Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response (TRANSCAER), a voluntary national outreach effort that focuses on assisting communities to prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous materials transportation incident, awarded six Class 1 railroads for its 2011 National Awards Recognition Program.
Following work set to begin April 16, Amtrak Wolverine Service and Blue Water passengers can expect normal travel times on Norfolk Southern tracks in Michigan by early May.
The Illinois Department of Transportation is committing $2.2 million to complete the engineering and design plans for replacing the BNSF viaduct over Illinois Route 29 in Chillicothe, Ill.
The project will replace the two existing viaducts with a single structure carrying three mainline tracks, a yard track, a service road and a pedestrian walkway.
The first unit train pulled in to the Port Arthur, Texas, GT OmniPort on April 3. The arrival of this train indicates that the rail terminal is now open for business.
Progress Rail Services Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., has hired Tim Heilig as senior vice president of customer solutions. In this role, Heilig will work with Progress Rail Services and its subsidiary, Electro-Motive Diesel, to enhance the companies’ many products and services. Additionally, he will be involved in helping develop new products.
Canadian National has a new steel-wheel-interchange service with CSX Transportation over Chicago. The service gives container imports moving over CN’s network from the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, B.C., efficient access to key Ohio Valley markets.
CSX Transportation says it is looking to fill 150 positions in Tennessee, mostly in and around Nashville; 140 jobs in Maryland, mainly in Baltimore and Cumberland and 90 positions in Alabama, primarily in Birmingham.
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Last week, a Kansas City Southern production gang completed a 50-day effort to install 100,000 crossties and 4.5 track miles of new rail to replace the 112-pound rail in curves. The production gang also renewed crossings and surfaced the track between mileposts 22 and 147 (approximately West Killam to Robstown, Texas) on the Laredo Subdivision.
Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., added North American railroad operations executive, Stephen Tobias, as the seventh nominee for the Canadian Pacific Board of Directors.
The Illinois Department of Transportation and Union Pacific will be upgrading Illinois’ high-speed route, Chicago-St. Louis, for future high-speed Amtrak trains, from April 16 through May 25. The improvements for 110-mph service include the installation of new premium rail with concrete crossties and ballast; upgrades to bridges, culverts and drainage; signal and wayside equipment installations and upgrades and roadway-rail grade crossing improvements.
The City of Charlotte, N.C., signed a lease agreement with Norfolk Southern Corporation, a move that will kick off construction of Charlotte’s new regional intermodal facility at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). Once operational, the facility is expected to generate $9 billion in economic impact over the next 20 years.
Canadian National sold two rail line segments in the Greater Toronto Area to Metrolinx for C$310.5 million (US$311.6 million).
GO Transit’s Richmond Hill commuter rail service operates over a portion of CN’s Bala Subdivision. Metrolinx is acquiring a segment of the subdivision from approximately Rosedale Valley Road north through the Don Valley to CN’s main east-west freight line north of Steeles Avenue near the Toronto-York Region border.
A new report released by the U.S. Department of Treasury with the Council of Economic Advisers finds that now is the key time to invest in infrastructure to create middle-class jobs, increase long-term competitiveness and support a more secure energy future.
After setting performance records in 2011, Norfolk Southern Corporation looks ahead to its 30th anniversary in 2012 and beyond “with confidence, optimism and a great deal of enthusiasm,” CEO Wick Moorman told stockholders in the 2011 annual report, posted on the company’s website.
John Orrison has joined HDR as the practice leader for railroad operations. He is based in the firm’s Fort Worth, Texas, office. His responsibilities include developing and expanding HDR’s freight rail program in North America and abroad.
Union Pacific is enhancing Nebraska’s transportation infrastructure by investing $8.7 million in the rail line that runs between Sarben and Joyce. The project is in progress and is scheduled to be completed by the end of August.
Effective March 15, 2012, Norfolk Southern lowered the railroad operating speed limits on certain sections of the Michigan Line between Dearborn and Kalamazoo that handle both Amtrak’s passenger service and Norfolk Southern’s freight service. These lower speed limits, 25-30 mph, have been imposed to reflect the maximum safe operating speeds for the line, given the line’s condition.
Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo visited the Port of Vancouver to review early construction work on a critical rail connection that will link the Port of Vancouver to BNSF Railway’s east-west mainline.