Low Level Road Project completion clears way for additional train capacity
The Low Level Road Project in North Vancouver, BC, Canada, is now complete.
The Low Level Road Project in North Vancouver, BC, Canada, is now complete.
Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) has introduced legislation he says will provide a dedicated revenue source to invest in rebuilding crumbling freight infrastructure.
Reps. Dan Lipinski (D-IL-3) and Mike Quigley (D-IL-5) introduced the Reassuring Adequate Investment in Lifesaving Systems (RAILS) Act, which reauthorizes the Rail Safety Technology Grant program to improve the safety of the nation’s railroads.
U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who serve as the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, introduced S. 808, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) Reauthorization Act of 2015.
U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) introduced the Track, Railroad, and Infrastructure Network (TRAIN) Act, which the senators say will reform the environmental permitting process for rail projects in order to facilitate a more efficient way to approve rail infrastructure.
Norfolk Southern held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the expansion of its “Railroad University” and redoubled its commitment to superior transportation services for its present and future rail customers.
Members of the Unifor shopcraft group representing 2,100 Canadian National car mechanics, heavy-duty equipment mechanics and electricians, have ratified a four-year labor agreement.
Canadian National plans to build a CA$250-million ($US200-million) intermodal and logistics hub adjacent to its mainline in Milton, ON, located approximately 30 miles west of Toronto. Milton has ready access to major highways reaching key industrial and commercial areas in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).
Kansas City Southern is investing approximately $18 million in construction and improvement projects on its Laredo Subdivision from Laredo to Corpus Christi, Texas.
Unifor ratified agreements with Canadian National, including the clerical/intermodal, Savage Alberta Railway, excavator-operator and CNTL owner-operator collective agreements. CN is awaiting the results from the mechanical bargaining unit represented by Unifor Local 100R.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton proposed 75 grade-crossing projects to improve safety and improve congestion across the state.
U.S. Rep. and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Jeff Denham (R-CA) joined representatives from HDR, Inc., and the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) for a tour of the Colton Crossing Rail-to-Rail Grade Separation Project.
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.
Norfolk Southern named James Squires chief executive officer, succeeding Wick Moorman. The action by the company’s board of directors is part of its planned succession process and will be effective June 1, 2015.
Implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) technology on Kansas City Southern is a major, ongoing initiative, especially for the Signal, Mechanical, IT and Telecommunications groups, the railroad says. The railroad provided an update on its progress of PTC implementation in an employee newsletter.
BNSF continues to detail plans for its $6-billion capital program with $141 million estimated to be spent in California and $103 million in Kansas.
BNSF‘s 2015 capital program for its operations in Oklahoma will be an estimated $118 million for rail maintenance and capacity improvement projects.
BNSF detailed more of its plans for its record-setting $6-billion capital program with $124 million estimated to be spend in Montana and $141 million in Colorado.
In its investigation report, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) determined that numerous rail fractures led to the October 2013 derailment and fire involving a Canadian National (CN) train in Gainford, Alberta.
On October 19, 2013, a CN freight train, travelling from Edmonton, Alberta, to Vancouver, British Columbia, derailed 13 cars, including four DOT 111 tank cars containing petroleum crude oil and nine DOT 112 tank cars containing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the siding at Gainford, Alberta. Two LPG tank cars were breached during the derailment and caught fire and a third LPG car released product from its safety valve which ignited. About 600 feet of track was destroyed and a house located directly north of the derailment site was damaged by the fire.
The investigation determined that the train derailed when one or more rail breaks occurred in the high rail as the train travelled through the curve in the Gainford siding. TSB said numerous defects were found along the length of the high rail in the curve. A rail-flaw detection test through the area two months earlier had not identified these defects. In March 2013, the low rail had been replaced with a new rail that reduced the curve’s superelevation. TSB noted that in this situation, more stress was placed on the high rail, increasing the risk of rail defect development and failure.
One of the DOT 112 tank cars carrying LPG was punctured in the underside by the coupler from another car. This caused it to release its load and explode. None of the DOT 111 tank cars, which were built to the CPC-1232 standard, released petroleum crude oil, as the cars derailed in a line on their sides and did not suffer secondary impacts.
Following the occurrence, CN conducted walking inspections and rail-flaw detection re-testing on all 25 mph sidings. Speed was reduced to 15 mph in these sidings until they were retested. Rail grinding within these sidings was also programmed to remove rail surface defects.
Canadian National and Unifor have negotiated a tentative labor agreement with the Unifor union. As a result, CN has withdrawn its lockout notice to Unifor, which would have come effective at 11p.m. local time tonight in the absence of a settlement.