“This year, the Kansas City Southern management team refined the company’s vision, restating it to be the leading transportation provider both within and between the U.S. and Mexico by consistently providing superior value to our customers, offering challenging careers to our employees and increasing value to our shareholders,” stated KCS’s President and Chief Executive Officer David Starling in his annual “State of the Railroad” memo.
In anticipation of the January 2015 release of the Draft North Carolina Comprehensive State Rail Plan, the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has issued the Plan’s Executive Summary.
President Obama signed two key pieces of legislation last week that will impact the rail industry.
The Canadian government introduced new regulations to help prevent accidents and improve railway safety.
Following months of work, a multitude of inspections and an additional CA$10 million (US$8.6 million) investment, Central Maine & Quebec Railway (CMQ) got the go-ahead from Transport Canada.
On December 5, CMQ received the official revocation of a series of notices and orders, confirming immediate threats no longer exist on CMQ railway. The notices and orders were transferred to CMQ following its purchase of bankrupt Montreal Maine & Atlantic.
CMQ has spent the past four months installing more than 32,000 new crossties, 110,000 linear feet of rail and 25,000 tons of ballast, upgrading bridges, culverts and crossings, completing surfacing work and removing more than 300 in-track rail defects from its main tracks and sidings. The Sherbrooke subdivision is the 125-mile backbone of CMQ’s Quebec rail line and stretches from Lac-Mégantic to Brookport just east of Farnham.
“We had to make this investment. The line was covered in snow last February and March when we were finally able to begin our diligence, but we made a commitment to Lac-Mégantic Mayor Laroche and citizens, as well as many regulators, that we would address the years of neglect,” said CMQ President and Chief Executive Officer John Giles. “It was an extremely tough undertaking. We had industry peers questioning the amount of work that we signed up for with such a short construction season. I knew we were in good hands with Ron Marshall, general manager of engineering, leading this project with his team.”
When asked about the scope of project, Marshall commented, “This is one of the most challenging construction seasons I’ve ever been involved in. But I knew from my experience working with this team at RailAmerica that I would have the support I needed. This investment demonstrates our team’s commitment to operating the railway in a safe and responsible fashion.”
CMQ considers Phase 1 of its transformation now largely completed.
“Not to say we don’t have a lot more track and infrastructure work to do next spring, but we have already started Phase II, which focuses on growth, customers and interline partners,” said Giles.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released its investigation report into a May 2013 collision between two Canadian Pacific trains just east of Dunmore, AB. The TSB said this accident highlights the need for action on two of the TSB’s Watchlist issues: following railway signal indications and on-board video and voice recorders.
National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) selected the winners of its 2014 Safety, Field Employee of the Year, Small Project of the Year and Large Project of the Year awards. The winners will be recognized at this year’s NRC Conference, January 7-10, 2015, in Hollywood, Fla.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) appointed David Kubicek to senior vice president operations, Bruce Pohlot to senior vice president engineering and Edward Dumas vice president market development and public affairs, effective December 29.
The N.C. Department of Transportation‘s Rail Division has made crossing safety improvements at two intersections in Pitt County, at two intersections near Marion and at an intersection in Onslow County.
The House and Senate’s effort to keep the federal government operating through the end of fiscal year 2015 was revealed late Tuesday in the form of a trillion-dollar-plus spending bill, Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015.
In New Mexico, Rail Runner has made safety improvements at crossings in Santa Fe, following a collaborative four-month review of the crossings by Rio Metro Regional Transit District, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT), the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) and the city of Santa Fe.
The first light-rail vehicle traveled on the Foothill Gold Line December 9, kicking off the testing phase of the line, which will connect Pasadena and Azusa, Calif.
The 96th Annual Railway Tie Association Symposium and Technical Conference was held October 14 – 17 in Orlando, Fla., where 307 attendees gathered together to discuss the crosstie industry, as well as the railroading environment as a whole.
The Chicago Transportation Authority (CTA) broke ground Dec. 8 on the Wilson Station Reconstruction Project, which will modernize the 91-year-old stationhouse and the station’s more than 100-year-old track structure.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has awarded a $193.8-million contract to Judlau Contracting, Inc., to rehabilitate the new South Ferry station and include elements that would protect the station from flooding in the event of future damaging storms.
RailComm was selected to provide and install a car tracking and inventory management solution at Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks (TASD).
Caltrain released the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the planned electrification of the Caltrain corridor between San Jose and San Francisco, Calif.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) will be performing signal work for the East Side Access project December 5 through December 8, which will require closing two of four East River Tunnels connecting Queens to Manhattan and Penn Station.
The Railway Association of Canada (RAC) recognized four of its members for their outstanding contributions to rail safety. Representatives from Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, VIA Rail Canada and The Roberval and Saguenay Railway Company accepted their awards at the association’s Rail Day event in Ottawa, ON.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey released its proposed $2.9-billion Operating Budget and $3.6-billion Capital Budget. Combined, together with debt service, the proposed agency budget for 2015 totals $7.8 billion in proposed spending.