President Obama proposed a $302-billion, four-year surface transportation reauthorization effort while visiting the historic Union Depot train station in Saint Paul, Minn.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) sixth round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants is making $600 million available to fund transportation projects across the country.
Canadian National is reaching out to municipalities along its North American rail network to review its safety practices, share relevant information on dangerous goods traffic and discuss emergency response planning.
CSX‘s J&L Tunnel Modification Project in Pittsburgh, Pa., has won the Project of the Year Award from the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania (ESWP) and the Diamond Award for Engineering Excellence from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania (ACEC/PA), recognizing the project’s safe completion, sustainability, cost-effectiveness and community benefits.
Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) officials held the first of a series of public meetings on Monday, Feb. 24, introducing the public to the next step of the Chicago to St. Louis high-speed rail project and asking for feedback as it begins Tier 2 environmental studies.
Major freight railroads in the United States joined U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in announcing a rail operations safety initiative that will institute new voluntary operating practices for moving crude oil by rail.
Metrolink has begun a Positive Train Control (PTC) revenue service demonstration (RSD) under the authority of BNSF in California. Metrolink operated PTC RSD on Orange County Line train 686 February 20, however, the first revenue service train to offer the technology was 91 Line train 700 February 17.
Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman, while speaking to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce meeting on infrastructure, said freight railroads are “essential to driving America’s continued economic recovery.”
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has been asked by elected officials in New Hampshire and North Dakota to step up track inspections along routes that transport hazardous materials in an effort to insure rail safety to communities along the lines.
The Jacksonville Port Authority (JaxPort) in Florida has awarded The Dana B. Keynon Company a contract to design and build an intermodal container transfer facility (ICTF) at Dames Point to facilitate the direct transfer of containers between vessels and trains.
Canadian National‘s 2014 capital plan includes an investment of approximately CA$2.1 billion (US$1.9 billion) to continue to raise network safety and efficiency, improve service and grow the business.
Union Pacific Corporation Chairman James R. (Jim) Young, who worked his way from an entry-level finance position to chairman, president and chief executive officer, died Feb. 15, 2014, after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 61 years old.
A lifelong Omaha resident and the oldest of six children, Young was elected Union Pacific Corporation chairman in January 2007. He served as president and chief executive officer from November 2005 until March 2012. Prior to those appointments, Young was Union Pacific Railroad president and chief operating officer, a position he had held since January 2004. He was elected a director of Union Pacific Corporation in February 2005.
“Jim was an icon at Union Pacific and in the railroad industry, a colleague and great friend,” said Jack Koraleski, Union Pacific president and CEO. “Jim’s vision and leadership took Union Pacific to unparalleled heights and his civic contributions made positive impacts on many communities across Nebraska and the entire Union Pacific system. Most importantly, he was a dedicated and loving husband, father and grandfather. He will be greatly missed.”
“We are deeply saddened by Jim Young’s passing,” said Steve Rogel, Union Pacific lead director. “Jim’s commitment to Union Pacific’s mission and values, his tireless energy and infectious enthusiasm helped make Union Pacific an industry leader and made a lasting impression on everyone he met.”
Young was named Railway Age Railroader of the Year in 2013.
“As Jim Young so aptly puts it, ‘Union Pacific has evolved from the company that built America by building the first transcontinental railroad to one that today is critical to the global supply chain,'” said Railway Age editor-in-chief William C. Vantuono in January 2013. “For his vital role in that evolution, he is a deserving recipient of our Railroader of the Year award. Under the leadership of Young and such key team members as Jack Koraleski, the current President and CEO, UP recently has started to see what its franchise can deliver for customers, employees, communities, and shareholders.”
Young began his railroad career with Union Pacific in 1978 and held a variety of management positions. In 1997, he was named vice president – Customer Service Planning and Quality; in 1998 was named senior vice president and corporate treasurer of Union Pacific Corporation; and in December 1999 was named chief financial officer of Union Pacific Corporation.
He was a member and past chairman of the board for the Association of American Railroads, the Joslyn Art Museum and the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. He served on the boards of FXE Railroad in Mexico, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, The Knights of Aksarben Foundation, Heritage Services and Creighton University.
A graduate of the University of Nebraska Omaha, he and his wife, Shirley, established the Jim and Shirley Young Scholarship Program specifically designed to assist low-income students. The Youngs grew up in Omaha, graduated from Omaha South High School and led the community fundraising effort to install a new artificial turf field at the school’s Collin Field in 2009, marking the first time the school could host varsity football games since 1946.
He served as a Presbyterian Church Elder and coached youth football, basketball and baseball in Nebraska.
In addition to Shirley, Young is survived by three children and two grandchildren. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to pancreatic research in care of Dr. Jean Grem at the University of Nebraska Medical Center or the charity of their choice.
Union Pacific’s board of directors will elect a successor as chairman, as prescribed by the company’s governance policy.
The N.C. Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) Piedmont Improvement Program (PIP), a $520-million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project to improve the North Carolina Railroad Company (NCRR) corridor between Raleigh and Charlotte, celebrated a major milestone with the laying of the first section of track.
The Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority says that its 11.5-mile extension from Pasadena to Azusa is now more than halfway to project completion.
Transport Canada has proposed grade crossings regulations that would establish new safety standards for federally-regulated grade crossings.
Kansas City Southern (KCS) was prepared for a hard hit by Winter Storm Nika, which blanketed Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma with several inches of snow, while southern portions of the network experienced some snow, ice and unusually cold temperatures.
Union Pacific‘s Board of Directors approved its 2014 capital spending plan of approximately $3.9 billion, up about $300 million versus 2013, driven primarily by the acquisition of 200 locomotives compared to 100 locomotives purchased in 2013 and somewhat higher capacity investments.
CSX plans to build a new rail inspection yard in Hopkinsville-Christian County, Ken., which will support hundreds of local construction and trade jobs while being built and will initially provide more than 50 on-site jobs servicing the growing freight rail corridor that stretches from the Southeast to the Midwest.
In Portland, Ore., TriMet is requesting a mediator from the state’s Employment Relations Board (ERB) after the agency and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) failed to reach an agreement on wages and benefits.