AAR: Weekly rail traffic volume highest in more than two years, sixth highest ever

The Association of American Railroads reported that rail traffic for the week ending July 3, 2010 topped comparison weeks from both 2008 and 2009. Carloads were up 18.8 percent, at 286,777 cars, from the comparable week in 2009 and up 0.4 percent from the same week in 2008. Comparison weeks in both 2009 and 2008 included the July 4th holiday. In order to offer a complete picture of the progress in rail traffic, AAR reports 2010 weekly rail traffic with comparison weeks in both 2009 and 2008.

Intermodal traffic totaled 231,286 trailers and containers, the highest since week 42 of 2008. Volume was up 36.6 percent from a year ago and 19.1 percent from 2008. Container volume of 197,134 was the sixth highest week ever and the highest since week 39 of 2007. Compared with the same week in 2009, container volume gained 39.8 percent and trailer volume rose 20.9 percent. Compared with the same week in 2008, container volume increased 30.8 percent and trailer volume fell 21.3 percent.

Eighteen of the 19 carload commodity groups increased from the comparable week in 2009, with metallic ores up 205.5 percent; motor vehicles and equipment up 122 percent; metals and metal products up 80.3 percent; and crushed stone, sand and gravel up 50.6 percent. Seven of the commodity groups also posted gains over 2008 levels.

Carload volume on Eastern railroads was up 36.8 percent from last year and 5.5 percent from 2008. In the West, carload volume was up 9.5 percent from last year but down 2.7 percent from two years ago.

For the first 26 weeks of 2010, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 7,338,963 carloads, up 7.8 percent from 2009, but down 12.9 percent from 2008, and 5,434,892 trailers or containers, up 12.9 percent from 2009, but down 6.2 percent from 2008.

Canadian railroads reported volume of 68,956 cars for the week, up 21.3 percent from last year, and 44,110 trailers or containers, up 22.2 percent from 2009. For the first 26 weeks of 2010, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,880,555 carloads, up 21.4 percent from last year, and 1,184,555 trailers or containers, up 13.8 percent from last year.

Mexican railroads reported originated volume of 13,949 cars, up 21.9 percent from the same week last year, and 5,666 trailers or containers, up 21.3 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 26 weeks of 2010 was reported as 360,456 carloads, up 22.9 percent from last year; and 169,717 trailers or containers, up 37.2 percent.

Combined North American rail volume for the first 26 weeks of 2010 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 9,579,974 carloads, up 10.8 percent from last year, and 6,789,164 trailers and containers, up 13.6 percent from last year.

Amtrak news: Last VRE run; scheduled to launch train between Richmond and Washington, D.C.

Today is the final day Amtrak will run Virginia Railway Express trains. Keolis Rail Services America will begin its five-year, $85-million contract with VRE on Monday.

It’s been a difficult eight-month transition process between the contract being awarded to Keolis and its operational hand over. Accusations of improper training and transition interference along with a two-week extension of Amtrak service as a precautionary move all marred the situation.

Keolis has said its crews are all trained and qualified to operate the trains and they have shadowed Amtrak engineers all week.

In other news, Amtrak will begin operating a second state-funded intercity passenger train between Richmond and Washington, D.C., beginning July 20. The new service, which is funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia, is part of a three-year, $17.2-million pilot project to increase the number of mass-transit options and determine how feasible enhanced rail service in Virginia can be.

With this new train, hourly morning departures are available from Richmond’s Staples
Mill Station to the Northeast Corridor and more convenient afternoon return trips are available from Washington, D.C. The total number of morning departures from Richmond to Washington is now five, with six return departures available in the afternoon and evening. The new train has Virginia stops at the Staples Mill, Ashland, Fredericksburg, Quantico, Woodbridge and Alexandria stations. Passengers may travel directly to destinations along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor as far north as Boston.

Georgetown promotes Dan Bateman






Georgetown
Rail Equipment Company (GREX) announced the promotion of Dan Bateman to
Director-Service Planning, effective immediately.

DOT sets $293 million for new transit solutions, economic development






A $293-million investment
announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood means that residents in
dozens of communities nationwide will soon enjoy major transit improvements, including
new streetcars, buses and transit facilities.

CSXT annual coal route maintenance work complete






Nearly 1,000 CSX
Transportation engineering employees completed the annual coal route
maintenance project the week of July 5. Track maintenance teams worked their
way across the Appalachian coal route, which includes Kentucky, West Virginia,
Tennessee, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina. Demand for coal remains
strong, and on a typical day as many as 50 trains make their way across this
important corridor.

Grant sought to help Fort Worth railroads out of a jam






The so-called Tower 55
crossing in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, needs additional tracks so not every
train moving through the crowded freight intersection has to stop and wait for
another, state and local officials said Wednesday during a tour of the crossing,
The Dallas Morning News reports.

Future of northern Maine track rests with STB Close to 70 people from a wide array of business, eco






Close to 70 people from a
wide array of business, economic development and state and local organizations
joined forces July 7 to implore members of the federal Surface Transportation
Board to refuse to allow Maine, Montreal & Atlantic Railway to abandon 233
miles of tracks that run through Aroostook and Penobscot counties, the Bangor
Daily News reports.

CSXT, NS eye deal to serve Charleston, S.C.






The long-running commercial
rail saga in North Charleston, S.C., has taken another turn, and a resolution
could finally be in sight, the South Carolina Business Journal reports. The
Business Journal has learned that the city has drafted a memorandum of
understanding with development firm Shipyard Creek Associates and railroad
operator CSX Transportation that, if approved by City Council, would eliminate
rail service to the former Navy base from the north in favor of a new southern
line.

City Council will be
presented with the memorandum during its 7 p.m. meeting July 8.

A southern line would
satisfy a 2002 memorandum of understanding penned by North Charleston and the
S.C. State Ports Authority in which the SPA agreed to "use rail access
exclusively from the south end of the property." That document has been a
source of contention among city leaders, who backed the agreement, and state
officials, who claim the memorandum didn’t pertain to them.

Under the latest proposal,
CSXT would abandon rights of way from a to-be-determined point between Clement
Avenue and Viaduct Road northward to just past the intersection at Braddock
Road. In return, North Charleston would assist CSXT in acquiring city-owned
property making up the new route. North Charleston would also pay CSXT between
$3 million and $5 million in tax-increment financing revenue for the old rights
of way.

Shipyard Creek Associates,
meanwhile, would move ahead with construction of an intermodal facility on its
Macalloy property, a project it’s been pitching for years. That Macalloy site
is located practically adjacent to the container terminal being constructed by
the State Ports Authority on the former Navy base and would serve as a rail
yard for CSXT.

In the past, officials from
the state and CSXT’s chief rival, Norfolk Southern, have claimed that such an
arrangement would be unfair. Those officials have trumpeted the need for dual
access to the port terminal and said that Norfolk Southern would be at
competitive disadvantage if it had to pay CSX for access to its tracks.

The threat of northern rail
access loomed, but North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey is now close to
vanquishing that possibility. He said that the proposed memorandum provides
dual access.

"Is it equal dual access?"
Summey said. "I don’t know if that’s available at any port."

The new plan relies heavily
on federal grant financing and the "existence of sufficient property tax
revenues to permit bonding against city TIF districts."

Summey said that a series
of federal grants over a period of several years would be needed to pay for the
project and that the parties involved will move ahead in seeking those funds if
the memorandum of understanding is approved.

Did ‘point protector’ cause derailment?






In Austin, Texas, a new
piece of equipment intended to keep trains on the track may have contributed to
two recent freight train derailments, including one July 7 that forced the
cancellation of all morning MetroRail trains and blocked Seventh Street traffic
for several hours, Capital Metro officials told the Austin American Statesman.

TÜV Rheinland acquires Rail Sciences, Inc.






TÜV Rheinland®, a leader in
global market access, has acquired Rail Sciences, Inc. (RSI), a rail industry
consulting firm and train dynamics specialist headquartered in Atlanta, Ga.,
with an advanced testing and metallurgical analysis laboratory in Omaha, Neb.

Electro Switch Corp. acquires Arga Controls






Electro Switch Corp. has acquired Arga Controls, a producer
of precision measurement and control instrumentation. Based in Monrovia, Calif., Arga
Controls will operate as a unit of Electroswitch.

 

 

National Gateway Launches Facebook, Twitter pages






The National Gateway has launched
its FacebookTM and TwitterTM social media channels.

$35 Million in Recovery Act funding for Downeaster rail improvements






In January, President
Obama announced that Maine was awarded $35 million in American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act funds for the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.
On July 7, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that the U.S.
Department of Transportation and the State of Maine have finalized a grant
agreement allowing work to begin on the rehabilitation and expansion of the
popular state-supported Downeaster Amtrak intercity passenger service.

Hexagon AB reaches agreement to acquire Intergraph®






Intergraph Corp., a provider
of engineering and geospatial software, has signed a definitive agreement to be
acquired by Hexagon AB, a measurement technology company, in a transaction
valued at approximately $2.125 billion. Upon closing of the transaction,
Intergraph will operate as a separate Hexagon division under the Intergraph
name and branding.


Bentley Systems makes strategic investment to advance






Bentley Systems,
Incorporated has acquired a minority interest in Charlotte, N.C.-based
BLUERIDGE Analytics , Inc., provider of SITEOPS, site-design-optimization
technology that utilizes cloud computing to save substantial time and cost
while improving land development outcomes. SITEOPS, a patented web-based application,
empowers civil engineering professionals, real estate developers and land
planners to quickly perform site configuration simulations, produce preliminary
cost estimates, optimize site designs, and reduce overall costs.

SEPTA, Metro take steps to operate safely in eat wave






With temperatures expected
to reach the upper-90s or higher through this week, Philadelphia’s SEPTA is
taking a number of steps to prevent heat-related disruptions to customers. SEPTA
officials are monitoring the system for potential infrastructure-related issues
that can be caused by excessive heat, such as sagging overhead power lines and
track buckling. To help prevent these problems, SEPTA is slightly reducing the
maximum speeds for some trains. This adjustment also reduces the amount of
electricity needed to run the trains, which helps cut down SEPTA’s overall draw
on the region’s power system. In addition to this effort, SEPTA is taking all
possible measures to minimize energy consumption at its maintenance facilities,
offices and stations.

Mass transit driving LA development






Slowly, mass transit is
taking hold in a city synonymous with the car. Now a light-rail line is finally
coming to the affluent and traffic-choked Westside after years of local
resistance, and at least some urban-style development is likely to follow, the
New York Times reports.

Public support strong to extend Northstar Commuter Rail to St. Cloud






Results from a recent
online survey administered to Northstar Commuter Rail customers and the general
public found that 79 percent of respondents support government funding to
extend rail service to St. Cloud, Minn..

Minor changes coming to Metra BNSF schedule






Starting July 12, nearly
two-dozen weekday trains on the Metra BNSF Line between Chicago and Aurora, Ill.,
will see minor schedule changes to accommodate a major construction project
and/or to make the schedules more reliable. In most cases, the trains will have
slightly later or, in a few instances, slightly earlier departure times from
some or all stations. Some of the changes will result in a slightly longer
overall trip, but in other cases the total run time will not be affected.

Chadron, Neb., roundhouse coming back to life






Nearly two decades after
the Chicago and North Western Railroad closed up shop in Chadron, Neb., a new
railroad company is bringing the Chadron rail-yards, and the railroad
roundhouse back to life, the Chadron Record reports. And principals in the new
company say they see tremendous potential for niche railroad services in the
community, based on the community’s location near a main BNSF rail line, and
the presence of a roundhouse that can handle repair and refurbishing of large
railroad equipment.

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