Thursday morning news on railroad awards and other recognition:
CN, CSX, CP named to Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Canadian National, CSX Transportation, and Canadian Pacific have been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which measures companies on environmental, social, governance, and economic critiera. CN says in a news release that it is its 12th straight year on the North America index and ninth on the World index. CSX is on the North America index for the 10th consecutive year and is among the top 15 transportation infrastructure companies worldwide. More on CSX and the index is available here. CP has joined the North America list after issuing its first public statement on climate change earlier this year, and was recognized among a record number of participants in the 2020 Corporate Sustainability Assessment. More information from CP is available here.
Railway Association of Canada announces safety awards
The Railway Association of Canada has announced the six winners of its 2020 Rail Safety Awards, announced annually and chosen from member submissions. Receiving awards are:
— Canadian National for its Winter Readiness initiative to improve safety at customer facilities through webinars informing customers on common winter issues and how to maintain their tracks.
— Canadian Pacific for its electromagnetic field-based wheel inspection system, which detects subsurface conditions that could lead to a broken wheel. Similar sensors are now being attached to rolling stock to inspect railheads.
— Cando Rail Services for its SwitchSmart initiative, an employee-driven campaign to foster safe switching practices. Ambassadors representing five industries visit sites to promote and deliver the SwitchSmart message through a video and interactive delivery.
— Southern Railway of British Columbia for creation of a close-call incident reporting system administered entirely by employees, to identify non-reportable incidents which can be indicators of other issues.
— Toronto’s Metrolinx for its COVID-19 Incident Command Team, which first convened before there were any confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Canada, and manages mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, and restoration of normal service.
— VIA Rail Canada for its Manual Handling program in the mechanical department, to correct ergonomic issues and prevent injuries. The program also addresses slips, trips, and falls, among the leading cause of workplace injuries.
More details on each of the award winners is available here.
California light rail firm receives global ‘manufacturer of the year’ award
Chatsworth, Calif., based light rail manufacturer TIG/m was named “manufacturer of the year” at the recent Global Light Rail awards, and also honored in the “Environmental and Sustainability Initiative” and highly commended in “Customer Initiative.” The award reflected the manufacturer’s work on the self-powered cars for the Doha, Qatar, Msheireb Tram, a 1.6, mile, nine-station loop, according to Qatar newspaper The Peninsula. The cars operate without an overhead wire and carry power for a full day of service onboard. TIG/m supplies self-powered trams, tramway infrastructure, and system services to projects at locations worldwide and is about to begin work on a project in Riverside, Calif.
