RAILWAY AGE MAY 2021 ISSUE: As part of the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) Strategic Research Initiatives program, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) investigated the effects of tread braking on wheel wear and tread surface damage by monitoring the performance of three articulated five-unit well cars and five coal hopper cars with disabled brakes operating in otherwise normal revenue service conditions.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) “stands ready” to work with Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS) and other stakeholders to restore “long overdue” passenger service between New Orleans and Mobile, it wrote in a recent Surface Transportation Board (STB) filing.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will make available to Amtrak more than $1.69 billion in COVID-19 relief funding, provided under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021.
As largely expected, President Joe Biden will nominate current Deputy Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose as FRA Administrator, the White House announced April 23.
Resurrecting a position that was abolished more than 40 years ago, the U.S. Department of Transportation is appointing a Chief Science Officer for the entire agency, and has taken additional steps “to act on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to address the climate emergency and restore scientific integrity.” And the Federal Transit Administration has made available $10 million in TOD (transit-oriented development) planning grant funds.
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has established an in-house Passenger Rail Working Group to ensure it can meet its PRIIA obligation to assess Amtrak on-time performance data, which the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will begin reporting later this year.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is conducting what it describes as “a first of its kind” nationwide small, minority-owned and woman-owned “business disparity study” whose intent is to determine “whether the playing field is level” for firms bidding on subcontracts from grantees receiving FRA funds.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has proposed collecting trespassing data from law enforcement agencies to help determine root causes and reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on railroad property.
Management of the Pueblo, Colo.-based Transportation Technology Center (TTC) will move to a new vendor as of October 2022.
The R.J. Corman Railroad Group, LLC named Ronald L. (Ron) Batory, former FRA Administrator, to the Board of Directors on Feb. 1.
