The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (SCVTA) a three-month extension to complete the Federal New Starts funding program’s project development phase.
Hudson to WSP Dallas rail
Scott Hudson has been named senior transit and rail manager in the Dallas office of WSP USA, formerly WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, the engineering and professional services consultancy.