Newswire
VIRGINIA PANEL URGES ADDING RAIL STATEWIDE: As the Virginia General Assembly prepares to take up Govenor Mark R. Warner's plan to boost transportation spending in Virginia, rail advocates are pushing for a bigger investment in the state's high-speed train system, according to the Washington Post. Virginia needs more fast trains to connect its suburbs, cities and rural areas, a commission of rail experts concluded in a report released this month. And freight service in the Old Dominion needs beefing up, the report said, to get more trucks off the road and allow more passenger trains to travel faster and farther along freight lines. From 1970 to 2003, the number of miles of long-distance railroad in Virginia dropped by about half, either disappearing or turning into short-line railroads. Highway miles grew dramatically - but, as every driver knows, not fast enough to handle all of the traffic on them. Existing rail service does not connect every corner of the state and is not always fast or dependable, especially when passenger lines share freight tracks, with choke points that slow trains. The rail commission, appointed by Warner (D), grew out of debate over the ill-fated transportation sales tax measures that voters in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads defeated in 2001. Amtrak has service from Washington to Richmond, but it can be slow. VRE, which travels along tracks owned by freight companies CSX and Norfolk Southern corporations, is so popular that new spurs to Gainesville and Spotsylvania County could serve thousands of new riders. But there currently is no money to pay for the service. [United Transportation Union, 12-30-04, from article by Lisa Rein published by the Washington Post]
RAIL FREIGHT TRAFFIC UP DURING CHRISTMAS WEEK: Freight traffic on U.S. railroads was up sharply during the week ended December 25 in comparison with the corresponding week last year, the Association of American Railroads has reported. Both weeks included the Christmas holiday. Intermodal volume totaled 167,884 trailers or containers, up 25.7 percent from the comparable week last year. Trailer volume rose 27.7 percent while container traffic gained 25.0 percent. Carload freight, which doesn't include the intermodal data, totaled 272,421 cars, up 7.0 percent from last year, with volume up 14.9 percent in the East and 2.0 percent in the West. Total volume was estimated at 25.6 billion ton-miles, up 8.0 percent from 2003. Fourteen of 19 carload commodities registered gains from last year, with crushed stone, sand and gravel up 32.7 percent; lumber and wood products up 29.5 percent; nonmetallic minerals up 26.8 percent; and coal up 4.8 percent. Among commodities reporting declines were farm products other than grain, down 31.0 percent and metallic ores, off 7.7 percent. The AAR also reported the following U.S. rail freight cumulative totals for the first 51 weeks of 2004: 17,140,330 carloads, up 2.9 percent from last year; 10,829,151 trailers or containers, up 10.3 percent; and total volume of an estimated 1.581 trillion ton-miles, up 5.0 percent from the first 51 weeks of 2003. [Association of American Railroads, 12-30-04]
NEW RAILROAD MUSEUM PLANNED IN GREAT FALLS, MONTANA: A building at the fairgrounds in Great Falls will be devoted entirely to a new railroad museum, featuring a train layout that a late Cascade rancher built over a span of 50 years. Cascade County commissioners recently decided that the Hobbies and Crafts Building at Montana ExpoPark will be available to the Great Falls Model Railroad Club, for its new Montana Museum of Railroad History. Model railroaders already use about one-third of the building for a train layout that is a popular attraction at the State Fair. A different one, created by the late Pete Ellis of Cascade and measuring 50 by 80 feet, will be the centerpiece of the new museum. It also will have an 800-volume railroad library and railroad artifacts, said Jack Dykstra, spokesman for the museum steering committee. Ellis was a member of the Great Falls club for many years, held a Master Modeler certificate from the National Model Railroad Association and was hired by the Disney company to present workshops on creation of dioramas. His heirs plan to give the club both his "Treasure State Railway" layout and the library, Dykstra said. Ellis' rail scene depicts Montana in miniature, from prairie to mountains, and includes portrayals of cattle ranching, grain farming, mining, logging and towns. Mountain areas feature tunnels and bridges that illustrate the challenges in crossing Montana's rugged terrain. Dykstra said that despite the railroad's importance in the development of Montana, the state does not have a railroad museum. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-30-04, from Associated Press]
WATCO LEASES TRACKAGE FROM BNSF IN OKLAHOMA: The Stillwater Central Railroad (SLWC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Watco Companies, began operations December 29 of approximately 15 additional miles of track that connects two of its existing railroad subdivisions in Oklahoma. Through a lease agreement with BNSF, the SLWC assumed operations between Wheatland and Oklahoma City. Thirty customers are served, predominantly industrial switching customers. Commodities primarily moved on the addition include steel, chemical, food, forest products and building materials. In addition to the track miles, SLWC also will take over operation of BNSF's North Yard in Oklahoma City, allowing SLWC to partner with BNSF and move BNSF traffic from Oklahoma City to Tulsa. [BNSF Today, 12-29-04]
WATCO ACQUIRES BNSF LINES IN MONTANA: The Mission Mountain Railroad, a wholly owned subsidiary of Watco Companies, will begin operations of 40 miles of track in Montana Tuesday morning, Dec. 28, 2004. Acquired through a lease and purchase agreement with The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF), the Mission Mountain Railroad (MMT) consists of two separate lines. The north line begins at Eureka and extends south to Stryker. The south line begins at Columbia Falls and extends southwest to Kalispell. Interchanges with the BNSF are located at Stryker and Columbia Falls. Primarily moving forest products and grain, the MMT will serve 12 customers at 15 locations, and is expected to move more than 9,000 rail cars the first year. [BNSF, 12-27-04]
RAIL VIADUCT IN MISSISSIPPI TO GET MAKEOVER: A multimillion dollar facelift for the railroad tracks downtown Jackson, Mississippi, promises to beautify the western edge of the district. Construction will begin in the spring on the Mill Street viaduct from Amite to Pascagoula streets. Plans include a market, clock tower, a brick facade for the bridge and wider sidewalks. The cost has been estimated at $7-million. The city recently requested construction bids, and work could last about 18 months. The bridge is now covered by a hodgepodge of colorful murals. Spaces underneath the tracks have been home to vagrants over the years. Three artists have been chosen to create pieces for the project. The Jackson City Council approved a license agreement Tuesday [Dec.21] that allows construction workers onto the right-of-way of the CN - formerly Canadian National - railroad. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-27-04, from story by Laura Hipp on the Clarion-Ledger website]
KANSAS CITY PARES DOWN UNION STATION RAIL MUSEUM PLANS: Plans to create a rail museum at Union Station by early next year that would be among the top such attractions in the United States have been pared down because of money, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Six months ago, Union Station's board voted to pay a Milwaukee collector $650,000 for 11 antique rail cars and a vast collection of railroad memorabilia packed inside them. A consultant estimated the museum would attract 250,000 visitors in Kansas City and have first-year admission revenue of $1.3-million - with an operating surplus. Now the station is looking to fix up five of the rail cars for tours at the museum and sell the other six, along with some of the duplicate memorabilia. The projected opening date is pushed back to the end of next year, and attendance estimates have been lowered to between 100,000 and 150,000 a year. Sean O'Byrne, shortly after being named interim director in June, persuaded the Union Station board to buy the rail collection. He said he still thinks the rail museum can succeed, but he is playing down expectations so there is some wiggle room when it comes time to determine that success. The collection was purchased with money left over from the 1996 bistate tax that funded the station's renovation. O'Byrne said another $1-million is needed to get the collection ready and set up the display. About 30 volunteers, directed by consultant Pete Hansen, spent two months sifting through rail memorabilia that was in the rail cars and cataloging it in a database. [United Transportation Union, 12-27-04, from story published by St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
STB APPROVES COLUMBUS & OHIO ACQUISITION & LEASE OF CSX LINE IN OHIO: Last week, the Surface Transportation Board approved the Columbus & Ohio River Railroad Co.'s (CUOH) plan to acquire and lease from CSX Transportation a total of 120 track miles in Ohio. CUOH will acquire about 38 track miles between Columbus and Newark, and lease about 82 track miles between Cambridge and Mt. Vernon. CSXT also will assign to the 160-mile short line incidental trackage rights to a 1.5-mile line in Zanesville operated by Ohio Southern Railroad Inc. CUOH and Ohio Southern are owned and operated by Ohio Central Railroad Inc., which owns eight other short lines operating in Ohio and Pennsylvania. [ProgressiveRailroading.com, 12-27-04]
OMNITRAX SEEKS TO LEASE & OPERATE CSX LINE IN ALABAMA: OmniTRAX Inc. has filed an exemption notice with the Surface Transportation Board to lease about 122 track miles in Alabama from CSX Transportation. The transaction includes a line between Birmingham and Guntersville, and a branch line in Moragne. OmniTRAX - which owns and operates 10 short lines in the United States and Canada - plans to establish new short line Alabama & Tennessee River Railway L.L.C. to operate the lines. [ProgressiveRailroading.com, 12-27-04]
RAILROADS SET RECORD FOR TOTAL FREIGHT VOLUME: With two reporting weeks remaining in the year, U.S. railroads have already moved more total freight during 2004 than any other year on record, the Association of American Railroads reported December 23. The AAR reported that railroads moved 31.7 billion ton-miles of freight during the week ended December 18, 2.3 percent more than in the comparable week a year ago. This brought total volume for the year to an estimated 1.555 trillion ton-miles, 4.9 percent more than during the first 50 weeks of 2003 when the previous full year record of 1.551 trillion ton-miles was set. [Assn. of American Railroads, 12-23-04]
TEMPORARY AMTRAK STATION OPENS IN ST. LOUIS: A new temporary Amtrak station opened Monday [December 20] in St. Louis. The new site is approximately 500 yards west of the old site. The move was necessary because the old site needed to be demolished to make way for the permanent Intermodal Transportation Center that will begin construction in the New Year. The temporary facility will eventually become the Train and Engine Crew headquarters in the new complex due to be completed in late 2006. Amtrak had been at the former facility, which was essentially two double-wide trailers hooked together, since being evicted from St. Louis Union Station in 1978. [National Assn. of Railroad Passengers, 12-23-04]
AMTRAK LOUNGE CAR DERAILS IN INDIANA: On Sunday, December 19, the lounge car of the westbound Lake Shore Limited derailed west of LaPorte, IN, while the train was traveling at the authorized speed of 79 mph. No passengers were injured and the train remained inline and upright. Most passengers were transferred to the Capitol Limited, which pulled along side, while others stayed aboard the Lake Shore's front cars for the ride to Chicago. Initial reports point to anAmtrak broken wheel as the cause. Then, the following day, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed at the same location. Press accounts noted speculation that the Amtrak accident weakened the track and thus led to the freight accident. This time, passengers on both the westbound Capitol and Lake Shore were bussed to Chicago, while the equipment deadheaded there on the Canadian National (Grand Trunk) railroad once a pilot engineer could be obtained. [National Assn. of Railroad Passengers, 12-23-04]
PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR COMES TO AID OF SEPTA: Gov. Rendell yesterday (Dec. 21) announced $13-million in stopgap state aid - much of it financed by postponing local road projects - to keep SEPTA from slashing service next month and raising fares to the highest levels in the United States, according to this report by Jere Downs and John Sullivan published by the Philadelphia Inquirer. "This will allow our transit systems to postpone cuts and fare hikes until March, but it will do no more than that," Rendell said at a news conference at SEPTA's 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby. Rendell called on the Republican-dominated state legislature to work on a fix for mass-transit funding at a special session beginning Jan. 17. That is a week before SEPTA plans to implement the first of two fare increases to bring its $2 cash fare to $3 and end 20 percent of weekday service. The Rendell relief appeared likely to stall SEPTA fare increases and cuts until late February or early March. The SEPTA board will finalize its plans at a meeting Dec. 30. The relief for SEPTA is part of an $18.8-million package Rendell announced for commuters in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and for 29 other transit agencies statewide. [United Transportation Union, 12-22-04, from report by Jere Downs and John Sullivan published by Philadelphia Inquirer]
BNSF BOOSTS MONTANA WORKFORCE: A railroad official said Tuesday (Dec. 21) that Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) has added more than 200 new employees in Montana over the past year, according to this Associated Press report. BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said the hiring was prompted by increased business nationally, a shortage of truck drivers and better railroad technology. "The economy is strong and BNSF is taking steps to meet the growing needs of local, national and international customers," Melonas said in a telephone interview with The Daily Inter Lake. Train traffic has increased over the last five years from an average of 35 freight trains a day rolling through Whitefish to more than 40 trains a day now, he said. The new local jobs, most of them based in Whitefish, include 30 engine/conductor positions and 10 track-maintenance positions. More may be added based on future needs, Melonas said. The Whitefish rail yard employs 235 workers with an annual payroll of $11-million, not including benefits, based on data supplied by the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce. Outside Flathead County, the railroad has added employees in Havre, Glasgow, Glendive, Great Falls and Cut Bank and has spent $40-million this year to upgrade tracks throughout the state, including the Hi-Line, Melonas said. [United Transportation Union, 12-22-04, from Associated Press]
UNION PACIFIC EXPECTS HIGHER FOURTH-QUARTER EARNINGS: Shares of Union Pacific Corp. surged on Tuesday [Dec.21] after the company said it was raising its fourth-quarter outlook, despite a charge of $153.6-million - or 58 cents a share - to reflect an increase in its liability of asbestos-related claims. Excluding the 58-cent per-share charge, the company expects fourth-quarter earnings to range from 82 cents to 87 cents. That far outpaces its previous estimates of 65 cents to 75 cents per share. On Tuesday, the company's stock rose $3.42, or 5.5 percent, to close at $65.67 on the New York Stock Exchange. The increased outlook primarily reflects stronger-than-anticipated commodity revenue growth of 8 percent, the company said Tuesday in a written release. That's up from the 5 percent growth originally anticipated. Partially offsetting that growth are continued high operating expenses, the company said. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-21-04, from Associated Press]
NEW YORK CONTAINER TERMINAL ASSUMES OPERATION OF STATEN ISLAND INTERMODAL FACILITY: Last week, New York Container Terminal Inc. (NYCT) took over operations of the former Howland Hook intermodal terminal in Staten Island, N.Y. The port terminal operations company and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are spending more than $300-million to transform the terminal into a port featuring a 38-acre on-dock rail facility designed to handle 250,000 containers annually and a warehouse. NYCT will focus on completing a $180-million project linking Staten Island to railroads' New Jersey mainlines and the on-dock rail facility to begin providing warehousing and distribution services. The company also is developing plans for a 1,200-foot berth that would be located adjacent to the terminal and built within two years. [ProgressiveRailroading.com, 12-21-04]
BNSF HAULS ONE BILLIONTH TON OF BLACK THUNDER COAL: BNSF moved Arch Coal's one-billionth-ton coal shipment from its Black Thunder Mine in Wyoming on Dec. 17, twenty-seven years after the mine's first coal shipment on Dec. 14, 1977. Today, Black Thunder produces nearly 10 percent of the U.S. coal supply. That's enough coal to provide electricity to 5.8 million American households. So far this year, BNSF has hauled over 37 million tons of coal out of Black Thunder Mine. Black Thunder's low-sulfur coal is shipped to more than 23 states and two foreign countries. Nearly all of Black Thunder's customers use the coal to generate electricity, including more than 100 U.S. coal-fired units. [BNSF Today, 12-21-04]
WASHINGTON METRO OPENS BLUE LINE EXTENSION: On Saturday [Dec.18], officials from Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the state of Maryland and Prince George's County, Md., opened the Blue Line extension from the Addison Road-Seat Pleasant Metrorail station to Morgan Boulevard and Largo Town Center. The 3.1-mile, two station extension is the first line to extend beyond WMATA's original 103-mile system. The $456-million line includes two miles of underground track, a half-mile of aerial structure track, and more than half a mile of at-grade track. The extension will serve as a catalyst to revive and renew the community, officials believe. The Largo Town Center station will serve the new shopping complex at the Boulevard at Capital Center, Prince George's county offices and adjacent communities. It features two parking structures with 2,200 spaces and an underground storage yard designed to accommodate up to 36 passenger cars. The extension includes four crossovers, enabling trains to cross between inbound to outbound tracks to reduce delays. [ProgressiveRailroading.com, 12-20-04]
FRA DENIES UNION PACIFIC REQUEST TO INSPECT TRAINS IN MEXICO: The Union Pacific's request to inspect safety critical equipment on its trains in Mexico was denied today [Dec.17] by the Federal Railroad Administration. The Union Pacific had sought a waiver that would have allowed inspection and tests of its locomotives to be performed by employees of Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM). The waiver, if granted by the FRA, would have allowed the TFM railroad to inspect the equipment and fulfill the requirements of "Pre-Departure Inspection," "229.21 Locomotive Daily Inspection," "End-of-Train Device Testing and Inspection," and the all important, "Initial Terminal Class I Brake Test." The trains then would have been allowed to move into the U.S. for a distance of up to 1,000 miles before receiving another inspection. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-17-04]
CAPITOL CORRIDOR HAS BEST PERFORMANCE MONTH:California's Capitol Corridor enjoyed its best month of performance ever. November's results featured 98.5 percent on time performance on Union Pacific Railroad tracks, an 11.5 percent increase in passenger loadings, and a 16.7 percent increase in revenue. [National Assn. of Railroad Passengers, 12-17-04]
ACTING FRA ADMINISTRATOR BETTY MONRO RETIRES: The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Acting Administrator Betty Monro today (Dec. 17) issued a letter announcing her retirement. Monro joined the Department of Transportation as deputy administrator of the FRA in the summer of 2001 and was appointed acting administrator by President George W. Bush in June 2004. She replaced Allan Rutter, who left the post after announcing his resignation on April 30, 2004. Rutter subsequently took a position as deputy executive director of the North Texas Tollway Authority. Monro served as chief of staff to former FRA Administrator Gilbert Carmichael from 1991 to 1993, and was special assistant for aviation policy to former DOT Secretary Sam Skinner from 1989 to 1991. [United Transportation Union, 12-17-04]
CSXT FACES LAWSUIT OVER CONTAMINATION AT TIE TREATMENT PLANT: A coalition of attorneys announced December 16 they filed a lawsuit in a Florida county court against CSX Transportation seeking $500-million in damages for injuries to Hull, Florida., area residents caused by chemicals remaining from a former wood-tie treatment facility. Closed for more than 50 years, the facility was operated for more than 30 years by several CSXT predecessors. The lawsuit claims that the toxic and carcinogenic chemicals continue to contaminate soil, groundwater, air and plaintiffs' properties, posing a threat to area residents and the plaintiffs, and reducing property values. [ProgressiveRailroading.com, 12-17-04]
JOHN WEST NAMED CSX TECHNOLOGY PRESIDENT: John L. West, CSX Technology vice president applications development for Cybernetics & Services, has been named president of CSX Technology effective January 1. He succeeds Charles Wodehouse Jr., who is retiring. West will report to Oscar Munoz, CSX Corporation executive vice president and chief commercial officer. [CSX, 12-17-04]
PLANE LANDS AT BNSF'S BARSTOW YARD: An 80-year-old woman was unhurt after her airplane ran out of fuel and made an emergency nighttime landing between railroad tracks at the BNSF inspection yard in Barstow, Calif., reports the Daily Press in Victorville, Calif. Sgt. Albert Ramirez from the Barstow Police Department said an officer spotted the Cessna Skyhawk flying low over Barstow around 10 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 12. "The 80-year-old female pilot landed in the inspection yard," Ramirez said. "She was low on fuel and needed a place to land." Ramirez said there was minor damage to the plane's landing gear but the pilot, who was the only person in the plane, did not suffer any injuries. BNSF employee Jesse Wood said he and other workers saw the small plane circling around, waiting for trains to clear from the tracks. "She landed pretty well, right between two tracks," Wood said. "You don't see something like that every day." BNSF Resource Protection Solutions officers took over the investigation and moved the plane out of the way of trains, Ramirez said. [BNSF Today, 12-15-04]
KCS AMENDS DEAL TO ACQUIRE MEXICAN RAILROAD: Kansas City Southern has agreed to acquire control of Mexico's biggest railroad, 20 months after originally announcing the deal to create a 6,000-mile transcontinental railroad, according to this report by Randolph Heaster published by the Kansas City Star. The boards of directors of Kansas City Southern and Grupo TMM said that they have reached an amended agreement in which TMM will sell its majority interest in Grupo TFM, a railroad that runs from Mexico City through northeast Mexico. The deal calls for Kansas City Southern to pay TMM $200-million in cash and 18 million shares of Kansas City Southern common stock. Kansas City Southern also could pay an additional $157-million to TMM over several years depending on the settlement of tax issues with the Mexican government as well as the government's 20 percent interest in TFM. The deal is similar to what Kansas City Southern announced in April 2003. However, Kansas City Southern's stock is worth about $85-million more than at that time, boosting the deal's total value to approximately $660-million. Also, the original plan to rename the entire railroad to Nafta Rail has been scrapped. Kansas City Southern will be the holding company for the three railroads combined in the acquisition: the Kansas City Southern Railway Co., the Texas Mexican Railway Co. and TFM. Michael R. Haverty, chairman and chief executive of Kansas City Southern, said the company will still market itself as the NATFA railroad that links the three North American countries through the central trade corridor. Upon completion of the buyout, Kansas City Southern will have about 6,650 employees in U.S., Mexico and Panama. [United Transportation Union, 12-15-04, from report by Randolph Heaster published by Kansas City Star]
AMTRAK ASKS COURT TO DECLARE N.Y. HIGH-SPEED RAIL PLAN DEAD: A plan for high-speed trains between Albany and New York City was built on so many false assumptions that a contract between the state and Amtrak is worthless, Amtrak officials contend in new court papers. Amtrak made the allegation in the latest round of filings in a federal lawsuit brought in August by the state, which wants the railroad to put the mothballed trains back in service and make track improvements or pay the state $477.3-million. Amtrak contends that it had the right to terminate the contract, already has done so and is asking the court to declare it legally dead. The high-speed rail program, which was to shave 20 minutes from the two-hour, 20-minute travel time from Rensselaer to New York City, was announced in 1998 by Gov. George Pataki. Seven rebuilt 1970s-era Turboliner trains were to be the workhorses of the route, with extensive track work to enable speeds as fast as 125 mph. The project ran into problems almost from the start. Refurbishing the Amtrak-owned trains was complicated by the discovery of asbestos in the cars and other mechanical and engineering issues. Only three trains rebuilt at Super Steel Schenectady's plant in Glenville were delivered to Amtrak. None of the track work was done. Amtrak idled the trains last summer, citing faulty air conditioning and other concerns. They're now parked in Delaware. In papers filed Friday in U.S. District Court, Amtrak argues the contract with New York was so vague and dependent on future developments that it is unenforceable, ill-considered and "illusory." Amtrak further contends that the parties were mistaken about fundamental facts upon which their bargain was based, including the condition of the Turboliners, the costs and technical feasibility of upgrading them and "the capability of the contractor" hired by the state to rebuild the trains, the papers allege. State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer K. Post declined to comment, citing continuing litigation. Bill Carr of Super Steel Schenectady said it would be inappropriate to comment since his company was not specifically named in the papers. He said other contractors also were involved in the project. In their own filings, the state's lawyers repeated their charge that Amtrak failed to complete any of the promised track work, didn't do its part in rebuilding the trains and misled state officials about their intentions. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-15-04, from article by Cathy Woodruff posted on the Albany Times-Union website]
SOUND TRANSIT PREPARES TO ADD SECOND SEATTLE-EVERETT TRAIN: Sound Transit recently obtained permits to improve track and signals in Seattle for a second Sounder commuter-rail train between Seattle and Everett, Washington. The U.S. Corps of Engineers and state Department of Ecology permits will enable Burlington Northern Santa Fe - which owns the track - to begin necessary track and signal upgrades by the end of third-quarter 2005. The train will be the second of four that Sound Transit plans to operate between Everett and Seattle by the end of 2007. By 2005's end, the agency plans to obtain permits to complete upgrades in Everett to begin operating the final two trains. Launched in December 2003, Sounder's north train currently serves about 300 weekday passengers. [ProgressiveRailroading.com, 12-15-04]
TRAIN COLLISION IN INDIA KILLS 27: Two passenger trains collided head-on on a stretch of rural track in northern India on Tuesday [Dec.14], killing at least 27 people and injuring 36, officials said. Many of the injured were in critical condition and were battling to survive at an army hospital, said railway spokesman Devender Sandhu. A communications snag between two stations masters apparently caused the crash, with an express train and a local train allowed to travel on the same track toward one another, said Dharam Singh, the top railway official in the area where the accident occurred. The accident occurred in a rural area south of the village of Mirthal, between the cities of Pathankot and Jalandhar in India's northern Punjab province, about 180 miles northwest of New Delhi. The express train was traveling from Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir, to Ahmadabad in western Gujarat state. The local train was traveling between Jalandhar and Pathankot. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-14-04, from Associated Press]
RAIL LABOR OPPOSES MEDIATION BOARD FEES: The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, along with other rail labor unions, has been actively opposing a National Mediation Board proposal to impose fees on rail employees seeking arbitration services from the NMB and, in certain cases, restrict payment to the neutral arbitrators appointed by the board. This opposition has been joined by 126 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, who signed on to a letter opposing to the agency's plan. The changes would apply only to workers, not to management. The NMB oversees labor-management relations in the rail and airline industries. The NMB has no authority to establish or collect fees for arbitration cases. Nor does it have the authority to restrict payment to the neutral arbitrators in those cases. The Railway Labor Act states that the Federal Government, not the disputing parties, is responsible for the payment of arbitration services. Imposition of filing fees will discourage rail employees from pursuing grievances. Under the NMB's proposal, the fees for a claim, from initial docketing through arbitration, would be a minimum of $75 and as high as $350. Many claims are for contract violations where the employee involved suffers a financial loss that is less than the proposed filing fees; examples include loss of a day's pay, loss of overtime, or denial of skill differential or other special pay, travel pay or travel expenses. The proposed fees would discourage the filing for arbitration over such claims. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-14-04]
BOMBARDIER CHIEF STEPS DOWN: Paul Tellier stepped down as president and chief executive of Bombardier Inc. on Monday [Dec.13], surprising investors and sending the train and plane maker's shares down as much as 26 percent to a 10-year low, according to this Reuters report. Tellier's departure, which analysts viewed as an ouster, comes one year before the end of his three-year contract at the world's third-largest civil aircraft maker and No. 1 manufacturer of trains. Two independent members of the 14-person board also resigned. Bombardier did not name an immediate successor to Tellier, who sold the company's legacy snowmobile division, slashed its work force and announced plans for the $2-billion development of a new airliner seating 110 to 135 passengers. Bombardier has had to chop output of its 50-seat regional jets on slack demand and deep financial troubles at key U.S. airline customers, and its European train operations have run into a moribund market for investment in rolling stock. Laurent Beaudoin, 66, executive chairman at Bombardier and member of the family that controls the Montreal-based company, will assume chief executive responsibilities. He will chair a new office of the president, joined by his son Pierre, who is president of Bombardier Aerospace, and Andre Navarri, president of rail unit Bombardier Transportation. Analysts said Tellier's resignation as CEO, as well as a director, appeared to stem from a boardroom battle, possibly over whether to proceed with the new C-Series passenger jet. In Ottawa, Industry Minister David Emerson said he will ask cabinet this week for authority to negotiate subsidies for the new jet. Bombardier is seeking $700-million in government aid. In a research report, National Bank Financial analyst Steve Laciak said the board disagreement may have been over the fate of the proposed new plane or on the issue of asset sales. "We need to know more. This is obviously a negative development," Laciak wrote. He suspended his "outperform" rating on the stock. Bombardier's subordinate voting shares dropped as much as C$1.87 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, rebounding to close at C$2.11, down 44 Canadian cents, or 17 percent. Volume topped 90 million shares, more than 10 times the 90-day average, making the stock the top TSX trader. Bombardier said Michael McCain, chief executive of Maple Leaf Foods Inc., and Jalynn Bennett, president of a Toronto consulting firm, had resigned as board members. The board accepted Tellier's resignation on Monday morning after an agreement worked out over the weekend, company spokeswoman Dominique Dionne said. Tellier, 65, former CEO of Canadian National Railway Co., and once Canada's top civil servant, was appointed to lead Bombardier in January 2003. [United Transportation Union, 12-13-04, from Reuters report]
WASHINGTON METRO OPENS WEST FALLS CHURCH PARKING STRUCTURE: On Saturday [Dec.11], Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) opened a $13-million parking structure at the West Falls Church Metrorail station. Located on an existing surface parking lot, the six-level, 1,200-space structure features three vehicle entrances/exits, two elevators and four emergency phones per level that connect directly to WMATA'S Metro Transit Police Department. The station now offers 2,025 parking spaces. [ProgressiveRailroading.com, 12-13-04]
MINNESOTA ZEPHYR TOURIST TRAIN DERAILS: Three cars and an engine of the popular Minnesota Zephyr train derailed Saturday [Dec.11], but there were no injuries. The old-fashioned train, which offers sightseeing, dining and music as it travels the St. Croix River Valley, was going about 5 mph when it left the tracks about 3 p.m., around six miles north of Stillwater. The passengers were shuttled back to the depot in Stillwater and the cars were put back on the tracks. Owner Dave Paradeau blamed the moist weather for the derailment, and said the track is inspected frequently. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-12-04, from Associated Press report]
AMTRAK DEFENDS SPENDING ON LONG-DISTANCE CARS: The head of the nation's passenger rail service defended Amtrak's spending priorities in a reply to a harsh assessment from the Transportation Department's inspector general. Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer David L. Gunn said in a written response to Transportation Department Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead that the rail service isn't jeopardizing the safety of service in its Northeast Corridor. Mr. Mead wrote in a Nov. 22 report to Congress that Amtrak was spending millions of dollars fixing long-distance sleeper cars while neglecting investment in bridges and tunnels, a strategy that could create a "major failure" in the rail system. In response, Mr. Gunn said the passenger rail service is investing in the Northeast Corridor and criticized the negative tone of the inspector general's report. "The implication that we are pouring capital money into our long-distance fleet at the expense of the Northeast Corridor is not correct," he wrote in a letter dated Dec. 3. Amtrak spent $15.7-million in fiscal 2004 to fix long-distance cars, Mr. Gunn wrote. In contrast, the "vast majority" of Amtrak's fiscal 2004 engineering budget of $387-million funded work on the Northeast Corridor, Mr. Gunn wrote. Amtrak couldn't have performed more work on its busy Northeast tracks without disrupting service, he said, and the agency continues to deal with years of deferred maintenance. In his report, Mr. Mead called on Congress to provide clear direction for Amtrak, suggesting lawmakers force it to reduce service and proposing the federal government tie funding to progress made in restructuring operations to reduce losses. Amtrak posted a $1.3-billion operating loss in fiscal 2003. Through June, its fiscal 2004 operating loss was $945 million, according to the inspector general's report. Mr. Gunn argued that he "bought time for decision makers" by putting fundamental reforms in place that have stabilized Amtrak since he took over two years ago. "We are at a point where we can begin to look at this problem over a longer term," he said. But the absence of a national transportation policy outlining Amtrak's role and the lack of sufficient funds make long-term reform impossible, he said. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-10-04, from story by William Glanz on the Washington Times website]
MINETA LAYS OUT SECOND-TERM GOALS: Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta, named Thursday [Dec. 9] to serve in President Bush's second-term Cabinet, vowed to press a controversial plan to overhaul Amtrak financing in order to end "a drain on the budget." Mineta, 73, the former Democratic mayor and House member from San Jose, said in an interview that he would work to win congressional approval for the pending plan to reduce federal spending on the government-subsidized rail system by shifting a greater burden to states served by Amtrak on the East and West coasts. Federal assistance for Amtrak ought to be on the same basis as federal assistance for highways and metropolitan transit systems, with the federal government paying a smaller share of the costs, Mineta said. "There ought to be a local-share component in the financial support of those railroad services," Mineta said. Mineta said Bush backs the hard-nosed plan requiring states to pay up - or lose service. "If a train goes through a state and that state is not willing to pony up the state's share, then we would run the train through that state, not stopping and keeping the doors closed," Mineta said. The transportation chief said he intends to "deal with the long-term longevity of Amtrak," which receives $1.2 billion under Bush's latest annual budget - about $600-million less than Amtrak requested. Mineta conceded that he was "quite sure we'll find resistance" in Congress to the plan. But he added: "We have spent something like $37-billion on Amtrak (since its inception in 1970). It has been a drain on the budget, and we haven't really improved services in a major way. I want to make sure that we keep this system safe and provide a good service." Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, said states already shoulder a significant portion of Amtrak's capital expenditures. Mineta's plan would merely "take the bill for existing railroad service and dump a greater share on the states" when states need more generous federal support "to take railroad service to the next level," Capon said. Of the $417-million Amtrak invested in capital improvements in fiscal 2003, the federal government provided $268-million, leaving the remaining $149-million to be financed by states, localities and borrowing. "The rhetoric the administration is using just doesn't match up to the reality," Capon said. "This plan would be the death knell for expansion of railroad service." Amtrak enjoys wide support in Congress, which created the federally subsidized network after the demise of private passenger rail service in the 1960s. Lawmakers with Amtrak trains running through their states or districts represent a formidable lobby against any attempt to reduce service. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-10-04, from article by Stewart M. Powell circulated by Hearst Newspapers]
CREW MEMBER DIES FOLLOWING UNION PACIFIC COLLISION: A crew member of a Union Pacific freight train involved in a head-on crash of two freight trains early Dec. 10 near Niland, California, died after being hospitalized. Niland is some 180 miles east of Los Angeles. The trains, one eastbound and one westbound, were carrying non-hazardous materials. The Associated Press identified the dead crew member as Kenneth Leonard, 44, who was aboard the eastbound train. Four other UP crewmen were treated at hospitals for their injuries, none of which was said to be life threatening. The Associated Press reported earlier that the two UP trains collided just before 7 a.m. Dec. 10, with five locomotives and seven freight cars derailed. [United Transportation Union, 12-10-04]
AMTRAK CREATES WAITING LIST FOR SLEEPING CAR SPACE: Amtrak has begun to create waiting lists for sleeping car space on its trains. If a train has no sleeping-car space, now a client can ask a reservation sales agent to put his or her name on the wait list. [National Assn. of Railroad Passengers, 12-10-04]
CSX SELLING INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL BUSINESS: Dubai Ports International ("DPI"), one of the world's leading port operators, announces that it has signed a definitive agreement with CSX Corporation to acquire the international terminal business conducted by CSX World Terminals and other related interests for a cash consideration of US$1.15-billion, subject to customary adjustments. Completion of the transaction is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2005. CSX World Terminals is a leading international container terminal developer and operator with operations in Asia, Europe, Australia and Latin America. [Joint press release, 12-9-04]
RAIL INTERMODAL VOLUME TOPS 10 MILLION FOR FIRST TIME: For the first time ever, intermodal volume on U.S. railroads has topped 10 million trailers and containers in a single year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) has reported. During the week ended December 4, railroads moved 232,798 trailers and containers, up 14.9 percent from last year. This brought the total for the year to 10,196,913 trailers and containers, up 10 percent from the first 48 weeks last year when the previous annual record of 9,943,362 was set. Also for the week ended December 4, carload freight, which doesn't include the intermodal data, totaled 349,727 cars, up 0.6 percent from a year ago with loadings up 3.7 percent in the East and down 1.9 percent in the West. Total volume was estimated at 32.8 billion ton-miles, up 0.6 percent from last year. Eleven of 19 carload commodities registered gains from last year, with metallic ores up 20.1 percent; lumber and wood products up 16.4 percent; and metals up 16.4 percent. Among commodities reporting declines were grain, down 16.2 percent; other farm products, down 23.5 percent; and coke, down 10.8 percent. [Assn. of American Railroads, 12-9-04]
CONGRESS DIRECTS AMTRAK TO REPAY $100-MILLION LOAN: Amtrak, the nation's financially troubled passenger railroad, must pay back a $100-million loan it received from the government to avert a shutdown in 2002, according to this Reuters report. After deferring repayment for two years, lawmakers included language in the omnibus appropriations bill signed by President George W. Bush to make Amtrak clear the loan from its books over the next five years. An Amtrak spokesman said the railroad was ready to repay the debt, which was a key component of the financial rescue package spearheaded by the Transportation Department in the summer of 2002. At the time, Amtrak had virtually run out of cash and had no leverage to borrow more from its banks because of its weak financial condition and heavy debt. Amtrak had threatened to start shutting down service unless it received help from the government. The bailout triggered a process of tighter Transportation Department oversight of financial matters at Amtrak, which depends on annual federal subsidies to survive. [United Transportation Union, 12-8-04, from report by Reuters]
RAILAMERICA SELLS TWO OF ITS COMPANIES: RailAmerica today [Dec.8] announced that it has completed the sale of its Arizona Eastern Railway Company and West Texas and Lubbock Railroad Company, Inc. subsidiaries to Permian Basin Railways, Inc. Permian Basin Railways, Inc. has been the operator and lessee of the West Texas and Lubbock Railroad since May 2002. RailAmerica received cash proceeds of $2.75-million for the sale of its shares of the Arizona Eastern Railway Company, and cash proceeds of $1.75-million and a note in the amount of $3.55-million for the sale of its shares in the West Texas and Lubbock Railroad Company. Arizona Eastern Railway Company owns and operates 135 track miles between Miami, Arizona and Bowie, Arizona. West Texas and Lubbock Railroad Company owns and operates 104 track miles between Seagraves and Lubbock, Texas and from Lubbock to Whiteface, Texas. [RailAmerica, 12-8-04]
CSX OPENING CONSOLIDATED TRAINING CENTER IN ATLANTA: With rail industry projections pointing to the need for thousands of new employees over the next few years, CSX Transportation has consolidated in Atlanta all of its training for front-line employees who operate trains and maintain railroad assets and infrastructure. The $8-million consolidated training center is a multi-disciplinary facility for students who are training to be locomotive engineers and conductors, track and signal technicians, mechanics, and yard managers. Conductor training is expected to begin in January 2005 with other subjects offered by midyear. More than 3,500 students are expected to visit the facility annually when fully operational. Located adjacent to CSXT's Tilford Yard rail classification facility, the training center will provide state-of-the-art equipment, including locomotive simulators, and the opportunity to apply classroom learning in a hands-on railroad operating environment. Some management training also will take place. New employee training today takes place in Cumberland, Md. (locomotive engineers); Jacksonville, Atlanta and Cleveland (conductors); Barboursville, W.Va. (track engineering and train control); and Savannah, Ga. (train control). [CSX Corp. 12-3-04]
CITY HALTS SEPTA'S PLANS FOR FARE HIKE: In a rare use of its veto power, the City of Philadelphia yesterday [Dec.2] put the brakes on a last-minute plan by the SEPTA board to erase the agency's $62-million deficit by raising the cash fare from $2 to $3 - the highest in the nation - and eliminating 20 percent of weekday service on buses, trolleys and trains, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Under Pennsylvania law, the two representatives of the city - home to 80 percent of SEPTA's estimated one million daily riders - can veto any measure. No one at the transit agency could recall when that power was last exercised. SEPTA riders' sense of relief could be short-lived. Most board members were vowing to override the veto at their next meeting on Dec. 16, unless Gov. Rendell produces enough money to close the chasm in the agency's $920-million budget. Rendell has the authority to funnel federal highway funds toward SEPTA's deficit - at least until a new two-year session of the legislature convenes next month in Harrisburg. In a statement released late yesterday, Rendell offered "no guarantees that we can solve this problem." Since September, SEPTA had threatened to raise fares by 25 percent, end weekend service, and lay off 1,300 employees. The proposal on the table at yesterday's meeting put more of the hurt on riders - so much so that SEPTA officials themselves predicted that 20 percent of commuters would abandon public transit. [United Transportation Union, 12-3-04, from item in the Philadelphia Inquirer]
BLET SAYS UTU SPREADS FALSEHOODS OVER SENIORITY MAINTENANCE TIMELINE: Once again, the United Transportation Union has chosen to skew the facts in its continued smear campaign against the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. In a December 1 post to its website, the UTU called the BLET's lawsuit against the organization "wacky" and wrongly attempted to claim that the BLET had initiated the concept of seniority maintenance agreements in the first place. The UTU should check its history. The UTU invented the concept of seniority maintenance in the early 1990s in a vain attempt to stem the tide of its dwindling membership. Years later, the BLET followed suit to protect its own interests on a few properties, including Conrail. However, this was only after the UTU invented this new means of raiding the BLET membership. The BLET understands that, if its lawsuit is successful, its own, few seniority maintenance agreements would also be voided. "While the voiding of our own seniority maintenance agreements may initially affect membership growth on those few properties, it is the right thing to do," said BLET National President Don M. Hahs. "The employees could then freely decide which organization that they would like to join." [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-3-04]
RAILS SHOW SOLID TRAFFIC GAINS IN NOVEMBER: U.S. railroads originated 1,343,632 carloads of freight in November 2004, up 2.6 percent (33,478 carloads) over November 2003, and an additional 889,978 trailers and containers, up 12.2 percent (96,733 units) over November 2003, according to this release issued by the Association of American Railroads. Coal paced the November traffic increase, with carloads originated up 5.2 percent (26,680 carloads) to 538,164 - equal to 40 percent of total U.S. rail carloads for the month. Other commodities showing traffic gains in November included metallic ores (up 13.3 percent, or 6,888, to 58,720 carloads); crushed stone and gravel (up 8.3 percent, or 6,458, to 83,965 carloads); and metals and metal products (up 8.0 percent, or 3,886, to 52,674 carloads). Carloads of petroleum products rose 8.0 percent (1,701 carloads) to 22,854 carloads in November. Commodities showing traffic decreases in November included motor vehicles and equipment (down 9.9 percent, or 9,597, to 87,170 carloads); grain (down 4.9 percent, or 4,671, to 90,667 carloads); and farm products excluding grain (down 19.2 percent, or 1,662, to 6,978 carloads). Carloadings of chemicals in November were down 0.7 percent (848) to 114,613 carloads. [Assn. of American Railroads, 12-2-04]
COLUMBUS & OHIO RR TAKES OVER CSX LINE IN OHIO: The CSX railroad line from Newark to Mount Vernon, Ohio, has a new owner. The Columbus and Ohio River Railroad has added the 20 miles of track to its already extensive holdings, giving 650 miles of track in Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to a company president Bill Strawn. The company headquarters are in Coshocton. The central Ohio segment of the line has branches from Columbus to Cambridge, Columbus to Coshocton and Columbus to Mount Vernon that total 117 miles. Strawn said the entire system has 85 diesel engines, 11 steam engines and a fleet of railroad cars. Employees to run the system total 200. Two commodities that make up a substantial part of its business are coal and grain, and the company, which is privately held, has gone after new business aggressively. Strawn said that over a six-year period it has increased its coal haulage from 1,000 carloads per year to 35,000. Are excursion trains out of Mount Vernon, pulled by one of the steam engines, in the city's future? Possibly. Strawn explained that increased security measures since 9/11 and liability insurance must be examined before officials can run an excursion line. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-1-04, from article by Virgil Shipley on the Mount Vernon News website]
THICK FOG SUSPECTED IN CSX FATALITY: One of the two trains that collided head-on in Pasco County, Florida, on Monday [Nov.29] might have run through a signal light in heavy fog, investigators say. The crews of both trains did see each other moments before the crash, and applied their emergency brakes, but it was too late. One man, a conductor who leaped from his train at the last moment, was killed. Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that signals and tracks at the accident scene appeared in good working order. That leaves the possibility that human error, abetted by the weather, caused the crash of the two CSX freight trains shortly after 2 a.m. Monday. Once the trains saw each other, they started to brake. The conductor and engineer of the northbound train, hauling 60 cars of rocks from Miami, leapt for their lives, according to Pasco County rescue workers. They didn't jump far enough to avoid being trapped under crumpled and flipped rail cars. Conductor C.J. Jones was crushed to death. Engineer E.E. Anderson survived with broken bones. The position of Jones' and Anderson's train could be key to the crash. Their train had just merged onto a short stretch of common track, placing them on a collision course with a 136-car train operated by engineer G.M. Whitehead and conductor W.E.Taylor of Bartow. Both trains were on the proper track, CSX spokesman Gary Sease said. It was a question of timing. One of the trains should have waited clear of the other. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 12-1-04, from story by James Thorner on the St. Petersburg Times website]
STB APPROVES KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN'S ACQUISITION OF TEX MEX RAILWAY: The Surface Transportation Board announced that it has issued a decision approving "Kansas City Southern's" acquisition of control of the "Tex Mex Railway," subject to conditions. In approving the transaction, the STB is: (1) requiring Kansas City Southern to comply with the terms of a Safety Integration Plan, developed with the Federal Railroad Administration; (2) providing affected employees "New York Dock" labor-protective conditions augmented for this transaction so that employees choosing not to follow their work to Mexico will not be deemed to have forfeited their labor protections; (3) providing for STB monitoring of operations at the Laredo Bridge; and (4) requiring Kansas City Southern to comply with its representations enumerated in the decision, including its commitment to keep the Laredo gateway open on commercially reasonable terms. In the event Kansas City Southern acquires control of TFM, S.A. de C.V., a Mexican railroad, the STB reserved the right to conduct oversight to examine the operational effects of that control on transportation with the United States. [Surface Transportation Board, 11-29-04]
CSX FREIGHT TRAINS COLLIDE IN FLORIDA KILLING ONE: Two CSX freight trains collided head-on Monday, November 29, in Richland, Florida, killing one crew member, authorities said. The crash caused the derailment of about 10 cars and injured three people, said Kevin Doll, a spokesman for the Pasco County sheriff's office. CSX spokeswoman Jane Covington said each train had a two-member crew. One train was headed south from Waycross, Ga., to Tampa, while the other was headed north from Miami to Wildwood. They collided about 25 miles northeast of Tampa. Covington said it is too early to say what caused the accident, adding that head-on collisions are rare. The tracks are controlled by signals similar to traffic lights and the system is designed so trains do not move into the next section of track until it is clear, she said. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-29-04, from Associated Press report]
FEDS APPROVE FUNDING FOR PHILADELPHIA/READING LINE: The $388-billion spending bill approved by Congress November 20 includes $10-million earmarked for a proposal to build a 62-mile commuter rail line between Philadelphia and Reading, according to the Daily Local News. Called the Schuylkill Valley Metro, the project has struggled to win federal funding approval over the years, largely because the projected cost has steadily risen beyond $2.5-billion. The Metro money in this bill will be used for engineering and design work, according to a release from the office of U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa. [United Transportation Union, 11-28-04, from item appearing in the Daily Local News]
TRAINS COLLIDE IN MONTANA FORCING AMTRAK TO BUS PASSENGERS: Two freight trains collided east of Columbia Falls, Montana, November 25, blocking the main rail line and forcing Amtrak to bus Empire Builder passengers 250 miles from Whitefish to Havre, Montana, reports the Associated Press. No one was injured in the "low impact" collision that derailed two cars and spilled some soybeans, a Flathead County dispatcher said. The derailment blocked traffic on the main line across northern Montana. About 110 Amtrak passengers left Whitefish just before 10 a.m. on their way to Havre, said Havre ticket clerk Nancy Peterson. They were expected in at about 3 p.m., as were the 77 passengers on the westbound Empire Builder. [United Transportation Union, 11-25-04, from Associated Press report]
MARYLAND MTA TO REOPEN SOUTH-END LIGHT-RAIL STOPS: On December 5, Maryland Transit Administration will reopen light-rail service at five south-end stops that have been closed since February for a double-track project. MTA will reopen the Linthicum, BWI Business District, Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Ferndale and Cromwell stations. In January, the agency will begin the final phase of the project - double-tracking the system's north end between North Avenue and Timonium. Once the project is complete in 2006, only 2.6 miles of MTA's system will be single-tracked. [ProgressiveRailroading.com, 11-24-04]
U.P., C.N. REACH ROUTING PROTOCOL AGREEMENT: Union Pacific and CN announced November 24 that they have reached a routing protocol agreement to streamline their exchange of rail traffic at major gateways. The agreement will help to reduce rail congestion at Chicago. Under the protocol, UP and CN have established a structured plan to direct rail traffic flows through the most efficient interchange locations, a change that will improve transit times and asset utilization for the customers of UP and CN. The new routing protocol will be implemented over a three-month period. The major interchange points for traffic moving between UP and CN are Superior, Wis.; Chicago; Salem, Ill.; Memphis; Baton Rouge, La. and, via Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Vancouver, B.C. [Union Pacific, 11-24-04]
FEDERAL REPORT CALLS FOR AMTRAK CUTS: A federal report issued Monday [Nov.22] suggests that Amtrak cut its long-distance routes, including the Texas Eagle that runs through East Texas. The report by the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general, Kenneth Mead, says the train service should drop long-distance routes in favor of repairing and maintaining short-distance routes in the Northeast, where Amtrak owns the rails on which it runs. Amtrak leases access to other rail tracks around the country, including Union Pacific in Longview, Marshall and other East Texas cities. The Texas Eagle runs from San Antonio to Chicago. Mead said the current system can no longer be maintained. "The total funding Amtrak receives from all sources is not sufficient to maintain the current system in a state of good repair," he said. Congress has consistently given Amtrak less than the railroad has said it needs for maintenance and capital investment. This year, Amtrak sought $1.5-billion, but the Bush administration proposed $900-million, which the House approved. Over the weekend, though, House and Senate negotiators agreed to a $1.2-billion subsidy. At that level, Amtrak will not be able to undertake the capital investments it had planned. The railroad delayed capital investments last year, too. For that year, it asked for $1.8-billion but got about $1.2-billion. Amtrak has posted losses of at least $500 million each year for the past 10 years, but Meads' report noted that ridership was up last year. In a statement, the National Association of Railroad Passengers said if the national network is destroyed, Congress will no longer want to support Amtrak. "Eliminating that network, while preserving every existing short-distance service, would create a 21-state 'system' of four isolated mini-networks, weakening Amtrak's ability to get federal funding," the group said. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-23-04, from report appearing on the Longview, Texas, News-Journal website]
LIONEL PINS HOPES ON POLAR EXPRESS: Christmas is turning into a real train wreck for Lionel LLC, the 104-year-old model train maker that filed for federal bankruptcy court protection last week. Lionel has the license to produce a replica of the locomotive in "The Polar Express," Warner Bros.' big-budget holiday movie that recently made its debut. The movie was supposed to rekindle the train hobby among youngsters more fixed these days on video games. Instead, the movie has been a disappointment at the box office, and hopes for a revival of the nostalgic genre seem dashed by Lionel's filing for protection from creditors Nov. 15 in federal bankruptcy court in New York's Southern District. Lionel said it filed because it couldn't pay a $40.8-million court judgment against it after a court found it misused a rival's train blueprints. The judgment "has forced us to take this action," said Jerry Calabrese, Lionel's chief executive. The bankruptcy filing will give the company time to appeal the court decision and "will enable us to create, manufacture and ship our products in our normal and usual way," he added. But at a minimum, the filing will hobble Lionel's efforts to get maximum advantage out of its "Polar Express" model. Despite the movie's poor ticket sales so far, the $249 train sets have sold out in many stores. Yet getting more inventory into stores in time to take advantage of movie publicity will take money Lionel may not have. The bankruptcy filing followed the dismissal in September of Lionel's two top executives, who were replaced as part of a broader management shake-up in which 18 midlevel managers also lost their jobs. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-23-04, from story by Wall Street Journal reporters Joseph Pereira and Ethan Smith appearing on the Kansas City Star website]
FRA CHANGES TRAIN-HORN PROPOSAL'S DATE: An agency announcement in today's (Nov. 22) Federal Register that the effective date of the proposed rule from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that allows communities to establish train horn 'quiet zones' will be moved to April 1 from the previously published date of December 18, according to this release issued by the FRA. "We are firmly committed to providing communities nationwide with a fair, flexible, and workable rule that will address concerns over noise created by train horns," said FRA Acting Administrator Betty Monro. "We are especially sensitive to the concerns of communities with pre-existing whistle bans who want to maintain the quality of life to which they have become accustomed." The Interim Final Rule (IFR) on Use of Locomotive Horns at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings was issued late last year. It requires trains to sound their horns on approach to, and while traveling across, public highway-rail crossings. However, the train horn can be silenced within a 'quiet zone' provided safety measures are in place at the affected crossings. Because the IFR generated significant interest from communities across the country, the FRA extended the public comment period by two months. Approximately 1,400 comments were submitted for review. FRA had planned to issue the Final Rule last month, but the analysis and consideration required of each comment made meeting that schedule difficult. The Final Rule will now be issued in January and becomes effective on April 1. [Federal Railroad Administration, 11-22-04]
GENESEE & WYOMING SHARES SURGE: Shares of railroad Genesee & Wyoming (GWR) rose more than seven percent on four times the normal trading volume Monday (Nov. 22) amid market speculation that the company could be acquired or spin off its business in Australia, according to this CBS MarketWatch report by Padraic Cassidy. Matthew Walsh, vice president of finance for the company, declined to comment on any possible deals, but said a financial news commentator's pick over the weekend of Genesee & Wyoming's stock as a favorite investment might have sent shares rising. The railroad operates short lines and regional freight lines in North America, Bolivia and Australia that typically cater to the needs of paper, petroleum, grain, and other bulk commodity producers. Rail America, Genesee & Wyoming's principal competitor, in August unloaded its Freight Australia line to Pacific National for $204-million, almost twice its purchase price in 1999. Analysts and traders said the flurry in market activity could also be related to the railroad's Nov. 15 announcement of its closing of $257-million in debt financing, which left about $157-million available to the company. [United Transportation Union, 11-22-04, from CBS MarketWatch report by Padraic Cassidy]
DRIVER OF AMTRAK THRUWAY BUS COLLAPSES AT THE WHEEL: Passengers on Amtrak's Thruway Motorcoach service between Fort Myers, St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida, had a harrowing ride on Wednesday [Nov.17]. The bus driver of Amtrak Thruway Service #6092 (connection to the Silver Star at Tampa) apparently suffered a heart attack while driving across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which links St. Petersburg and Tampa. The driver collapsed and the bus slammed into the retaining wall, then caromed over towards the other retaining wall. Alert passengers hurried to the front of the bus - one grabbed the wheel and one applied the brake. While the driver died from the heart attack, no passenger injuries were reported. [National Assn. of Railroad Passengers, 11-19-04]
FEDS CONFIRM RAIL POLICE HARASSED EMPLOYEES: For many years, the United Transportation Union has complained to carriers about improper conduct of railroad police, who have abused and harassed UTU members - as well as rail employees represented by other organizations - through oppressive interview tactics, illegal wiretapping, spying and other inappropriate activities. No more are the UTU complaints merely allegations. The Department of Transportation's inspector general has validated the UTU's complaints, calling many railroad police actions against UTU members,"serious issues," "misconduct" and "heavy-handed." In a report to the bi-partisan leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight of railroads, DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead (the IG) said his office investigated numerous instances where railroad police may have engaged in "unlawful or improper conduct." Following extensive interviews with UTU officials, carrier management and railroad police officials, the IG, recommended: "Involvement of labor union representation in the development of employee investigative procedures." The IG also recommended that all railroads put in place "definitive guidance" for the conduct of employee investigations and a "formalized internal affairs program for investigating alleged improprieties and misconduct on the part of railroad police officers." UTU International President Paul Thompson thanked Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), and the committee's ranking Democrat, Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, for listening carefully to UTU complaints and requesting the IG investigation of railroad police actions. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), whom Thompson termed "a long-time and very special friend of the UTU," personally worked to ensure UTU's request for the investigation was given Senate priority. The UTU was the only union seeking such an investigation. "This was the first time a formal federal investigation of railroad police abuse against union members was launched and demonstrates once again that the UTU's bi-partisan political stance is "effective and beneficial to our members," Thompson said. "The actual report also confirms once again that when the UTU does protest to Congress, its complaints are legitimate." In 2003 alone, said the IG, major railroads used their police on 975 separate occasions to investigate employees. The IG called this "significant" and also observed that carriers have used railroad police "for non-law-enforcement-related activities on behalf of management, such as investigating time and attendance issues, delivery of administrative notices to employees and conducting surveillance of injury claimants." In fact, many of the investigations against carrier employees "did not reflect an appropriate, prudent application of police resources," said the IG. The most frequent users of railroad police to investigate employees are Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. UP ordered its railroad police to investigate employees 226 times during 2003, and NS ordered such investigations 196 times, said the IG. Because of an absence of a formal mechanism for collecting complaints of railroad police misconduct, "there is a strong likelihood that incidents such as these have gone unreported," said the IG. "Seven of the nine railroad police departments we surveyed, to include the four largest railroads in the country, reported they did not have a policy and procedures manual providing specific procedures for investigating railroad employees," said the IG. Better oversight of railroad police "is necessary to ensure they remain objective and credible." [United Transportation Union, 11-19-04]
OPTIONS FOR VIRGINIA HIGH-SPEED RAIL PRESENTED: State transportation officials presented four options for bringing high-speed passenger rail to Hampton Roads at a public meeting Wednesday evening [Nov.17]. Three of the four routes under study connect Richmond to South Hampton Roads. One terminates on the Peninsula. Cost and ridership estimates have not been developed yet, said Alan C. Tobias , manager of passenger rail programs for the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. The state rail department wants to have a plan ready so it can be first in line if and when federal or state money becomes available for high- speed rail development. Plans have been made for improving rail service between Richmond and Washington. With $67-million in hand for the $370-million project, work is about to start on a small phase. Consultants are still gathering information for the Richmond-to-Hampton Roads segment. Tobias said the department is close to securing more money to evaluate the options and recommend a route, possibly by May 2005 . The alternatives are: using the Norfolk Southern freight tracks from Richmond to Petersburg to Norfolk along U.S. 460; building a rail line along a new U.S. 460 alignment that's under study; using the CSX corridor between Richmond and Newport News along I-64 now used by Amtrak; and extending the I-64 route south across the James River Bridge, eventually ending in Norfolk. The trains planned for Virginia would hit top speeds of 110 mph instead of the current 70 mph. At the planned speeds, Hampton Roads residents could get to New York City in about five hours, consultants said. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-18-04, from article by Debbie Messina posted on the Virginian-Pilot website]
CP RAIL EYEING WESTERN LINE EXPANSION: Officials said on Wednesday (Nov. 17) that Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is eyeing a C$160-million ($134-million) project to ease congestion on its line through the Rocky Mountains, but it has not yet decided whether to do the work, according to this Reuters report. The company said that while it appears there is enough demand to support an expansion of track capacity, it still needs assurances the federal government will not order railways to open their lines to third-party users. CP officials told analysts the railroad has completed the engineering work on expanding sidings on a section of line between Calgary and Vancouver that could allow it to run up to four more trains each day. Railway officials have said they hope to have the assurances they need before the start of the construction season in spring 2005, and believe the work can be done with little disruption to trains using the line. [United Transportation Union, 11-17-04, from report by Reuters]
SHORT LINE DENIED ABANDONMENT OF WYOMING RAIL LINE: The Federal Surface Transportation Board has denied a railroad company's request to abandon a rail link between a closed sawmill in Saratoga and the Union Pacific mainline in southern Wyoming. Abandoning the line was opposed by Intermountain Resources Inc.,which hopes to reopen the sawmill, and by Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal. The 24-mile line would be the principal means by which the company would transport lumber from the mill to market. The decision by the board does not prohibit the railroad owners, the Wyoming and Colorado Railroad Co. of Ogden, Utah, from attempting to abandon the line through a more formal and time-consuming administrative process. The company's president could not be reached for comment. The Saratoga line operates between Saratoga and Wolcott Junction. It was built and operated by the Saratoga & Encampment Railroad between 1908 and 1928. It was merged with Union Pacific in 1951. UP sold the line to Wyoming and Colorado Railroad Co. in 1987. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-17-04, from story by Tom Mast appearing on the Casper Star-Tribune website]
FRA ADDING INSPECTORS OF UNION PACIFIC IN SAN ANTONIO: Ensuring the safety of the nations railroad system is the number one mission of the Federal Railroad Administration. In the aftermath of a string of train accidents involving Union Pacific, the FRA began in July 2004, an extensive and comprehensive review of the railroads safety compliance performance in Texas. The FRA review over the ensuing months included federal inspectors riding UP trains, overseeing UP inspectors perform their work, conducting FRA own inspections, and auditing the UP field testing exercise (FTX) program. It concluded that UP failed in its implementation and management oversight of its FTX program, which tests train crew compliance with railroad operating rules and other federal safety regulations, a result that was unsatisfactory. As a result, the FRA has entered into a safety compliance agreement signed by the UP and announced Nov. 16. The document describes the actions the railroad will take to resolve the problems found by FRA. Under the one-year agreement, the UP will have its San Antonio Service Unit:
The FRA has ordered additional federal inspectors from other regions to Texas to supplement existing staff in inspecting and monitoring UP adherence to this agreement. The first team is already in San Antonio working with front line UP managers and train crews. Additional FRA inspectors will be sent in the coming weeks. Should FRA determine at any time that the compliance agreement is not being fulfilled by UP, a stronger compliance order will be issued without challenge from UP. A compliance order would then require UP to perform the provisions of the agreement and is enforceable in federal court where top railroad officials could be held personally liable. We welcome the interest and assistance of affected officials representing the area of San Antonio as we continue to work with the highest levels of UP management and maintain an active presence to achieve lasting improvements for the safety of rail operations in the San Antonio area. [Federal Railroad Administration, 11-16-04]
ISG MECHANICS RESTORE 50-YEAR-OLD LOCOMOTIVE: After nearly 50 years of hard labor at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s plants in Pennsylvania and Burns Harbor, Indiana, battered old locomotive No. 72 was parked because it wasn't serviceable. But earlier this year, the mechanics at the locomotive shop of the mill, which is now called ISG Burns Harbor, got the green light to undertake a complete refurbishing project - everything from a mechanical overhaul to a sharp black, white and blue paint job. By doing the work themselves, they restored a locomotive that General Motors only made from 1954 to 1966, and they did it for $119,000, including parts and labor. If ISG had to purchase a similar one, it would have spent $400,000 to $550,000, said locomotive shop supervisor Jim Zrodlowski. About 15 mechanics worked on the project between February and September, laboring whenever they got a break from their other assignments. When it was all done, anybody who came to the shop got to vote on which paint scheme it would receive. Locomotive 72 is expected to provide another eight to 10 years of service before needing an overhaul. With the success of the locomotive No. 72 project, the mechanics are busy working on restoring locomotive No. 21, a 1965 model. That project should be done in March. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-16-04, from story by Ken Kosky appearing on the Munster Times website]
LIGHT-RAIL DEMONSTRATION PROJECT UNDER WAY FOR WASHINGTON METRO: Last weekend, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) broke ground on the 2.7-mile Anacostia Light Rail Demonstration project. The line will be built on existing CSX Transportation right-of-way along the east side of the Anacostia River between Bolling Air Force Base and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. The $16.1-million project includes purchasing three light-rail vehicles, constructing a maintenance facility, and installing two traction power substations and a catenary system. Scheduled to be complete in fall 2006, the line will include stops at stops at Pennsylvania Avenue, Fairlawn, Old Anacostia, Anacostia Metrorail station, Barry Farm and the Bolling Air Force Base. The District of Columbia is funding the project. [ProgressiveRailroading.com, 11-16-04]
CCS&SB STUDYING SERVICE EXPANSION: The Chicago, South Shore & South Bend Railroad is studying expansion of their commuter service in Lake and Porter counties in Indiana. Efforts to expand the railroad that runs some 90 miles from South Bend to downtown Chicago have taken another step toward creating a new line known as the "West Lake Project". The project would extend the line, which dates to 1908, to Lowell and Valparaiso, IN. The study of these extensions is projected to cost about $1.2-million. One new line would branch off from the main line at Hammond and run south to Munster. At Munster, IN, the new line would split into two smaller branch lines; one to Lowell on the south and Valparaiso to the east. The actual expansion is estimated to cost $340-million. [Urban Transit Club]
UNION PACIFIC TRANSFERRING SOME IDAHO JOBS TO NEBRASKA, MISSISSIPPI: Union Pacific is transferring a tenth of its Gate City, Idaho, work force by mid-February to boost slumping profits. The nation's largest railroad is moving 65 of 650 Pocatello Union Pacific Fruit Express unit jobs to its North Platte, Neb., and De Soto, Miss., locations. Union Pacific is reorganizing the Pocatello business after third-quarter earnings slipped more than 30 percent, dented by higher fuel prices, costs to train new employees and rail congestion. "We have to take whatever actions are necessary," spokesman John Bromley said. "It's our obligation to operate this business as efficiently as possible." Pacific Fruit Express is keeping 12 positions in Pocatello to inspect refrigerated cars before they're cleaned and reloaded in Nebraska. Workers can transfer to keep their jobs, Bromley said. Railroad union officials said the transfer is merely job cuts in disguise. "With the transfers, we always lose jobs because people aren't willing to move 800 miles," said Kevin Anderson, local chairman for the Carmen's Union in Pocatello. He thinks the railroad will subcontract those positions to people willing to work for less money and no insurance benefits. Anderson is also angry he wasn't told about the moves until Friday afternoon. The railroad "didn't even have the decency to let me know what was going on ahead of time so I could be with them (workers) to answer questions," he said. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-14-04, from report appearing on the Omaha World-Herald website]
B&O MUSEUM REOPENS TO PUBLIC: The B&O Museum reopened to the public on Saturday, November 13. It had been closed since the collapse of its roundhouse roof on February 17, 2003. Over 6,000 visitors filed through the complex on its reopening day. The roof has now been replaced and exhibits that were in the building when the roof collapsed are once again on display. Some of the exhibits still show the damage that resulted - these are displayed within glassed-in enclosures. A number of improvements have been made to the Mount Clare Station, including a new entry door, new exhibit areas, and a larger gift shop. For further information on the museum, call 410-752-2490, or go to www.borail.org.
RESTORATION OF SEATTLE'S KING STREET STATION BEGINS: Restoration began this week on Seattle's King Street Station, long in need of attention. Non-historic features, such as the faux ceiling and 1960's-era "modern" ticket counters, will be removed and replaced with more historically-accurate fixtures. Completion is targeted for summer 2005. [National Assn. of Railroad Passengers, 11-12-04]
INITIAL PROBE BLAMES AMTRAK ENGINEER FOR ACELA ACCIDENT: A preliminary report accuses the engineer involved in an Amtrak train derailment last month [October] of ignoring warning signals and failing to seek permission to back up the train, according to Newsday. The Amtrak Acela Express train No. 2191 derailed October 28 shortly after leaving New Haven Union Station. The train, which had 76 passengers and six crew members aboard at the time, did not topple over and it came to rest partially in between two retaining walls. An electric line was torn down and the power was cut to the area while the line was repaired. Dan Brucker, a spokesman for Metro-North, said a freight train had knocked over a signal earlier in the night. When the engineer of the Amtrak train approached the area, he ignored a restriction signal and proceeded, according to preliminary results of an ongoing investigation, Brucker said. An Amtrak spokesman had said previously that the train backed up at the direction of the Metro-North dispatcher, after the engineer on the Amtrak train noted possible damage to signals and overhead wires along the track. Metro-North owns the tracks. Engineers must get authority from the dispatcher to go in reverse, Brucker said. Officials said dispatcher recordings revealed the engineer did not receive required permission to reverse the train. Officials said the engineer went through switch alignments not opened for him, and when attempting to go in reverse, the train derailed. "He was not given permission to back up within the switch area," Brucker said. Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration are still investigating. [United Transportation Union, 11-10-04, from item published by Newsday]
AMTRAK ADDING TRAIN IN CALIFORNIA: Amtrak is adding a train to run between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo. A new Amtrak Surfliner train will begin running November 17, leaving Los Angeles' Union Station at 7:30 a.m. With stops in Ventura and Santa Barbara, it will arrive in San Luis Obispo about 1 p.m., officials said. On its southbound trip, the train will leave San Luis Obispo at 1:20 p.m. and Santa Barbara at 4 p.m. It will arrive in Ventura at 4:45 p.m. and Los Angeles at 7:10 p.m. The new Amtrak train will be the third to run between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo and the only one leaving Los Angeles before 9 a.m. The service is the culmination of a two-year effort to add a Surfliner train at hours that might provide some relief for commuters on Highway 101 between Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-10-04, from Associated Press article]
SUPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF NORFOLK SOUTHERN IN LIABILITY CASE: The U.S. Supreme Court sided Tuesday [Nov.9] with Norfolk Southern Railway Co. in a case that was being closely watched by the railroad industry. The court ruled, in a decision written by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, that the Norfolk-based railroad's liability for damage caused by a 1997 derailment was limited by federal maritime law. The case involves a shipment of machinery from Australia to a General Motors plant in Huntsville, Alabama. A derailment by a Norfolk Southern train allegedly caused $1.5-million of damage to the machinery. James N. Kirby Pty Ltd., the Australian manufacturer, sued Norfolk Southern to recover for the damage. Norfolk Southern, however, countered that its liability was limited to $5,000, or $500 for each of the 10 damaged shipping containers, under the 1936 Carriage of Goods by Sea Act. That law limits the liability of ships and companies that contract with a shipper to $500 per shipment. The liability limit can be extended to companies hired to transport goods before and after they are moved by ship. In 2000, a federal judge in Atlanta sided with Norfolk Southern, ruling the railroad's liability was capped at $5,000. Two years later, a divided 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision, finding that Kirby's contract with the freight forwarded wasn't clear enough to extend the maritime law liability protections all the way to Norfolk Southern. Norfolk Southern appealed with the support of the Bush administration, which filed a brief on its behalf. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-10-04, from article by Christopher Dinsmore posted on the Virginian-Pilot website]
NEW RAIL DEAL SPEEDS FREIGHT TO CANADA: Cutting 330 miles and as many as two days off rail shipments between eastern Canada and the eastern United States, a new freight-hauling agreement was announced Monday [November 8] by Norfolk Southern Corp., Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway. The deal gives Canadian National and Norfolk Southern seamless, direct service over Canadian Pacific's north-south rail lines south of Montreal. Under the arrangement, Canadian Pacific trains will haul Canadian National traffic destined for Norfolk Southern over its line between Rouses Point and Saratoga Springs, New York. Norfolk Southern trains will haul the traffic over Canadian Pacific's line from Saratoga Springs to near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This agreement extends the gains of an agreement Norfolk Southern reached with Canadian Pacific on June 30. Canadian National traffic destined for Norfolk Southern currently is interchanged in Buffalo. The new agreement will cut 330 miles and as many as two days off that circuitous route from eastern Canada. To be implemented November 19, the agreement will affect about 20,000 shipments a year when it goes into effect, the railroads said. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-9-04, from article by Christopher Dinsmore posted on the Virginian-Pilot website]
SHORT LINE TO ACQUIRE TWO BNSF LINES IN NEBRASKA: Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado RailNet (NKCR) will acquire two rail lines consisting of nearly 89 miles of track from the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) in Southwestern Nebraska. The two rail lines being acquired by NKCR are between Oxford and Franklin and between Culbertson and Imperial. NKCR will begin operations on both lines November 13, 2004. This additional NKCR trackage will serve customers in the towns of Orleans, Alma, Republican, Naponee, Bloomington and Franklin on the Oxford to Franklin line, and in the towns of Beverly, Palisade, Hamlet, Wauneta, Enders and Imperial on the Culbertson to Imperial line. NKCR was created in 1996, and with this expansion will operate approximately 524 miles of track. NKCR will interchange with BNSF at Oxford for traffic originating or terminating between Oxford and Franklin, and at McCook, Nebraska, for traffic originating or terminating between Culbertson and Imperial. [Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado RailNet, 11-8-04]
BNSF PROMOTES THREE TO REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENTS: Dave Dealy, vice president, Transportation, today, November 8, announced the promotion of Steve Goodall to regional vice president, North Operations; Mark Kotter to regional vice president, Central Operations, and Chris Roberts to regional vice president, South Operations. Previously, each held the position of assistant vice president for their respective Operations regions. [BNSF Today, 11-8-04]
CSX TRACK-LEASING PLAN IN VIRGINIA IS APPROVED: A Dillwyn-based railroad's plan to lease nearly 200 miles of CSX Corp. track across Virginia got the green light yesterday [Nov. 5] from a federal oversight agency. By a 2-1 vote, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved the deal between CSX and Buckingham Branch Railroad. "We're very pleased that the STB made their decision in order that we can move ahead to meet the needs of the shipping public," said Bob Bryant, president of the privately-held railroad. He admitted that he was relieved about the decision since he has spent considerable time and money getting ready to take over the freight rail line from Richmond to Clifton Forge. Bryant hopes to get rolling by December 20, after completing contract negotiations with CSX. "We're now in a position to buy equipment and continue the process of interviewing and hiring" up to 25 new employees, he said. The Surface Transportation Board, which oversees economic issues of railroads, approved the lease application despite concerns by Amtrak and the state of Virginia over track upkeep. A union representing rail-maintenance workers also objected because of the potential loss of jobs and safety concerns. Bryant has promised to use a $2-million-a-year payment from CSX to maintain and improve the track, which crosses rugged mountain terrain in western Virginia. The dissenting vote on the three-member federal agency came from Vice Chairman Francis P. Mulvey, who said parts of the leasing arrangement were "anti-competitive." Mulvey's dissent cited CSX's attempts to charge Bryant for serving any other major railroads, such as Norfolk Southern Corp. This has been "the most contentious issue" in the contract talks between Bryant and officials at CSX, according to the decision. Bryant said in an interview that CSX has made some concessions on the surcharge issue, "and we agreed to terms." [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-6-04, from article by Chip Jones posted on the Richmond Times-Dispatch website]
LITTLE ROCK OPENS FIRST LEG OF RIVER RAIL STREETCAR LINE: On November 1, Little Rock, Arkansas, opened the first leg of its River Rail Streetcar System. The initial 2.5 miles of track connect Little Rock and North Little Rock (on opposite sides of the Arkansas River), with future expansion eyed to such locations as the Little Rock Airport. [National Assn. of Railroad Passengers, 11-5-04]
WASHINGTON METRO TRAINS COLLIDE: At approximately 12:49 PM on November 4th, two Washington Metro subway trains crashed at the Red Line's Woodley Park Metro station. An empty train bound for Shady Grove lay up tracks had just left the Woodley Park station, headed uphill towards Cleveland Park Station but was stopped by a red signal. The train began to roll backwards down the hill and slammed into the road train, which was stopped at Woodley Park with passengers on it, and it's doors open. The motorman of the empty train and three passengers from the revenue train were injured. None of the injuries were described as life-threatening. [Urban Transit Club]
RAIL TRAFFIC UP IN OCTOBER: U.S. railroads originated 1,406,933 carloads of freight in October 2004, up 1.9 percent (26,466 carloads) over October 2003, and an additional 929,197 trailers and containers, up 10.8 percent (90,505 units) over October 2003, according to this release issued by the Association of American Railroads. Metallic ores (used in steelmaking), coal (destined mainly for power plants and export), and crushed stone and gravel (used in construction and elsewhere) paced U.S. rail carload gains. U.S. railroads originated 64,641 carloads of metallic ores in October 2004, up 17.1 percent (9,432 carloads) over October 2003; coal totaled 543,598 carloads in October 2004, up 1.5 percent (8,171 carloads) over last year; and carloads of crushed stone and gravel totaled 95,232, up 7.4 percent (6,595 carloads) over October 2003. On the down side, carloads of grain totaled 93,107 in October 2004, down 6.4 percent (6,404 carloads) from 2003, while carloads of motor vehicles and equipment totaled 98,309, down 5.5 percent (5,736 carloads) compared with last year. Of the 19 major commodity categories tracked by the AAR, 13 saw carload gains in October 2004 compared with 2003. [Assn. of American Railroads, 11-4-04]
FLORIDA BULLET TRAIN PLAN DEFEATED BY VOTERS: A proposed high-speed train network to be built by a consortium led by Canada's Bombardier Inc. was knocked off-track yesterday [Nov. 2] after Florida voters turned against the multibillion-dollar project, according to the Associated Press. Construction had not started, but the first leg connecting Orlando and Tampa had been laid out and a contractor was selected. The cost of that first leg was estimated at more than $2.3-billion. The train was to eventually connect the two areas with Miami. [United Transportation Union, 11-3-04, from Associated Press report]
CSX BLAMES KINK IN TRACK FOR AUGUST DERAILMENT IN ALABAMA: CSX railway officials have said that a "kink" in their railroad track, the result of what was then recent rail line maintenance, caused a 17-car derailment in north Mobile County this fall, according to the Mobile Register. No one was injured August 19 when a 98-car freight train carrying coal split open the tracks near Catfish Bayou in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. CSX spokesman Gary Sease said that the company is reviewing its maintenance policies to find out what changes need to be made to prevent such an incident elsewhere. The Mobile County derailment was the first involving a kink that came on heels of maintenance work, Sease said. At issue is how the track responds to contractions and expansions caused by cold and heat, he said. "This is a track-caused derailment. There was no human error. The maintenance people did everything by the books, and the track kink still occurred, so that's why we're going back and looking at our maintenance policies," Sease said. The track was closed for three days following the derailment while debris was removed and the rail line was repaired, according to reports. The company has not put a dollar value on damage to the train cars or cargo, and Sease was unable to estimate revenue lost as a result of the derailment, or related delays and reroutes for other rail cargo. [United Transportation Union, 11-3-04, from item appearing in the Register]
MAN GETS PRISON IN AMTRAK BOMB THREATS: Five bomb threats against an Amtrak train that crossed Wisconsin last summer will cost an Alaska fish processor nearly four years in prison, a federal judge said Tuesday [Nov. 2]. Michael Conwill, 35, said in August that he made the threats because he was angry at being served food that contained hot peppers earlier in his journey from Seattle. He said they caused an allergic reaction that caused him to be hospitalized briefly in Minot, N.D. Crabb also ordered Conwill to repay Amtrak $28,552 for costs it incurred as a result of his threats. Conwill, of Anchorage, Alaska, was arrested in Chicago for making five calls from his cell phone from aboard an Amtrak train as it rolled through Sauk and Juneau counties on July 6. Because of the threats, the train was stopped in Portage and passengers were taken to a school for several hours while the train was searched. No bombs were found. Conwill was arrested when the train arrived in Chicago after the FBI traced the calls to police dispatchers to his cell phone. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-3-04, from story by Ed Treleven on the Wisconsin State Journal website]
FRA PROPOSES TO ENHANCE CRASHWORTHINESS OF LOCOMOTIVES: Train crews will more likely survive and suffer fewer and less severe injuries from accidents under regulations proposed by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), published in the November 2 Federal Register. Newly manufactured and rebuilt freight locomotives will be designed to meet minimum crashworthiness safety performance standards of the Federal Railroad Administration to better ensure that the structural integrity of the locomotive cab is maintained in the event of an accident or collision. The proposed rule builds upon, and significantly augments, industry standards implemented in 1989. The proposed regulation would require that the locomotive withstand a frontal impact with an object intended to simulate the lading carried by a heavy highway vehicle, as well as an oblique impact with an object simulating a misaligned or offset intermodal container on a train traveling on adjacent parallel track.Proposed standards include the integration of anti-climbing features, collision posts, short-hood structures, and under-frame structural improvements. External fuel tanks will be strengthened to decrease the chance of a rupture and the interior of the locomotive cab will have emergency egress, emergency lighting, and reconfigured controls.The Railroad Safety Advisory Committee, a consensus oriented rulemaking body of representatives from the FRA, the railroad industry, rail labor, manufacturers, suppliers, and others examined this issue and recommended these regulatory improvements. Comments about the proposal may be submitted to the docket for the proceeding (FRA 2004-17645) via the U.S. Department of Transportation online Docket Management System at http://dms.dot.gov until January 3, 2005. [Federal Railroad Administration, 11-2-04]
WASHINGTON STATE TAKES OVER SHORT LINE RAILROAD: The state Department of Transportation said it has paid $8-million to take ownership of about 300 miles of shortline railroad track in Eastern Washington and plans to spend $22-million on track improvements. Former owner Watco Inc. has owned and operated the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad since 1992, and the company will continue to handle operations under a 15-year, extendable lease with the state. The rail system provides service to more than 70 businesses in Whitman, Lincoln, Grant, Spokane, Columbia and Walla Walla counties, and handles about 20 percent of the state's grain shipments. [Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, 11-2-04, from article posted on Puget Sound Business Journal website]
NEW GENESEE & WYOMING SUBSIDIARY INITIATES ILLINOIS OPERATIONS: Today [Nov. 1], newly formed Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) subsidiary the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad Inc. (T&P) began operating 20 track miles in Tazewell and Peoria counties, Illinois. In August, T&P obtained a 20-year contract to lease the assets of terminal railroad Peoria and Pekin Union Railway Co. (PPU), which is owned by Norfolk Southern Railway, Union Pacific Railroad and the Illinois Central Railroad Co. PPU's system is contiguous with GWI subsidiary Illinois & Midland Railroad, which is based in Springfield, Ill. GWI owns or holds interest in more than 24 regionals and short lines in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia and Australia. [ProgressiveRailroading.com, 11-1-04]
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