U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) introduced the “Railroad Reform, Enhancement, and Efficiency Act” on June 19. The senators say the bill is written to “improve passenger rail safety, reauthorize Amtrak services and improve existing rail infrastructure.”
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has appointed Maureen McCole, Garrome Franklin and David Schulze to the roles of vice president, commuter rail/railroad management, vice president, chief safety officer and vice president for policy and strategy, respectively.
Metropolitan Council Chair Adam Duininck has appointed Wes Kooistra as regional administrator of the Twin Cities area council, replacing Pat Born, who will retire July 3.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) completed the $23 million acquisition of the Framingham Secondary Rail Line, a 21-mile segment of rail that connects Framingham and Mansfield, from CSX.
Canadian National signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Alabama State Port Authority (ASPA), which owns the public terminals at the Port of Mobile, intended to drive increased supply chain efficiency and a greater share of transportation markets in North America.
Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (Ontario Northland) and Teamsters Rail Conference Maintenance of Way Employees Division (TCRC MWED) have reached a tentative five-year collective agreement.
After more than 31 years working for Harsco Rail in several customer related service roles, Tom Totzke will retire May 31, 2015.
Granite Construction Incorporated named Richard Rantala senior vice president of business development, reporting to Granite Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Christopher Miller.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have released a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the Regional Connector Transit Corridor Project, an underground light-rail system under construction that will connect the existing LACMTA Gold, Blue and Expo lines in downtown Los Angeles.
With record ridership stretching Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) resources, the board of directors voted to direct money to initiatives designed to increase train passenger capacity and to improve on-time performance through a $1.57 billion FY16 budget.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) Board of Directors approved a Rail Delivery Partner (RDP) contract, led by Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc., which CHSRA says takes an expanded approach to the planned high-speed rail program.
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit awarded a $78.9-million construction contract to Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company to build three rail stations in the Waipahu area at West Loch, Waipahu Transit Center and Leeward Community College.
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) will soon have a new executive director, Joseph Szabo.
The National Transportation Safety Board says analysis of phone records of the locomotive engineer operating Amtrak 188, Brandon Bostian, did not indicate the phone was in use at the time of the accident, which occurred on May 12.
Norfolk Southern is naming its largest freight train classification yard after Wick Moorman for his leadership in support of freight railroads and their investors, customers and employees.
Railway Interchange 2015 host associations say they are gearing up for the biggest event to-date. With four months to go before the event, indoor and outdoor exhibition space is sold out and 60 percent of available hotel rooms have been reserved.
Jerome Marullo has joined the Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp. Railway Division as Eastern Regional Advertising Sales Manager, with responsibility for Railway Age, Railway Track & Structures and International Railway Journal. He replaces Mark Connolly, who retired on May 22, 2015 after nine years with the company.
Kansas City Southern reached an agreement with Sasol Chemicals LLC for the construction and long-term lease of a storage-in-transit (SIT) rail yard to support Sasol’s new ethane cracker and derivatives project in Lake Charles, La. In addition to building the SIT yard for lease to Sasol, KCS will replace and expand its existing rail car classification yard in Mossville, La.
Metrolinx‘s Union Pearson Express (UP Express) in Toronto opened to the public June 6 and offers a seamless airport-to-downtown connection. The trip between Union Station and Pearson International Airport, Canada’s two busiest transportation hubs, will take just 25 minutes and trains will depart every 15 minutes.
In support of private-sector efforts to explore building high-speed rail in Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan joined executives from the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and the Baltimore-Washington Rapid Rail LLC (BWRR) to ride the 27-mile-long Yamanashi Maglev Line located outside of Tokyo, Japan.
