SACRAMENTO — The California High-Speed Rail Authority has taken the next step in purchase of its first trainsets, with the authority’s board approving a Request for Proposals earlier this week for the first equipment that will operate on the line in the state’s Central Valley. Approval of the request means the Authority will solicit proposals […]
PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has “terminated with cause” its contract with the U.S. affiliate of Chinese railcar manufacturer CRRC for 45 bilevel commuter railcars, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The contract was awarded in 2017, and the first cars were to have been completed in 2019 [see “SEPTA awards bid for Chinese bilevel […]
WASHINGTON — A subcommittee of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee s has announced plans for a hearing next week on challenges facing the commuter rail industry. The Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee has scheduled the hearing for Wednesday, April 17, at 10 a.m. ET, chairman Troy Nehls (R-Texas) announced. The hearing will be […]
INOLA, Okla. — The Port of Inola debuted its new rail line, the 4.4-mile Verdigris Southern Railroad, this week, delivering a shipment of paper products to the port facility of tissue paper manufacturer Sofidel. KJRH-TV reports the $20 million project involved rebuilding existing infrastructure at the port, a 2,500-acre industrial park formerly belonging to the […]
McNEIL, Ark. — A member of a Union Pacific work crew was killed Thursday while repairing a washout on the railroad, KSLA-TV reports. The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office reports Danny Brent Wilkins, 43, of Rison, Ark., was struck and killed by machinery during repairs after two days of heavy rains. He was declared dead at […]
The industry would never admit it, but the Federal Railroad Administration has given the Class I railroads a gift in the form of its proposed two-person train crew rule. Debate over the controversial rule has been framed almost entirely in safety terms. Having two people in the locomotive cab, the rule’s advocates say, is vital […]
Italian national rail company Trenitalia launched its latest hybrid passenger trains earlier this month on the scenic route from Taranto to Reggio Calabria on the nation’s southern coast. The trains, built by Hitachi in Italy, are claimed to be the world’s first four-mode hybrid trains — and while they are the first to enter service, […]
NEW YORK — Rob Free, who has served as acting president of the Long Island Rail Road since last October, was named to the position permanently by Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Janno Lieber on Thursday. Free, who began his career with the LIRR as a station cleaner 31 years ago, climbed the ranks to become […]
Four railroads have filed lawsuits in federal court to block the Federal Railroad Administration’s requirement for two-person crews for most freight trains, the Associated Press reports. Union Pacific, BNSF Railway, the Indiana Rail Road, and Florida East Coast Railway filed individual suits this week in different appellate courts, all saying the rule is arbitrary, capricious, […]
Former UPS executive Jim Barber Jr., an activist investor’s candidate to replace Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, says his experience at the parcel giant is directly applicable to a railroad. UPS’s package network relies on the very same principles as the low-cost Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model that Ancora Holdings wants to fully implement at […]
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific is not preserving dispatching information relevant to its handling of the Sunset Limited, Amtrak has claimed in a new filing with the Surface Transportation Board that asks the board to order UP to show cause why the railroad is not complying with an STB order to do so. The “petition to […]
DENVER — A bill that includes provisions to protect rail lines for Colorado’s proposed Denver-Craig rail service, even if coal traffic drops below sustainable levels, has cleared its first step in the state Senate. SB24-190, sponsored by Sen. Dylan Roberts (D-Frisco), also enhances the ability of the state to sell the Moffat Tunnel, which it […]
