CSX Corporation and Norfolk Southern have both been named CivilianJobs.com’s Most Valuable Employers for Military.
United Transportation Union-represented trainmen and engineers on Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Railroad have ratified a new five-year agreement.
Lowe’s Home Improvement named Union Pacific its 2011 Rail Carrier of the Year at its Global Transportation Conference. Lowe’s based its selection on Union Pacific’s commitment to customer service and its ability to provide a variety of products.
RailComm has provided remote control for a New England Central Railroad bridge. RailComm’s Domain Operations Controller System is used to dispatch the railroad and has been modified to include control of the bridge.
The American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association has named Tyrone James, vice president of Safety & Compliance at Genesee & Wyoming, as the winner of this year’s Safety Professional of the Year Award. ASLRRA also announced that Aaron Willet, superintendent of Operations at the Illinois Railway, as the winner of its 2012 Safety Person of the Year award.
Railroads with the industry’s best safety performance records were honored at the annual E.H. Harriman Awards ceremony, which also marked the industry’s near century long commitment to safety and innovation with the Centennial Award.
The Surface Transportation Board said the Michigan Department of Transportation does not need board approval to acquire certain physical assets of a Norfolk Southern rail line in Michigan to enable MDOT’s plans for high-speed passenger rail service over the line.
Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have unanimously ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the Great Western Railway of Colorado. The three-year agreement runs through February 15, 2015, and includes a lump sum allowance that is retroactive to July 1, 2008.
Southern California’s Metrolink Chief Executive Officer, John Fenton will step down from his post at Metrolink after leading a two-year comprehensive reorganization that has put in place new leadership, policies and standards that have increased ridership and enhanced safety in the region.
SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners, an independent investment management firm focused on investment and asset management services within the infrastructure asset class in North America, has agreed to acquire 100 percent of the capital stock of Patriot Rail Corp. through its dedicated infrastructure investment vehicle SteelRiver Infrastructure Fund North America LP.
From April 30 to May 6 this year, Operation Lifesaver’s Rail Safety Week raised public awareness and encouraged Canadians to take personal responsibility for safety near rail property.
Kansas City Southern appointed Michael Naatz as senior vice president and chief information officer with responsibility for information technology and business planning. Naatz will report to KCS president and chief executive officer David Starling.
“Mike is a great addition to the KCS team,” said Starling. “His extensive transportation leadership experience will enhance our information technology efforts and business planning capabilities.”
Naatz has 18 years of transportation experience. He joins KCS from USF Holland, a YRCW company, where he served as president for the past year. Since USF was acquired by YRCW in 2005, he held the position of chief information and service officer, as well as a variety of other leadership positions for YRCW, including customer service and enterprise management. Prior to the acquisition, he held similar positions with USF for 11 years.
Canadian National Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Jean-Jacques Ruest made senior marketing changes May 7 which are effective immediately.
On Thursday May 10, 2012, the OneRail Coalition will host a briefing on “The American Rail Industry: Investing in Infrastructure, Creating Jobs” at 2:00pm in the Capitol Visitor Center, Meeting Room North (CVC 268).
Illinois, Indiana and Michigan have agreed to move forward with a comprehensive study that will help determine ways to reduce rail congestion and let trains achieve higher speeds along the Chicago-to-Detroit high-speed rail corridor.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation received $6.75 million from the Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery III program to rehabilitate 49 miles of state-owned rail line between Elk City and Sayre, Okla., in the Anadarko Basin.
HDR, Inc., has acquired the business of Stetson Engineering, Inc., a Wyoming-based firm with offices in Gillette and Riverton. Stetson Engineering, Inc., specializes in design, engineering and consulting services related to water, sewer, storm sewer, hydrology and transportation.
Ahmed El-Aassar, Ph.D., INCE, ASA, a vice president with Environmental Acoustics, Inc., an affiliate firm of Gannett Fleming specializing in noise and air quality, has been recognized by CSX Transportation with an Outstanding Service Award in the Environmental Services Category. Based in the firm’s Lemoyne, Pa., office, El-Aassar serves as a project manager for noise and air quality projects.
Lilee Systems, provider of communication systems designed exclusively for the railroad industry, has achieved Red Hat Hardware Certification for the company’s WMS-2000 wayside messaging server, making it the first wayside messaging server with internal 3G, GPS and IP KVM options to achieve Red Hat certification. Now, Lilee says customers deploying WMS-2000 with embedded Red Hat Enterprise Linux are offered proven performance and reliability.
BNSF plans to invest an estimated $202 million on maintenance and rail capacity improvement and expansion projects in Nebraska this year.