MTA New Haven Line goes to reduced schedule

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority will introduce a reduced winter schedule affecting the Metro-North New Haven Line rush-hour, peak-direction trains starting Monday, February 7. This schedule reduces service by approximately 10 percent percent during peak hours. In nearly all cases, customers will be able to board a train within five minutes of their normal departure time, although in some cases trains will make more stops than normal. During this time, weekday off-peak service will not be affected.

On weekends, a Sunday schedule will be in effect for both days.

These schedule changes, expected to last through March 4, are required because the railroad has had a severe and ongoing shortage of cars available for use on the New Haven Line. The problems with the fleet result from the age of the cars – almost 70 percent of the electric fleet is over 40 years old – and the impact of the unprecedented winter weather on them.

Significant car shortages due to record-breaking amounts of snow and extreme cold have forced Metro-North to operate trains with fewer cars than normal, and to cancel trains, causing severe crowding and train delays. The new schedule will increase the dependability of the trains that are running.

"The service we have been providing has been far less than what our customers have come to expect from us and we strive to provide for them," said Metro-North President Howard Permut. "It is time for us to take these additional steps to improve our service reliability and minimize further inconvenience."

On a daily basis, there are close to 150 electric cars out of service on the New Haven Line. Metro-North employees are working around-the-clock to get damaged equipment back into service. However, with each new weather event, more weather-damaged cars arrive in the shops in need of repair. The cars, which pre-date the creation of Metro-North by about a decade, were designed in a manner that made key components extremely vulnerable to snow. These components include:

-Traction motors, which must be repaired or replaced – a job that routinely takes six or more hours to complete.

-Brakes, which freeze and get stuck from the extreme cold.

-Doors, which won’t close properly because the snow and ice that gets inside the door pockets prevents them from opening or closing on command.

Shop space is limited, further complicating repair efforts. Metro-North employees do not let this limitation stop them, working outside the shops, crawling under cars in the snow and extreme cold to repair components. Every day, repaired equipment goes back into service, and every day, more weather-damaged cars arrive in need of repair.

CCLRT funding agreement sent to Congress

The Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Project in Minnesota is poised to create at least 3,400 jobs now that the federal government has forwarded the Full Funding Grant Agreement to Congress. A 60-day courtesy review will occur prior to execution, when an FFGA will commit the federal government to half of the $957 million project cost. The project already has spent $145 million for design, property and construction. 



“Federal Transit Administration execution expected in April would allow the realization of 30 years of planning to unite St. Paul and Minneapolis by light rail,” Metropolitan Council Chair Susan Haigh said.

It would come 10 years after the FFGA on the first line, the Hiawatha LRT line, was executed. Central Corridor’s ridership is projected to be even higher, with 41,000 average weekday boardings expected by 2030. 



The largest public works project in state history will require at least 800 construction and management jobs a year through 2013. There will be many other jobs created, such as precast and ready-mix concrete jobs, shop labor, etc. More than 600 job seekers already have registered their construction qualifications with www.LRTWorks.org, a website created last year by the Metropolitan Council and funded by the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative. Another 150 jobs will be created when the operations hub opens in a rehabbed building in Lowertown St. Paul. 



With support of both past and present federal and state administrations for the Central Corridor FFGA, the Met Council awarded the major construction contracts last year and began work after receiving sufficient advance funding commitments from local funding partners, creating 571 jobs. 
The 3,400 jobs would be for engineering, construction, management and operations personnel.

Caltrain sets public hearings

The Caltrain Board of Directors has set two public hearings to receive comments on possible service and fare changes, station closures as well as to declare a fiscal emergency.

Caltrain Executive Director Michael Scanlon called the board’s action “the first step in the process” and said, “Hopefully, we will be able to come up with additional funding sources before we are forced to implement drastic service changes.”

Operation of the current 86-train schedule would result in a $30 million deficit. With projected available funds, Caltrain would be forced to operate 48 trains only during weekday peak-commute hours. In addition, service would be suspended at up to seven of the following stations: Bayshore, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Burlingame, Hayward Park, Belmont, San Antonio, Lawrence, Santa Clara and College Park.

All other service would be eliminated, including weekday service outside the commute peak, service south of the San Jose Diridon station and weekend service.

Service for special events, including baseball games and Bay to Breakers, also would be suspended.

A 25-cent increase to the base fare also will be considered.

Caltrain’s fiscal year begins July 1 and changes to service would take effect July 2.

The public hearings will be held at the March 3, Caltrain Board meeting.

Additionally, four community meetings will be held throughout the Caltrain service area to give the public additional opportunity to review proposals, ask questions and provide comment.

Feb. 14 – 7 p.m. San Jose City Hall
Feb. 16 – 6 p.m. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Feb. 17 – 6 p.m. Gilroy Senior Center
Feb. 17 – 6 p.m. San Mateo County Transit District

NS facilitated $2.5 billion in industrial investment along rail lines in 2010

Norfolk Southern participated in the location of 67 new industries and the expansion of 28 existing industries along its rail lines in 2010.

New plants and expansions represented an investment of $2.5 billion by NS customers and are expected to create 2,000 jobs in the railroad’s territory, eventually generating more than 132,000 carloads of new rail traffic annually.

Norfolk Southern assisted state and local government and economic development officials throughout 16 states in helping customers identify ideal locations for new and expanded facilities.

"The energy sector again anchored our results during 2010," said Newell Baker, assistant vice president of industrial development. "Norfolk Southern assisted in the location or expansion of 32 energy-related facilities in 12 states across our service area. Biofuels production and distribution accounted for the lion’s share of energy projects, with nine new and expanded facilities that began to receive NS rail service in 2010. In addition, we are seeing the first fruits of traffic from Marcellus Shale gas exploration projects, and we expect this to be a strong sub sector for us in the coming years."

The balance of other projects secured during 2010 was distributed among several of the broad product areas NS serves.

NS works with state and local economic development authorities on projects involving site location and development of infrastructure to connect customers to its rail system and provides free and confidential plant location services, including industrial park planning, site layout, track design and logistics assistance.

CN, MPA and others reach agreements to improve supply chain efficiencies for container traffic

CN, the Montreal Port Authority and the two companies that operate the port’s three key container terminals have completed two service agreements that will drive a strong focus on supply chain efficiencies.

The two agreements – one signed by CN, the port authority and Montreal Gateway Terminals Partnership, which operates the CAST and RACINE terminals and another signed by CN, the port authority and Termont Montreal — complement a framework agreement that CN and the MPA reached in September 2010. Under last fall’s agreement, CN and the port decided to develop a best-practices vision for the gateway’s supply chain, improve productivity and leverage these gains to increase their share of global container traffic.

The CN-MPA-terminal operator agreements establish key performance indicators to improve the fluidity of the gateway. These include specific metrics for container dwell times at terminals, railcar availability, rail on-time performance and vessel performance.

Claude Mongeau, CN president, said: “CN is pleased to have reached these important service agreements with the key players in the Port of Montreal container business. We all have a mutual interest in supporting our North American import and export customers and the ocean shipping lines. Clear, daily performance metrics will drive continuous improvement in performance and help expand the Port of Montreal’s business.”

“Our innovative agreement with CN and the MPA will help us deliver a better service to the ocean carriers and their customers,” said Kevin Doherty, chief executive officer of MGT. “The establishment of a service-level agreement recognizes the interdependency of our businesses. This co-dependency makes it imperative that we continue working collaboratively as we develop our services to our mutual clients.”

Mica announces major field hearings and public forums


Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL) has announced the locations for a series of national field hearings and public forums on pending major surface transportation legislation.
 


The nationwide meetings with state and local officials and transportation stakeholders will help inform the Committee’s drafting of a long-term reauthorization of the nation’s highway, transit and highway safety programs. The legislation will help improve transportation infrastructure and promote job creation in the nation’s hard-hit construction industry.
 


The Committee will seek input on how to consolidate and improve the performance of programs, cut government red tape and streamline the project delivery process, increase private sector investment in our infrastructure, identify creative financing alternatives and other ideas for writing the legislation. The previous multi-year law (SAFETEA- LU) expired in September 2009.
 


“The best ideas to improve and streamline government programs often come from outside of Washington, and before we draft any legislation these meetings will provide the Committee with valuable insight and information,” Mica said.  
 


Chairman Mica, Members of the Committee and other lawmakers will participate in the hearings and meetings, which will begin on February 14, 2011 in West Virginia, home state of the Committee’s Ranking Democrat Member Nick Rahall.
 

APTA: House and Senate release plans for Surface Transportation legislation

As the newly sworn-in 112th Congress begins to organize for the legislative business ahead, a few key committee leaders have begun to reveal their plans for the next surface transportation authorization bill. In a series of meetings with transportation industry groups (including APTA President Bill Millar), new Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman John Mica (R-FL) announced his commitment to writing a full six-year bill this year and outlined four guiding principles for the legislation. Chairman Mica plans to introduce legislation that will achieve the following:


1) Stabilize the Highway Trust Fund by ensuring that spending authorized in the bill will not exceed actual Trust Fund receipts.

2) Recapture unspent federal funds within the transportation program.  Specific funds have not been identified, but the Chairman has noted that there are significant un-obligated funds available throughout the federal transportation program.

3) Utilizing public private partnerships and other alternative financing mechanisms to leverage federal funds.  Chairman Mica plans to encourage more investment from the private sector for transportation projects.

4) Streamline programs and speed project delivery. The Chairman noted that delays in project delivery add unnecessary costs to programs funded with federal dollars.

Chairman Mica’s goals for the legislation are based on the premise that there will be no new resources available to increase trust fund revenues and that the political climate is not favorable for a general increase in spending without budget offsets. Therefore, he is committed to “doing more with less” and finding alternative means of continuing spending at the current or an increased rate. 


UP promotes two in operations

Brian McGavock has been appointed to general superintendent of Harriman Dispatching Center, based in Omaha, Neb. He succeeds Mark Payne, who is retiring after 32 years of service. In his new role, McGavock is responsible for train dispatching over UP’s 5,500-mile Southern Region in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. McGavock joined UP in 1998. He has held operating positions in Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois and Louisiana, most recently serving as general superintendent of transportation services for the Houston Service Unit.  He is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University.

Additionally, Tom Lischer replaces McGavock as general superintendent of transportation services for Houston Service Unit.  He is responsible for safe operations over 1,700 miles of track.  Lischer started his railroad career with UP in 1995 as a trainee in UP’s National Customer Service Center in St. Louis. In addition to marketing and sales, Lischer held numerous positions in the Operating Department in Omaha, Chicago, Wisconsin and Iowa, most recently acting as superintendent transportation services for the Utah Service Unit. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri.

Nordco shuffles senior management

Nordco Inc. has made two changes in its senior management team that are part of a coordinated effort to build closer, more productive relationships with its maintenance-of-way customers.

Bob Coakley has been named director of sales and marketing at Nordco. Coakley is heading up the company’s new direct sales organization and will have overall responsibility for the company’s sales and marketing efforts in the railroad maintenance-of-way marketplace.

Coakley previously worked in various sales and marketing roles at another Nordco company, Dapco Industries, in Ridgefield, Conn.

In a related move, Greg Spilker has assumed a new role in the company’s maintenance-of-way business. Spilker, who previously was responsible for new machine sales and marketing, will now focus solely on sales of Nordco’s complete maintenance-of-way product and service offerings, which include new and rebuilt equipment and parts.

Spilker will continue to work closely with Coakley and the direct sales organization in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition. Both Coakley and Spilker are based in Nordco’s Oak Creek, Wis., offices.

“The changes will further strengthen Nordco’s alignment with the needs of our customers,” said Nordco CEO Bruce Boczkiewicz. “These moves position us to put our knowledge, expertise and resources to work in the most productive way possible, and help us provide the high level of service that our customers have come to expect from Nordco.”

U.S. Steel names Sommers president of Transtar

United States Steel Corporation named Malisa J. Sommers managing director of transportation and president of Transtar, Inc., U. S. Steel’s transportation subsidiary.

As managing director of transportation, Sommers will be responsible for various aspects of transportation and logistics, including the logistics services group headed by James V. Bard, at U. S. Steel facilities in North America. She will also oversee operations at the railroad and barge companies that comprise Transtar, Inc.: Birmingham Southern Railroad Company; Delray Connecting Railroad Company; Fairfield Southern Company; Gary Railway Company; The Lake Terminal Railroad Company; Lorain Northern Company; McKeesport Connecting Railroad Company; Texas & Northern Railway Company; Union Railroad Company; and Warrior & Gulf Navigation LLC.  

Sommers will report to Vice President of Supply Chain & Customer Service Anton Lukac.  

Prior to joining U. S. Steel in 2001, Sommers worked for Wheeling-Nisshin, Inc., a steel coating facility in Follansbee, W.Va., for 13 years. Sommers spent her first three years with U. S. Steel at Straightline, the company’s former steel distribution subsidiary, serving two years as manager of demand fulfillment and one year as manager of customer care.  

In 2004, Sommers moved to U. S. Steel’s corporate headquarters after being named manager of purchasing information technology. One year later, she advanced to manager of CAPEX procurement, where she managed procurement activities related to capital expenditure projects around the company. In 2007, she was named manager of materials management and in 2009 she advanced to her most recent position, general manager of global materials management and procurement operations.  

UP increases speed on Wisconsin line

Recent track improvements will allow Union Pacific to increase the speed of its trains in western Wisconsin communities, reducing motorist wait time at crossings. The speed will increase from 30 mph to 50 mph across more than 20 miles of Union Pacific’s line between Hudson and Menomonie, Wis.

Train speeds will be increased 10 mph on February 21, 2011, and another 10 mph on February 28, 2011, when the new maximum speed limit of 50 mph goes into effect.

Union Pacific invested more than $4 million in 2010 by replacing the rail between Hudson and Menomonie, Wis., improving the surfaces at 26 grade crossings and replacing five switches.

Cubic to test open payment technology on PATCO

Port Authority Transit Corporation high speed line customers will be able to pay transit fares with their credit or debit cards in 2011 under a pilot agreement between Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc., the transportation segment of Cubic Corporation and PATCO, a subsidiary of the Delaware River Port Authority.

UP employees achieve record safety performance

Union Pacific’s 2010 employee safety performance was the best in the company’s nearly 150-year history. Union Pacific’s full-year employee reportable injury rate was 1.37, a six percent improvement over the previous best of 1.45 established in 2009.

A company’s injury rate is calculated using the number of injuries per 200,000 worker hours, which is equivalent to the number of hours worked by 100 full-time employees in a year.

"Employees being more aware of risk, improving and standardizing best practices and embracing Total Safety Culture were key factors in our 2010 performance," said Bob Grimaila, Union Pacific vice president – Safety, Security and Environment. "Maintaining a safe work environment contributes to the railroad’s operating efficiency, enhances reliability and service for our customers, and most importantly keeps employees out of harm’s way. We believe all incidents are preventable and will continue to find ways to achieve our ultimate goal of zero injuries."

Axion International secures $15 Million contract with Class 1

Axion International, a producer of recycled composite plastic industrial building products and railroad ties, signed a $15 million contract with North American Class 1 railroad. This Class 1 railroad has agreed to purchase a minimum of $5 million per year of Axion’s composite railroad ties, designed from 100 percent recycled plastic.

"Entering into this $15 million contract represents a historic event and extraordinary milestone for Axion and our shareholders," said Steve Silverman, Axion’s president and chief executive officer. "As we continue to expand our sales efforts, this contract is a clear signal that the Class 1 railroad market is looking for longer-lasting, more long-term economical alternatives to wood and concrete and is ready to make significant investments in Axion’s innovative recycled plastic technology."

Clifford named CEO of Chicago’s Metra

The Metra Board of Directors has selected Alexander D. Clifford, an executive with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to be the commuter rail agency’s executive director and chief executive officer.

The appointment was made in a unanimous vote by the 11-member Metra board after a nationwide search conducted by Slavin Management Consultants, a government executive search firm.

"His experience as a big-picture policy-maker and a day-to-day operations manager make him uniquely qualified to lead Metra," Metra Chairman Carole R. Doris said. "It is my belief that he is the right man for the job at the right time."
Mr. Clifford said he is coming to Metra with a reform agenda. "The Metra Board has tasked me with restoring public confidence in our agency by instilling strong financial and management controls and inspiring Metra employees to meeting these important challenges," he said. "We will also continue to modernize our operation including incorporating new technology for better customer communications."

Clifford, 51, most recently served as executive officer, high-speed rail, for Metro, working as an ombudsman with the California High Speed Rail Authority to help facilitate the integration of high-speed train service into existing transportation corridors in Los Angeles County. He was responsible for making sure the interests of the county, various municipalities and other stakeholders were represented and that the potential impacts of the project were properly addressed.

Clifford also oversaw Metro’s interest in the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink commuter rail) as well as its interests in the Los Angeles-San Diego Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN).

NJ TRANSIT opens Bayonne station

 

NJ TRANSIT Executive Director James Weinstein joined local, state and federal officials at the grand opening of the new 8th Street Station in Bayonne, welcoming Hudson-Bergen Light Rail service to a new neighborhood and kicking off inaugural service on the recently completed one-mile extension.

OCTA awarded nearly $140 Million to deliver projects

 

Transportation projects throughout Orange County received an added boost when the California Transportation Commission allocated nearly $140 million to fund construction.
The projects awarded are part of the State Transportation Improvement Program and voter-approved Proposition 1B, a $20 billion bond program to fund transportation projects throughout the state.

The commission allocated the money as a result of state bond sales last month.

In addition to the $69 million awarded to a road project, OCTA rail projects that received funding include:

• $29.2 million for construction of the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center

• $22.6 million for the Kraemer Boulevard railroad grade separation

• $15 million for the Placentia Avenue railroad grade separation

• $2 million for rail crossing improvements in San Clemente and Dana Point

• $1 million for signal synchronization

Since its passage in 2006, more than $7 billion in Prop 1B funds has been allocated, including more than $420 million for Orange County projects.