As reported by Railway Age, Troy, N.Y.-based International Electronic Machines Corporation (IEM Corp.) has attained “Substantial Completion” status for its installation of a state-of-the art Vibration Monitoring System for Sound Transit’s light rail system in Seattle, Wash.
Citing health reasons, CN President and Chief Executive Officer Claude Mongeau will step down on June 30, 2016. Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Luc Jobin will succeed him.
On Monday, April 11, 2016, Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. terminated its efforts to merge with Norfolk Southern Corp.. This includes “withdrawal of a resolution asking NS shareholders to vote in favor of good-faith negotiations between the two companies,” CP sais. “No further financial offers or overtures to meet with the NS board of directors are planned at this time.”
A major electrical cable fire in a tunnel just outside the Washington Metro McPherson Square station early Monday, March 14, 2016 has led to the entire Metrorail system shutting down for a 29-hour period beginning March 16 at 12:00 a.m. for emergency safety inspections of third-rail power cables.
Working within the three-year extension Congress granted in late 2015, the Association of American Railroads has set year-end 2016 goals for Positive Train Control implementation.
Association of American Railroads Senior Vice President-Law and General Counsel Louis P. Warchot has joined the Transportation practice of Sidley Austin LLP as counsel in its Washington, D.C. office.
Carl R. Ice, president and chief executive officer of BNSF Railway, has been named 2016 Railroader of the Year by railroad industry trade journal Railway Age. Ice is Railway Age‘s 53rd Railroader of the Year.
The Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) and representatives from Union Pacific, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), Amtrak, Fort Worth & Western Railroad (FW&W) and Regional Rail Right-of-Way Co. on Dec. 28, 2015 signed a shared-use operating agreement for the TEX Rail commuter rail line, slated to begin service in 2018.
Canadian Pacific’s pursuit of Norfolk Southern has taken on the tone of a rough-and-tumble yet well-intentioned star athlete pulling out all the stops to capture the heart of his dream woman, a relationship-shy political science major who continues to resist her suitor’s advances with perfectly logical yet unemotional reasons why the two aren’t right for each other.
Refuting practically every purported benefit that Canadian Pacific has given, and citing substantial regulatory risks and uncertainties as well as many other negatives, Norfolk Southern on Dec. 4, 2015 loudly and firmly rejected CP’s proposal to merge the two railroads into a transcontinental.
The House of Representatives on Oct. 27, 2015 approved H.R. 3819, The Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2015, legislation that funds and extends the authorization for federal highway and transit programs through Nov. 20, but more important, extends the deadline for implementation of Positive Train Control by at least three years. The bill now goes to the Senate, which has two days to consider it—with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) vehemently opposed.
Broomfield, Colo.-based Encore Rail Systems, Inc., a single-source provider of tie plugging and rail seat abrasion prevention and repair equipment and compounds, on Sept. 2, 2015 announced the retirement of Doug Delmonico, the company’s Founder.
Lindsey Collins has joined the NRC (National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association) as Vice President of Grassroots Advocacy.
After nearly 60 years with Railway Age, and at the age of 88, Senior Consulting Editor Luther Sigsbee Miller has retired from Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp.
J. Reilly McCarren, one of the most accomplished and respected railroaders of the past 35 years, died April 26, 2015 at his Kenilworth, Ill., home after a long battle with cancer. He was 58.
The U.S. railroad industry has been scrambling since 2008 to meet the requirements of an unfunded federal government mandate—namely, having Positive Train Control installed and fully operational by Dec. 31, 2015 on 60,000 miles of track where hazmat and passenger trains operate. Parallel to the PTC initiative has been a battle waged on Capitol Hill to extend the end-of-the-year deadline. That effort may be paying off, and the railroads may one day be grateful that they have a Thune on their side.
Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph C. Szabo will be stepping down from the post he has held since April 2009 and, effective Jan. 1, 2015, will be on staff at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP)—effectively returning to his Chicagoland roots.
InnoTrans 2014 is shaping up to be the largest-ever of this biennial global railway trade show, which attracts close to 3,000 companies representing every railway discipline.
The Metro Transit Interchange/Target Field Station multi-modal transportation hub in Minneapolis, which opened May 17, 2014, links light-rail transit, regional rail and bus service and contains a civic space for retailers, an amphitheater and green space.
In June 2014, the Railway Tie Association (RTA) and the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) will host joint activities that will provide educational and networking opportunities relating to crossties and fastening systems. These events are expected to draw domestic and international attendees that include rail infrastructure component designers, manufacturers, researchers, and end users such as Class I’s and transit operators.
