Author: jrood

Watco adds Inselbuch as CFO, Baden moves to COO

Adam Inselbuch will join Watco as executive vice president and chief financial officer on July 11, 2011. Inselbuch will oversee the implementation of all financial aspects of Watco’s strategic plan and will be responsible for the finance, accounting, strategic sourcing and revenue accounting functions.

Inselbuch joins Watco from South Street Ventures, LLC, of New York where he served as managing director for the past year.

"We have worked with Adam on several projects and are confident that his experience and rail industry relationships will be an asset to Watco," said Watco President Terry Towner.

"Adam will be leading our finance and support teams that provide the information necessary for our Watco team to meet the daily needs of our Customers." Towner said.

Rick Baden, currently executive vice president and chief financial officer, will assume the role of executive vice president and chief operating officer with responsibilities for all business segments, as well as information technology, marketing and strategic analysis. Baden will also lead international operations.

Indiana Southern, IAM reach tentative agreement

The Indiana Southern Railroad and the International Association of Machinists reached a tentative collective-bargaining agreement on June 29, 2011, covering the craft and class of Mechanical and Maintenance of Way, according to the National Mediation Board.

SMART declares rail project is fundamentally sound and on track

In California, the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit acting Executive Director Farhad Mansourian issued a statement declaring that the future rail line in Marin and Sonoma is alive and well.

"When I took over as acting executive director, I promised the SMART Board of Directors that I would help reassess a variety of project assumptions, including construction costs and the financial picture and give them a status report," said Mansourian. "I’ve been doing exactly that and as in all large public works projects, there are many moving parts with new information emerging on a regular basis."

Mansourian is the public works director for Marin County who is on loan to SMART while the agency searches for a permanent general manager.

"SMART is a visionary, large-scale transportation project," stated SMART Chairwoman, Sonoma County Supervisor Valerie Brown. "Our acting executive director is examining every assumption and the risk factors associated with SMART. We are moving toward finalizing design, permitting and construction issues just as any project must."

"Prior attempts to trim $88 million to balance the SMART budget included some cuts that would produce short-term gain and long term pain," said Mansourian. "Therefore, I have examined options that would allow the SMART Board to reconsider some of these cuts, by exploring new revenue sources that do not involve asking the voters for more money."

Mansourian continued, "From concept to the stage we’re at (30 perent of design completed) is a complex, time-consuming cost refinement process. We are examining and analyzing the data and I am planning to bring full disclosure of the status of the project and its financing to a public meeting of the SMART board in August."

"The expertise and organizational change that SMART now has in place is exactly what has been needed," said SMART Vice-Chair, Marin County Supervisor Judy Arnold. "This is the critical element in restoring public confidence in the project. The entire SMART team is now committed to 100 percent transparency and the fiscal prudence that a project like this requires. I pledge to the public that the SMART Board is committed to executing the entire 70-mile project, starting with the Santa Rosa to San Rafael portion, in this same manner."

The voters of Marin and Sonoma passed a quarter-cent sales tax to fund the SMART service in 2008. SMART is planning the first leg of the system that will run between Santa Rosa and San Rafael, looking toward opening the rail service in2014.

RFQ issued for Ottawa LRT project

The City of Ottawa in Ontario Canada released a Request for Qualifications for Ottawa Light Rail Transit Project: Tunney’s Pasture to Blair Station as outlined and approved by City Council on May 25, 2011.

The document outlines the evaluation criteria that will be used to identify respondents with the skills and experience to deliver Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit project.

Respondents will need to demonstrate their success in design, management, construction, system integration, testing, commissioning and maintenance of high capacity Light Rail Transit projects of similar scope and size as the OLRT project.

An independent Fairness Commissioner will oversee the evaluation process to protect the city’s interests and ensure an equal playing field from potential bidders. There are also lobbying restrictions in place to prevent firms from lobbying council or staff outside of the formal submission process.

Respondents will have until September 13, 2011 to make submissions. The city will take one month to complete evaluations and will publish a short list of qualified respondents in October, 2011.

The pre-qualified respondents will be invited to respond to the OLRT Request for Proposal.

The RFP process will last nine months, after which the winning firm will complete negotiations with the city. The final contract is due to be signed by December 2012 and construction will be completed within five years.

KCS names three to upper management

Kansas City Southern has made three leadership changes within the sales and marketing department.

Natalie Putnam has joined KCS as vice president sales and marketing and is focused on running the U.S. chemical and petroleum and industrial and consumer business units.

Owen Zidar will continue as vice president sales and marketing with a change of focus from running the U.S. chemical and petroleum and industrial and consumer business units to national account development.

Darin Selby has been named assistant vice president energy markets. In addition to handling the coal business and shortline partner relations, his responsibilities now include developing business with the emerging energy markets, including crude oil, biofuels, biomass, frac sand and wind.

All three report to executive vice president sales and marketing Patrick M. Ottensmeyer.

"Together, these appointments help further align the sales and marketing organization to achieve KCS’ growth objectives," said David Starling, KCS president and chief executive officer. "Adding Natalie to the team and expanding the roles of Owen and Darin into new growth areas, validates our commitment to being the fastest growing railroad in North America."

Putnam has 29 years of transportation sales experience, 19 as an executive sales leader. She joins KCS from YRC Worldwide, where she has served as senior vice president transportation and logistics solutions since April 2010.

Zidar has 31 years of transportation sales experience. He joined the company as vice president sales and marketing for the carload business unit in 2005. Prior to KCS, he served as vice president of sales for the southwestern region of Pacer International and began his career with Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1980.

Selby was appointed assistant vice president of coal and short line partner relations in 2009. He will continue his leadership of these areas while adding emerging energy markets to his duties. He joined KCSR in 2001 as assistant trainmaster in Wylie

Tony Kinn appointed to head VDOT’s Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships

Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton selected Tony Kinn as director of the Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships (OTP3).

In his new role at the OTP3, Kinn will be responsible for developing and implementing a statewide program for transportation project delivery via the Virginia Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995.

Kinn currently serves as assistant vice president and director of corporate relations for the University of Virginia’s University Engineering Foundation.

"Virginia is a leader in public-private partnerships and we are committed to delivering much needed infrastructure improvements across all transportation modes," said Connaughton. "Tony has the background and expertise to further develop our program and proactively identify, assess and deliver the commonwealth’s priority transportation projects in a consistent, transparent, timely and cost-effective manner."

The OTP3 works in coordination with the secretary of transportation and all seven Virginia transportation agencies and focuses on the development of public-private projects across all modes of transportation.

 

TripAdvisor now provides access to train travel options

Popular travel site TripAdvisor announced the beta launch of rail itineraries into its flight meta-search engine, TripAdvisor Flights.

TripAdvisor has partnered with mobility and logistic company Deutsche Bahn, as well as other European rail providers including Rail Europe Inc., to give travelers access to train choices across continental Europe. It will be the first travel website to integrate multiple rail providers in line with flight options across a global network.

"With the integration of rail itineraries into TripAdvisor Flights, we now offer travelers not only the most comprehensive flight search on the web, but also an easy way to compare train options," said Bryan Saltzburg, general manager of TripAdvisor Flights. "This is especially helpful when planning a trip through Europe, where there are more high-speed rail options now than ever before and hundreds of millions of travelers opt for train travel each year."

When travelers conduct a flight search on TripAdvisor, the site will now display rail itineraries alongside flight choices for routes where it’s relevant and in some cases priced even cheaper than air travel, such as London to Paris, or Frankfurt to Brussels. Travelers will then be able to filter the search results according to their travel needs and conveniently click to complete the booking on the air or rail website of their choice.

In addition, travelers will be able to access all of the tools offered by TripAdvisor Flights, including the Fees Estimator, to easily compare the true cost of their flight and train options.

Rail itineraries for continental Europe are available starting July 6 through the TripAdvisor Flights meta-search engines in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, German and Spain, with itineraries in additional countries scheduled to launch on future dates.

Travelers can also shop rail itineraries when conducting flight searches through the free TripAdvisor mobile apps for the iPhone, Android, Nokia, Windows Phone 7 and Palm smartphones, the iPad and through the TripAdvisor mobile website.

 

Massachusetts awarded $72.8 million to cut travel times on Vermonter

Travel time on Amtrak’s Vermonter line will be cut by nearly 30 minutes through a $72.8 million federal grant to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The project will restore a rail line, improving 50 miles of track and infrastructure on a direct route from Springfield to East Northfield, Mass., along the Connecticut River Valley.

"Coupled with previous federal investments along the Vermonter line, these improvements will bring almost a one hour reduction in travel time for passengers traveling in Vermont and Massachusetts," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The Vermonter line operates between St. Albans, Vt., and Washington, D.C. and had a 16 percent ridership increase in 2010. Progress on the service began last year with a $50 million grant to the Vermont Agency of Transportation, improving 190 miles of track between St. Albans and Vernon, shaving 30 minutes off of travel time within Vermont. Long-term, the investments in Vermont and Massachusetts will also increase reliability and for future expansion of service in Montreal, Quebec.

APTA: Mica to reveal six-year surface transportation authorization bill this week

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL) plans to unveil details on his proposal for a six-year surface transportation authorization bill. In recent meetings with transportation industry leaders, Mica said that he will release bill text following the July 4th holiday, with formal introduction of the legislation to take place the week of July 11, and committee markup the week of July 25.

Limited to the confines of the House-passed budget resolution developed by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), which requires cuts in transportation programs of over 30 percent compared to current levels, the authorized funding level will be approximately $230 billion over six years. This is the funding level that the committee believes can be sustained by revenues deposited into the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) over that period, assuming no increases in revenue or additional general fund transfers. The bill will also authorize funding to be appropriated from the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury for specific programs.

It is anticipated that Mica’s bill will focus on program consolidation, streamlining the project delivery process and greater use of innovative financing and public-private partnerships. The bill is not expected to include his recent proposal to privatize passenger rail service in the Northeast Corridor.

Despite the uncertainty of floor time, Mica has said that he plans to release his bill. Action on authorization will be required before September 30, when the current extension of SAFETEA-LU expires.

 

U of I to test high-speed rail components

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is conducting a $3.3 million study on the performance of certain track components of shared passenger and heavy-axle-load corridors to make them both safer and more efficient.

The research to improve concrete crossties and fastening systems will be undertaken by the university’s Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC), part of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Illinois. It is sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration, which contributed approximately $2.4 million to perform the research. Industry partners will contribute the remaining $900,000.

"These joint corridors present unique challenges in terms of the design and maintenance of infrastructure. This research project is aimed at improving concrete tie and fastener design in order to increase safety and reliability and lower their life cycle cost," said CEE faculty member J. Riley Edwards, who is leading the study.

During the two-and-a-half-year study, researchers will conduct laboratory and field testing to compile empirically gathered performance data. Improved understanding of the tie and fastening system is expected to facilitate the development of performance requirements and design recommendations for concrete ties and fastening systems in the United States, specifically those used in joint passenger-freight railway infrastructure. They will also develop a centralized knowledge and document depository about concrete ties and fastening systems.

In addition to Edwards, the research team includes CEE professors Bassem Andrawes, Daniel Kuchma and David Lange and Research Engineer Marcus Dersch, a CEE alumnus.

The industry partners involved in the project include: Amtrak, BNSF, GIC Ingenieria y Construccion S.A. de C.V., Hanson Professional Services Inc., LB Foster Company, CXT Concrete Ties, Union Pacific and Unit Rail Inc./Amsted Rail Inc.

KCS marks 14th anniversary of Mexican railroad concession

Kansas City Southern celebrated the 14th anniversary since the concession to operate the railroad in Mexico on June 24.

The First Lady of Mexico, Margarita Zavala, sent a video of congratulations to KCS and acknowledged its importance to the Mexico economy.

In other news, KCS president and CEO Dave Starling traveled to Mexico, where he joined KCS Mexico President and Executive Representative Jose Zozaya on a tour of key KCS locations.

Starling and Zozaya also hosted Mayor Carlos de la Fuente Flores of San Nicolas de los Garza, Tamaulipas at the KCS offices in Monterrey, where they showed him the dispatch center, new finance building and business cars. The SCT and mayor authorized KCS to increase train speed on the line from 20 to 35 kilometers per hour (mph equivalents), which improves velocity and security.

Starling and Zozaya attended the opening ceremony for the new Country Park intermodal terminal in the State of Mexico as well.

Also, the KCS customer solutions team in Mexico was recently reorganized from multiple commodity groups into three: carload, agricultural/mineral and intermodal/automotive. KCS says the new organization results in more pro-active notifications and greater emphasis on providing strategic solutions to customer issues.

In the near future, the customer solutions team in Mexico will migrate to the same customer relationship management tool being used in the U.S. This transition will allow KCS management to see current and historical data for customers account activity on both sides of the border. The transparency will support greater accountability in meeting customers’ needs.

Houston Metro readies rail for Southeast Line extension

Houston Metro’s Southeast Line will be the first planned line extension to have rail installed. The track for this section of the new alignment will be welded from 80-foot sections into continuous 480-foot strings and embedded in reinforced concrete, which will serve as a foundation for the entire 6.6-mile line.

The 6.6-mile line will connect to the Main St./Red Line, the East End Line (currently under construction) and the planned University Line. Those lines, together with the North Line extension, will provide roughly 34 miles of service to Houston.

 

RMI releases RailDOCS

RMI has released RailDOCS Hours of Service, a new web-based software product to help railroads manage employee hours and comply with federal and railroad requirements.

RailDOCS Hours of Service allows for quick recording of employee work hours and provides real-time visibility on employee rest status and availability. RMI says RailDOCS Hours of Service complies with federal regulation 49CRF228, which limits consecutive work hours and mandates undisturbed rest periods and it provides an effective tool to help railroads manage human fatigue, one of the National Transportation Safety Board’s most critical safety issues.

RailDOCS Hours of Service meets the regulatory requirements for electronic signature and record keeping, and it offers railroad employees two ways to report service hours, online or via an interactive voice response system. It provides tools that support access to service records by the FRA and state inspectors and eliminates the need for a railroad to file excess monthly service reports once record keeping of employee hours is fully electronic.

 

Groundbreaking event kicks off construction of the Portland-Milwaukie light rail bridge

After nearly a decade of planning and community outreach, project partners celebrated the start of construction on the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge in Oregon on June 30. The bridge is the first to be built over the Willamette River in more than 40 years.

It is also the first of its kind, with light rail, buses, a future Portland streetcar and wide bike and pedestrian paths. No private vehicles will be allowed. The bridge alignment is SW Porter Street on the west side and SE Sherman Street on the east side.

U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Kurt Schrader attended the event along with other project partners.

"This project will continue our region’s proactive approach to transportation," said Rep. Blumenauer. "It provides thousands of jobs while improving connections for Southeast Portland and North Clackamas County. I applaud TriMet and our region for getting this project moving and I’m eager to see it get underway."

"The bridge and the overall project will link east and west, improve and expand transit, and most importantly, create up to 14,000 jobs when we most need them," said TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane.

The PMLR project is the second MAX extension into Clackamas County after the MAX Green Line opened in 2009.

The 7.3-mile project is the region’s sixth MAX construction project to be built and extends from the terminus of the MAX Green and Yellow lines at Portland State University to South Waterfront, Southeast Portland, Milwaukie and Park Avenue in Clackamas County.

The project includes 10 stations and will create up to 14,000 direct and indirect jobs and generate up to $573 million in personal earnings. Federal funds will pay for half of the $1.49 billion project; state and local partners are funding the balance. TriMet’s share is less than five percent of the project budget and will not be needed until FY2013. The line is set to open in September 2015.

The overall project is still in the final design phase. The Federal Transit Administration has approved early construction work on the bridge, as construction in the Willamette River is limited due to migrating fish. The "fish window" allows in-river work from July 1 through October 31 each year.

Construction of the bridge begins Friday, July 1.

UTA to introduce new TRAX vehicles into regular service

Starting July 7, Utah Transit Authority TRAX passengers will be able to ride the brand new S70 light rail vehicles in regular service.

The new TRAX vehicles will enter limited service on direct trains that operate from Fashion Place Station in Murray to the University of Utah Medical Center Station on weekdays. The new trains will be featured on 10 northbound and 10 southbound trips each day.

The new S70 vehicles are low-floor cars that allow riders to board straight from the platform without climbing stairs. Level boarding makes the vehicles more accessible to passengers with mobility aids, bicycles and strollers.

"We are excited to put some of our new S70 vehicles into service," UTA General Manager Michael Allegra said. "We believe our customers are really going to love the new features the cars offer."

Because the new vehicles have low floors, riders with limited mobility will no longer need to use the wheelchair ramps located at the ends of the station platforms. The new vehicles feature self-deploying ramps that will allow riders to board directly by pushing the button with the access symbol.

UTA purchased 77 of the new vehicles as part of UTA’s FrontLines 2015 rail expansion program. The vehicles have been commissioned and tested on the new Mid-Jordan and West Valley TRAX lines during the past few months. This is the first time they will carry passengers in revenue service.

The Mid-Jordan and West Valley TRAX lines are scheduled to open Aug. 7 and will operate exclusively with the new vehicles.

CSX unveils second ultra-low emission GenSet locomotive

Public and private sector representatives have unveiled New York’s second ultra-low emission GenSet locomotive. Jointly funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and CSX, the locomotive will be used at Selkirk Yard, significantly reducing nitrous oxide, particulate matter and carbon dioxide emissions in the area.

Skip Elliott, vice president, public safety and environment, CSX Transportation, said, "We are proud of our partnership with EPA and the State of New York, which helps us serve our customers and communities with the most efficient and environmentally friendly service every day."

The GenSet locomotive was purchased with a $1 million EPA award under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to the New York State Department of Transportation, made possible through the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. CSX funded the remaining $400,000 as part of its commitment to reducing emissions and using less fuel.

"Projects like this will literally help repower the Empire State," said Stanley Gee, executive deputy commissioner of NYSDOT. "This new locomotive, with three smaller engines that cycle on and off according to need, will reduce emissions and save diesel fuel as goods are moved efficiently across the state. This innovative technology is an example of Governor Cuomo’s goal of creating a new green economy with livable communities, new jobs and sustainable growth."

GenSet locomotives reduce nitrous oxide and particulate matter emissions by approximately 80 percent and can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent through technologies that monitor engine idling and switch to "sleep" mode after a period of inactivity.

 

SFMTA Board awards tunneling contract, names acting executive director/CEO

At its Board of Directors meeting, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency awarded the Central Subway tunneling contract, the largest construction package for the project, to Barnard Impregilo Healy, the lowest bidder in the amount of $233,584,015.

Last week, the United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration awarded the agency $20 million in New Starts funds for the 2011 Fiscal Year to keep the project moving forward. The Central Subway has received $95.9 million in federal funding to date.

"The Central Subway project is vital to connecting our city to our communities like never before," said San Francisco May Edwin Lee. "The project invests in jobs, in people and in our city with critical infrastructure that will improve transportation for all our residents and families."

The tunnel contract will allow for the development of approximately 8,240 feet of concrete guideway tunnels and procure two tunnel boring machines to be used for actual construction.

SFMTA Board Chairman Tom Nolan said, "The agency is pleased that the lowest bidder came in under the project engineer’s estimates and in these tough economic times, we realize that this project will be a shot in the arm to our local economy sparking economic development, job training and growth and in creating thousands of contracting opportunities for local businesses."

In other SFMTA news, it’s Board of Directors recently named Debra Johnson as acting executive director/CEO, replacing Nathaniel Ford.

Johnson will hold the position until a new placement can be made. Her role is effective as of July 1.

"Debra has more than 20 years of experience in the transportation industry and has a vast understanding of how the SFMTA works," said Board Chairman Tom Nolan. "She was the driving force behind the recent labor negotiations and she is trusted throughout the SFMTA and at City Hall as a person of great integrity. We are confident in her ability to move this agency forward during this time of change."

Johnson currently serves as the director of administration, taxis and accessible services for the SFMTA.

CSX announces VP appointments in finance, commercial

CSX Corporation has appointed three veteran leaders of the company to new positions.

Dean Piacente, currently vice president of chemicals and fertilizer, has been named vice president of finance. In this role he will be directly responsible for the overall financial management of the corporation, which includes budgeting, capital planning, forecasting, financial analysis and interfacing with business partners.

Fredrik Eliasson, currently vice president of emerging markets, has been named vice president of chemicals and fertilizer, responsible for CSX’s commercial activities in the chemicals, phosphates and fertilizers markets.

Derrick Smith, currently vice president of finance, returns to the sales and marketing department as vice president of emerging markets. In this role he will be responsible for CSX’s commercial activities in the aggregates, processed materials, waste, military and machinery markets. He also will have responsibility for TRANSFLO, CSX de Mexico, regional development, inside sales and international traffic through eastern and Gulf Coast ports.

"These changes are consistent with our tradition of building a strong, broad-based leadership organization focused on customer and employee excellence," said Michael Ward, CSX chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Dean, Fredrik and Derrick are exemplary leaders of CSX. Each brings a variety of experiences and strengths to his role."

 

RailComm to convert RailAmerica dispatching system to Software as a Service Model

RailAmerica has been using RailComm’s Domain Operations Controller train control system to dispatch multiple subdivisions for their railroads since 2002. The DOC System at Rail America’s American Rail Dispatch Center will soon be able to be accessed through a web-enabled software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery. SaaS provides a "pay-as-you-go" model, eliminating capital equipment procurement constraints.

Through this delivery, railroads can be remotely dispatched by RailAmerica wherever an internet connection is available. It is now possible to relocate dispatchers to alternative locations, if the need arises. RailAmerica management members can log in from their offices, homes, or even from hotels to directly view dispatching activities and obtain management reports.

Since the DOC control application resides on servers within the RailComm-managed data center in Rochester, N.Y., the requirement for local IT support at each railroad is greatly reduced.

Florida

Florida Governor Rick Scott has authorized the Department of Transportation on behalf of the State of Florida to sign the pending Full Funding Grant Agreement for the SunRail project in Central Florida.