CTA adds 145th rail station to the

The Chicago Transit Authority along with the Village of Skokie opened the Oakton Station, the first new ‘L’ station to open in 18 years.

“This joint effort resulted in a state-of-the art station and an additional, accessible station option for the expanding business and transportation needs of Skokie residents,” said CTA President Forrest Claypool.

GWI leases southeast Alabama line from NS

Genesee & Wyoming Inc.’s newly-formed subsidiary, the Columbus & Chattahoochee Railroad, Inc., signed an agreement with Norfolk Southern to lease and operate a 26-mile segment of NS track that runs from Girard, Ala., to Mahrt, Ala. The CCR will interchange with NS in Columbus, Ga., where GWI’s Georgia Southwestern Railroad also has operations.

Koppers signs five-year contract extension with UP

Koppers Inc. and Union Pacific agreed to extend their existing sales contract for an additional five years through January 31, 2017. Koppers provides treated railroad crossties and other railroad-related products and services to Union Pacific.

Baltimore’s mayor wants CSX to consider city intermodal facility

Baltimore, Md., Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake urged CSX Transportation to abandon locating a proposed multi-million dollar Baltimore-Washington Rail Intermodal Facility in suburban Maryland and instead begin working immediately to identify an appropriate site within the city of Baltimore.

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.

US DOT adds safety section to Multimodal Transportation Indicators

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics added a new safety section to the Multimodal Transportation Indicators that will track seasonal and long-term rail fatality trends. The latest monthly rail data comes from the Federal Railroad Administration. The rail data exclude public grade-crossing accidents, eliminating double-counting that would occur with highway fatalities.

TCRC authorize Canadian Pacific strike

The general committees of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference representing the conductors, trainmen, yardmen, locomotive engineers and rail traffic controllers employed by Canadian Pacific said they have been authorized by their membership to launch a strike against the railway. 



RailComm TWC System in production at Chile

RailComm has provided its Track Warrant Control (TWC) System for Chile’s Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado (EFE). RailComm’s Domain Operations Controller train control system is used for dispatching and train management at two of EFE’s three dispatching centers.