Chicago’s Metra will conduct Operation Lifesaver Safety Blitzes at 45 train stations across the six-county region in 2016 as part of its ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the importance of safe behavior around its trains and tracks.
The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is accepting proposals for the Rail Safety IDEA Program, which supports the development and testing of innovative concepts and methods for improving railroad safety or performance. Rail Safety IDEA proposals are due Sept. 15, 2016.
BNSF’s 2016 capital expenditure program in Kansas will be about $100 million and focus on maintenance projects that help ensure BNSF continues to operate a safe and reliable network. The largest component of this year’s capital plan in the state will be for replacing and upgrading rail, ties and ballast.
Carlo Patrick will join Herzog Services, Inc., as vice president effective March 21, 2016.
The industry’s annual single day blitz of congressional officials brought more than 400 industry representatives to Washington, D.C., on March 3.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says that his proposal to significantly expand the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) by adding a third track along the mainline will not require any residential property acquisitions.
Chicago’s Metra is planning a major expansion of the its Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS).
Union Pacific employees set an all-time reportable personal injury rate record in 2015, improving 11 percent from 2014 to 0.87, making Union Pacific the safest Class 1 railroad in the United States, according to data reported by the Federal Railroad Administration.
BNSF’s 2016 capital expenditure program in California will be about $180 million, which will focus on maintenance projects that help ensure BNSF continues to operate a safe and reliable network. The largest component of this year’s capital plan in the state will be for replacing and upgrading rail, ties and ballast.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser are moving one step forward in the establishment of a new Metro Safety Commission, an independent oversight agency that will ultimately direct the safety and security of mass transit systems in the Washington Metropolitan Area, including the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
In their first project of the year, the Kansas City Southern Maintenance of Way Production team relayed 25 miles of rail between Dequincy and DeRidder, La. As part of the job, they installed 175,000 tie plates, 175,000 rail anchors, 876,000 spikes and almost 13,000 feet of rail per day for a total of 264,000 feet of rail.
Less than a week before the rail industry gathers in Washington, D.C., to promote issues, such as the 45G shortline tax credit, legislation was introduced in both houses of Congress that would make the tax credit permanent.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has launched a new tool on its website that allows states and municipalities to request inspection reports for rail bridges in their communities.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is soliciting applications for a new grant program authorized by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Keith Parker, has been appointed to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC).
On Feb. 29, Kansas City Southern will begin Positive Train Control (PTC) Field Integration Testing (FIT), a set of intensive tests to help validate the safety of PTC technologies and hardware in a variety of scenarios, prior to full implementation across the KCS network.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has awarded nearly $10 million in grants for nine projects in eight states to upgrade and increase the safety of railroad crossings along energy routes.
BNSF revealed more details about its planned 2016 capital expenditure program in New Mexico. The railroad said the $100-million plan is focused on projects that help ensure BNSF continues to operate a safe and reliable network and reflects the success BNSF has had in adding capacity in prior years to support customer demand.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) selected nine rail projects in eight states to receive nearly $10 million to upgrade and increase the safety of railroad crossings along energy routes under the Railroad Safety Grants for the Safe Transportation of Energy Products (STEP) by Rail Program. FRA received 34 eligible applications requesting five times the $10 million available for the program, or $50.8 million.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has called on state departments of transportation to verify that railroad crossing warning systems interconnected to traffic lights function properly and urged states to add event recorders to traffic lights connected to railroad crossing systems so information obtained during inspections can be used to improve safety. Across the United States, there are nearly 5,000 railroad crossings interconnected with traffic lights.
