Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario issued a request for proposals for Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown light-rail project to the consortia pre-qualified to deliver the balance of the Crosstown project, an integrated system consisting of stations, trackwork, signaling, communications and other required infrastructure.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued two urgent safety recommendations to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to protect track workers.
Union Pacific has awarded 21 grants to community-owned railroad safety initiatives across its 23-state operating system. Ranging from $500 to $5,000, the grants support initiatives developed by community organizations to enhance and promote railroad safety through activities tailored for their communities.
U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are asking for additional funding for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) saying that it is “woefully underfunded” and unable to fully evaluate existing and future rail safety programs across the nation’s freight and passenger railroads.
The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) released the winners of the 2013 NRC/RT&S/Commercial Insurance Associates Safe Railroad Contractor of the Year contest. Enthusiastic participation in the contest continued this year, with a record 54 rail contracting companies preparing entries.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued an industry-wide Safety Advisory to help ensure railroads adhere to federal regulations regarding maximum authorized train speed limits. The advisory contains four recommendations to ensure railroads comply with speed restrictions through appropriate operating policies, procedures and effective implementation.
U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) urged the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to immediately begin requiring critical safety monitoring systems that consist of inward and outward facing cameras in locomotives and operating railway cabs following the December 1 Metro-North derailment.
RailComm has provided a yard control system to a yard in Stevens Point, Wis. The yard is now able to wirelessly control 15 switches using RailComm’s Domain Operations Controller (DOC®) system, RailComm’s RADiANT™ data radios, universal switch machine controllers and field control panels.
American Public Transportation Association (APTA) President and CEO Michael Melaniphy reiterated the commuter rail industry’s commitment to Positive Train Control (PTC) installation but said Congress needs to help cover PTC costs for the technology to be implemented as soon as possible.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY-18) introduced the Commuter Rail Passenger Safety Act, to help commuter rail lines, such as Metro-North, fund and implement positive train control (PTC) systems.
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada issued its 2013 Fall Report and criticized Transport Canada’s safety management system (SMS) of the nation’s rail network saying the department “needs to address significant weaknesses in its oversight of safety management systems implemented by federal railway companies to manage safety risks on a day-to-day basis.”
U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ) introduced two pieces of legislation he says would improve rail safety.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) Rail Division has made crossing safety improvements at intersections in Monroe and West End and has scheduled a meeting to discuss crossing closure.
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officials are requesting a return to the negotiating table after it was discovered a provision was included in its recent labor contract that the district did not agree to.
Siemens Rail Automation, in a consortium with Bombardier Transportation, has been awarded a contract, not to exceed $428 million including all phases and options, by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to upgrade train control systems on two passenger lines.
Wisconsin and Southern Railroad (WSOR) hosted a group from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Engineering Program on September 24, 2013, who were learning about general maintenance and railroad inspections.
Michael McNamara, P.E., president of Gannett Fleming Transit & Rail Systems, has been named to Penn State Altoona’s Rail Transportation Engineering (RTE) Advisory Board.
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has selected CTC Inc. (CTC) to continue to progress the state’s railroad preemption projects.
Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt marked November 7 National Railway Day, which commemorates the day the last spike was driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway at Craigellachie, British Columbia in 1885, by placing an emphasis on industry safety.