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.
Union Pacific is enhancing Colorado’s transportation infrastructure by investing $4 million in the rail line that runs between Grand Junction and Cameo. The project is in progress and is scheduled to be completed by mid May.
The Military Officers Association of America named CSX Corporation the recipient of the 2012 Distinguished Service Award, a recognition of CSX’s continued emphasis on hiring and supporting active duty and veteran men and women.
International Asset Systems, provider of cloud-based solutions for intermodal transportation and global cargo container shipping, has equipped Florida East Coast Railway with its IAS® EquipmentRepair to modernize equipment maintenance and repair operations. Automating the maintenance and repair and re-billing processes is said to improve collections and provide compliance with FMCSA and other regulatory agencies.
Watco Locomotive Services has promoted Keith Testerman and Dan Martin and has hired Tracy Wright.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation said that several state-owned freight rail lines will benefit from track material generated from the West Haven train station project. These freight rail lines are operated and maintained by private companies.
Three Ohio communities are slated to receive Job Ready Sites grants totaling $7 million to prepare sites for future economic development opportunities. The Ohio Department of Development approved the projects through the Ohio Job Ready Sites Program, which is administered through the Ohio Department of Development’s Office of Redevelopment.
Corporate Responsibility Magazine named CSX Corporation one of the country’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved construction authorization from the Ohio Rail Development Commission directing Norfolk Southern to install flashing lights and gates at the Union Street (524-663F) grade crossing in the city of Carlisle, Warren County.
Consolidated Fastfrate (CFF), a transportation and logistics services company in Canada, has proposed a 10,000 sq. ft. cross dock facility, co-located with Canadian Pacific’s intermodal rail yard, as the first phase of a multi-phased project that would start construction at the Global Transportation Hub (GTH) in the spring of 2012.
The 10-acre development is scheduled to be operational on or before fall of 2013. CFF has an option for further expansion.
U.S. Development Group LLC has completed an expansion of its St. James Rail Terminal (SJRT), a crude oil and condensate handling and distribution hub located in the Gulf Coast region of Louisiana, doubling the terminal’s capacity to 130,000 barrels, or two unit trains, per day. SJRT, which began operations in summer 2010, is part of a nationwide network of crude oil/condensate facilities being developed by USD.
By a nearly four to one margin, members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have ratified a new on-property collective bargaining agreement with Union Pacific.
