Southern California Triple Track Project breaks ground
Caltrans, BNSF and Amtrak broke ground on a $38 million rail project that will add 3.8 additional miles of track to the Los Angeles area, increasing efficiency and rail capacity.
Caltrans, BNSF and Amtrak broke ground on a $38 million rail project that will add 3.8 additional miles of track to the Los Angeles area, increasing efficiency and rail capacity.
Norfolk Southern broke ground on the Charlotte Regional Intermodal Facility at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The facility, which will transfer trailers and containers between trucks and trains, will be capable of 200,000 lifts per year and will replace Norfolk Southern’s existing intermodal facility in downtown Charlotte.
Kansas City Southern’s subsidiary, The Kansas City Southern Railway Company, received the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care Partner Award on April 30 at the 21st annual Responsible Care Conference and Expo in Hollywood, Fla.
Jacksonville, Fla.-based RailAmerica, Inc., has officially completed its acquisition of Marquette Rail LLC for approximately $40 million. Marquette Rail is based in Ludington, Mich.
Genesee & Wyoming Inc.’s newly-formed subsidiary, the Columbus & Chattahoochee Railroad, Inc., signed an agreement with Norfolk Southern to lease and operate a 26-mile segment of NS track that runs from Girard, Ala., to Mahrt, Ala. The CCR will interchange with NS in Columbus, Ga., where GWI’s Georgia Southwestern Railroad also has operations.
Patriot Rail Corp. newly-formed rail subsidiary, Kingman Terminal Railroad has been awarded a long-term license agreement to provide rail operating services to customers at the Kingman Airport & Industrial Park, located in Mohave County, Ariz.
Koppers Inc. and Union Pacific agreed to extend their existing sales contract for an additional five years through January 31, 2017. Koppers provides treated railroad crossties and other railroad-related products and services to Union Pacific.
Baltimore, Md., Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake urged CSX Transportation to abandon locating a proposed multi-million dollar Baltimore-Washington Rail Intermodal Facility in suburban Maryland and instead begin working immediately to identify an appropriate site within the city of Baltimore.
California’s North County Transit District, through its contract with Herzog Transit Service, Inc., will assume dispatching responsibility for the 60-mile coastal rail line that begins at the Santa Fe Depot in San Diego County and ends at the Orange County line.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved construction authorization from the Ohio Rail Development Commission directing CSX Transportation to install flashing lights and gates at three grade crossings in Freedom Township, Wood County.
The California Transportation Commission has allocated $950,000 for the Pacific Surfliner-Sea Cliff Siding and Track Realignment project in Ventura County to complete preliminary design and environmental review on the rail subdivision approximately 17 miles south of Santa Barbara.
With trespassing being the leading cause of rail-related fatalities in the United States, Canadian National is marking Rail Safety Week through May 6, 2012, with a public awareness campaign stressing the deadly risks of trespassing on railway tracks and property. CN police are urging the public to call CN Police at 1- 800-465-9239 to report unsafe behavior on railway property.
BNSF honored the accomplishments of employees from across its network at a recent awards ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas. The event recognized BNSF’s Safety Employees of the Year, Achievement Award winners and the “Best of the Best” leaders of teams that showed outstanding safety performance in 2011.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics added a new safety section to the Multimodal Transportation Indicators that will track seasonal and long-term rail fatality trends. The latest monthly rail data comes from the Federal Railroad Administration. The rail data exclude public grade-crossing accidents, eliminating double-counting that would occur with highway fatalities.
The general committees of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference representing the conductors, trainmen, yardmen, locomotive engineers and rail traffic controllers employed by Canadian Pacific said they have been authorized by their membership to launch a strike against the railway.
Members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes have ratified a new agreement with the nation’s major freight railroads, joining 12 other unions that had previously ratified new contracts.
Michael Iden, a Union Pacific employee from Chicago, Ill., has been awarded the 2012 John H. Chafee Environmental Excellence Award. U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) was honored with the 2012 John H. Chafee Congressional Environmental Award.
Koppers Inc., a subsidiary of Koppers Holdings Inc., and CSX Transportation Inc., have agreed to extend their existing sales contract for an additional five years through January 31, 2017. Koppers provides treated railroad crossties as well as other railroad related products and services to CSX.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly proclaimed July 1, 2012, as Union Pacific Railroad Day in Illinois and honored Union Pacific Railroad on its year-long 150th anniversary celebration.
The Chicago City Council passed an ordinance to create the Chicago Infrastructure Trust, a way to leverage private investment for transformative infrastructure projects and guide the city’s renewal of these elements in the 21st century.
“Chicago will be a city that shapes its own destiny,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “Nowhere is this more important than with our critical infrastructure needs. The Chicago Infrastructure Trust will allow us to consider transformative infrastructure projects and build a world-class infrastructure for our city.”
Mayor Emanuel announced the Trust on March 1, in an event in which he was joined by former President Bill Clinton.
The trust will provide advantaged financing, enabling each project to customize a financing structure using taxable or tax-exempt debt, equity investments and other forms of support. Each project will be coordinated with the city and its sister agencies’ long-term plan for transformational infrastructure investments.
The Chicago Infrastructure Trust was created with the private sector, non-profit organizations and union leaders. An amended ordinance was submitted this week, which calls for one Alderman to be on the trust’s board and clarifies that the trust will be completely subject to FOIA, Open Meetings laws and the city’s ethics ordinance.
The trust will require City Council approval for all projects and will operate as a non-profit organization as it seeks projects.
The trust passed by a vote of 41-7.