A look ahead to automatic

Aug. 27, 2019, will arguably be one of the single most important days in North American freight railroading in recent history. On a test track at TTCI (Transportation Technology Center, Inc.) in

FRA

FRA NPRM aligns engineer, conductor certification

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recently announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to update the regulation that governs locomotive engineer qualification and certification to make it consistent with the corresponding regulation

Baltimore Penn Station

Amtrak advances Baltimore Penn Station project

Amtrak has executed a Master Development Agreement with Penn Station Partners to redevelop and expand historic Baltimore Penn Station on the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak plans to contribute up to $90 million toward

Commuter rail execs form new trade association

“Commuter rail,” says Metra CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski, “needs a distinct voice.” Derwinski and a group of current and former passenger rail industry executives led by former New York Metropolitan

Schaefer new NJT Chief Engineer, Capital Planning

Richard Schaefer, P.E., has joined New Jersey Transit as Chief Engineer in the Capital Planning and Program department.

NJT packs ’em in with $800MM in contracting plans

For New Jersey Transit, the days of subsisting on a starvation capital diet imposed by former Gov. Chris Christie appear over. On March 26, the agency hosted an open house for prime

Joe Calabrese

Calabrese joins Focused Technology Solutions

Forty-year transit industry veteran Joe Calabrese is joining Focused Technology Solutions, a division of The Marmon/Berkshire Hathaway Company, as Senior Advisor, effective April 1.

Railroads miss opportunity with 60 Minutes segment on PTC

“HOW SAFE ARE AMERICA’S RAILROADS? Lesley Stahl reports on a recent string of crashes on U.S. railroads and the delay in implementing life-saving technology that could have prevented them.” Oh brother. I

FRA pulls funding plug on California HSR

For all intents and purposes, California’s high-speed rail project is dead. At least that’s the consensus among several observers of the U.S. high-speed rail scene, which, sadly, appears to be based more

BNSF capex trackwork

BNSF 2019 capex: Up 5% to $3.57 billion

BNSF Railway will invest $3.57 billion in capital in 2019—a 5% increase from 2018—toward “maintaining and expanding its network with an unwavering focus on operating a safe railroad that meets customers’ demands.”

Brightine

Virgin Trains USA prepares for NASDAQ IPO

Virgin Trains USA announced Jan. 30 that it is launching an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 28,334,000 shares of common stock. The NASDAQ Global Select Market listing is expected to raise $17

Metrolink prepares for O&M contract

Metrolink, Southern California’s regional/commuter rail service, is preparing to release a request for proposals (RFP) for its first-ever combined O&M (operations and maintenance) contract, and will hold an event on Feb. 15

Quandel-Consultants-Sandy-Bushue

Bushue leads new Quandel Consultants DC office

Veteran transportation executive Sandy Bushue leads the new Washington D.C. office of national passenger and freight rail and rail transit firm Quandel Consultants. Bushue, the former Acting and Deputy Administrator of the

Patel and Stantec

WMATA’s Patel joins Stantec

Hitendra (Hiten) Patel, PE, former Deputy Chief of Construction and Design Engineering with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), has joined global design and engineering firm Stantec as a principal and

ENSCO Rail's Track Geometry Measurement System

Big Data conference: “Moving from talking to action”

The 2018 University of Delaware Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering “Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference,” held Dec. 13-14, spotlighted the progress the industry is making in dealing with Big

Tomlin joins Byford at NYCT

Long-time colleagues and fellow Englishmen Andy Byford and Pete Tomlin, who worked together on the London Underground and Toronto Transit Commission, will once again join forces, this time at MTA New York

NS names Ledoux VP Government Affairs

Norfolk Southern (NS) has named Marque I. Ledoux vice president Government Affairs, effective Jan. 1, 2019. He will replace the retiring Bruno Maestri.

FRA finalizes HSR rulemaking

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Nov. 21 issued a final rule establishing what it’s calling “modern, performance-based safety standards for railroad passenger equipment.”

Transit veteran jumps to Hyperloop

Jay Walder, who spent several years at the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in executive-level positions, has accepted the CEO post at Virgin Hyperloop One (VHO), one of several companies competing

AAR’s Fernandez-Willey to launch LRW webinar series

Association of American Railroads (AAR) Senior Economist Luisa Fernandez-Willey will host “U.S. Freight Railroads and the U.S. Economy,” the League of Railway Women’s (LRW) inaugural webinar in its new “Railroading 101” series.

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