The Pecos Valley Southern Railroad (PVSR) will begin operating as a subsidiary of Watco Transportation Services, LLC, under a long-term lease agreement reached with PVSR. The operations will transition to Watco effective September 1, 2012.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) approved construction authorization from the Ohio Rail Development Commission for the installation of flashing lights and gates at seven highway-rail grade crossings in Ashtabula, Fayette, Medina, Summit and Wayne counties.
L.B. Foster Company has been awarded a contract to provide 89,175 of its CXT Concrete Ties for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) project.
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has awarded an on-call contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff for construction services in support of the agency’s efforts to implement accelerated rail services along a high-speed rail corridor between Pontiac/Detroit, Mich., and Chicago, Ill.
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., is constructing new crude oil rail facilities in Tampa, Colo., and Yorktown, Va., and making additional modifications to its Yorktown facility. The new rail facilities and modifications are expected to be completed by the third-quarter of 2013 at an aggregate cost of approximately $125 million.
BNSF plans to invest an estimated $106 million on maintenance and rail capacity improvement and expansion projects in Washington this year.
The completion of the work to rehabilitate seven stations along the West End D Line in Brooklyn, N.Y., is now complete.
For the first time in the nearly 150-year history of the railroad, San Francisco Bay-area’s Caltrain average weekday ridership is more than 50,000, according to the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board.
RailComm has been selected to provide a wireless remote control 3rd rail and switch heater system for Port Authority Trans-Hudson’s (PATH) Harrison Yard in New Jersey.
Union Pacific was named the 2011 Provider of the Year by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Vehicle Services Americas Inc. (WWL). This award evaluates railroad, truck and short sea companies to determine the best overall logistics excellence provider in the areas of quality, performance and customer service.
Norfolk Southern made two personnel changes to broaden the experience of its senior management team.
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and a newly-formed GWI subsidiary, KeRail Inc. have entered into a long-term agreement with Tata Steel Minerals Canada Ltd. for KeRail to provide rail transportation services to the 4.2 million tons per annum direct shipping iron ore mine TSMC is developing near Schefferville, Quebec, Canada, in the Labrador Trough (the Mine). In addition, KeRail will construct an approximately 21-kilometer (13-mile) rail line that will connect TSMC’s mine to the Tshiuetin Rail Transportation interchange point in Schefferville.
Patriot Rail Corp., operator of shortline and regional freight railroads, appointed Arthur Shoener to the board of directors of the company. In this role, Shoener will provide executive support and oversight in company proceedings.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro-North Railroad is refurbishing two bridges in Mount Vernon, N.Y., this summer, one that carries cars over train tracks and one that carries train tracks over cars.
Stop for trains because they cannot stop for you. It is a message Union Pacific and Operation Lifesaver are rolling out as part of a bilingual awareness campaign aimed at promoting safety around railroad tracks in Austin, Texas.
Norfolk Southern recently completed $20.5 million of track, bridge and signal improvements along its major coal line through the Monongahela Valley in Pennsylvania in a record seven days. To ensure coal customers in Southwest Pennsylvania continue to receive consistent and reliable rail service, Norfolk Southern schedules a maintenance blitz each July to coincide with the coal miners’ annual weeklong summer break.
Siemens has received a multi-million dollar order from Ansaldo Honolulu JV to electrify the track for the new Honolulu rail transit system. The rail system is the first for the state and is scheduled to be completed in 2019. It will span 20 miles from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center with 21 stations along the route, including Pearl Harbor and the Honolulu Airport.
Harsco Corporation hired Patrick Decker as president and chief executive officer, effective September 10, 2012.
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded more than $12.6 million for Alaska and Kentucky infrastructure projects and will extend University Transportation Center (UTC) grants by one year.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority recognized agency-wide contributions to a safer work environment at the 15th annual Chairman’s Safety Awards last week. At a ceremony in Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall, MTA leaders recognized team achievements within the MTA and its operating agencies.
