Safety

Twin Cities’ Central Corridor LRT construction reaches halfway mark

Construction of the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit project in Minnesota is 50 percent complete and on track to be 75 percent done by year’s end.

“The contractors really hit the ground running in March. We now have work occurring in all areas of the nearly 10-mile long project, employing more than 3,000 workers to date,” Metropolitan Council Chair Sue Haigh said.

PUCO approves upgrade of rail crossing in Butler County

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved construction authorization from the Ohio Rail Development Commission, authorizing Norfolk Southern to install flashing lights and gates at the Station Road/Township Road 120 (524-701M) grade crossing in West Chester Township, Butler County.

ASLRRA names both Safety Pro, Safety Person of the Year

The American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association has named Tyrone James, vice president of Safety & Compliance at Genesee & Wyoming, as the winner of this year’s Safety Professional of the Year Award. ASLRRA also announced that Aaron Willet, superintendent of Operations at the Illinois Railway, as the winner of its 2012 Safety Person of the Year award.

HDR acquires Stetson Engineering, Inc.

HDR, Inc., has acquired the business of Stetson Engineering, Inc., a Wyoming-based firm with offices in Gillette and Riverton. Stetson Engineering, Inc., specializes in design, engineering and consulting services related to water, sewer, storm sewer, hydrology and transportation.

Lilee Systems earns Red Hat Hardware Certification

Lilee Systems, provider of communication systems designed exclusively for the railroad industry, has achieved Red Hat Hardware Certification for the company’s WMS-2000 wayside messaging server, making it the first wayside messaging server with internal 3G, GPS and IP KVM options to achieve Red Hat certification. Now, Lilee says customers deploying WMS-2000 with embedded Red Hat Enterprise Linux are offered proven performance and reliability.

NRC’s annual auction a success

The NRC’s Annual Railroad Construction and Maintenance Equipment Auction was held on Thursday, April 26 at the RailWorks/E&L Paving and Construction facility in La Porte, Ind. The auction was a success with nearly $500,000 of equipment auctioned to on-site and online bidders.

KCSR receives Responsible Care Partner Award

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.

CN, CP mark Rail Safety Week Canada

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 salutes 2011 Employees of the Year

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.