NORFOLK Southern is to invest $903m on capital projects this year, compared to $781m in 1997. Of this, $149m will go towards the proposed Conrail acquisition. Major programmes include $279m for rail, sleepers, ballast and bridge replacement, up 4% from 1997, and $237m for rolling stock including 116 six-axle diesel locos. Other work includes new communications and signalling equipment.
CSX Transportation unveiled its 1998 investment programme on January 29, up 25% from last year to US$806m. CSX has allocated $240m for track work, including 650 km of rail and 2 million sleepers. Another $200m will go on locos from General Electric, and $165m on new and rebuilt wagons. Signalling renewal will account for $66m, covering replacement of pole lines, new track circuiting, and radio dispatching. In addition, CSX has a $488m, three-year investment plan for integrating its share of Conrail.
- On February 4 Rockwell Transportation Electronics announced that it had won a $6·2m contract to develop a Communications-Based Train Management system for CSX using Positive Train Separation principles. To be demonstrated on the 193 km line from Spartanburg, South Carolina, to Atlanta, Georgia, CPTM will be fitted to six diesel locos. Triggered by radio data messages from the CSX operations control centre in Jacksonville, the on-board equipment will combine GPS location data with geographical route and train formation information uploaded from lineside databases to determine safe speeds and braking curves. o
