North America – Page 57
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NewsWorld rail freight news round-up
Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary Freightliner has successfully operated a 4 624 tonne ‘jumbo train’ of aggregates from Merehead in Somerset to Acton in London, which it described as ‘the heaviest freight train currently running in the UK’. This was a trial run ahead of Freightliner taking over the haulage contract ...
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Metro Report InternationalSan Diego selects Siemens S700 light rail vehicles
USA: San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System has awarded Siemens Mobility a contract to supply 25 light rail vehicles. Siemens will supply its low-floor S700 LRV. Deliveries from its Sacramento plant are expected to be complete by the end of 2021, and the LRVs would replace the high-floor SD100 ...
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Metro Report InternationalSiemens to supply S700 light rail vehicles to Portland
USA: Portland transport agency TriMet has selected Siemens Mobility to supply up to 86 light rail vehicles, the manufacturer announced on July 29. Deliveries from Siemens’ Sacramento plant are expected to begin in 2021. The base order of 26 LRVs would replace TriMet’s 26 Type 1 vehicles supplied ...
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Metro Report International‘Historic’ restructuring of New York MTA approved
USA: A landmark restructuring of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority was approved at a board meeting on July 24. The ‘historic reorganisation’ is the first such effort since MTA was established in 1968. Developed internally with input from consultancy firm Alix Partners, the plans focus on centralising support ...
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NewsOmniTRAX to buy Winchester & Western Railroad
USA: OmniTRAX has agreed to acquire the Winchester & Western Railroad from minerals company Covia Holdings Corp for $105m in cash, subject to adjustments. The transaction which is expected to close in Q3 2019 includes 470 wagons owned by the railway. Class III railway W& W has two divisions ...
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NewsBRX’s acquisition of Pioneer Railcorp approved
USA: Short line group Pioneer Railcorp announced on July 19 that its shareholders had approved the company’s acquisition by BRX Transportation Holdings, an entity formed by infrastructure investors Brookhaven Rail Partners, Related Infrastructure and private equity investor Stephens Capital Partners. Pioneer Railcorp owns 15 common carrier short lines including ...
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NewsNorfolk Southern starts TOP 21 roll-out
USA: Norfolk Southern has successfully rolled out the first phase of its Thoroughbred Operating Plan 21, covering its wagonload and automotive traffic, the railway confirmed on July 22. Mirroring the principles of the Precision Scheduled Railroading concept adopted by other Class Is, TOP21 is designed to improve system velocity ...
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NewsFlixTrain raises funding for expansion
INTERNATIONAL: FlixMobility has completed a Series F funding round co-led by growth equity firms TCV and Permira, with long-time investor HV Holtzbrinck Ventures also participating through a joint investment with the European Investment Bank. In the rail sector, the company plans to use the equity raised to support the growth ...
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NewsCalifornia Northern Railroad commissions low-emission locos
USA: Two Knoxville Locomotive Works low-emission diesel locos have entered service on Genesee & Wyoming’s California Northern Railroad following the completion of trials. The 1·79 MW locomotives have 12-cylinder MTU engines and use selective catalytic reduction technology to meet Tier 4 emissions requirements. They are expected to provide fuel ...
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NewsFreightCar America to close Roanoke factory
USA: Wagon manufacturer FreightCar America is to permanently close its factory at Roanoke, Virginia, by mid-November. The company has leased the site from Norfolk Southern since 2005. ‘The closure of our Roanoke facility is another next step in our “Back to Basics” strategy as we continue to ...
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NewsCalifornia High-Speed Rail Authority issues Track & Systems RFQ
USA: California High-Speed Rail Authority has issued a request for qualifications for its Phase I Track & Systems contract, which has an estimate value of $1·6bn. This would cover design, construction, and testing of the trackwork, electrification, signalling, train control and other railway systems for the 190 km route ...
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Metro Report InternationalWork begins on Montréal airport metro station
CANADA: Greater Montréal airport authority ADM Aéroports de Montréal held a groundbreaking ceremony on July 19 for the Réseau Électrique Métropolitain station at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport. Due to open in 2023, the C$250m station is being funded by ADM. It forms part of a larger C$2·5bn project that ...
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NewsShort Line Safety Institute launches leadership programme
USA: The Short Line Safety Institute has launched a leadership programme focused on developing new and experienced railway managers’ soft skills including communication, mentoring and coaching. It combines role play, self-assessment and group discussion of topics including delivering constructive feedback, managing to agreement, coaching, building high performing ...
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Metro Report InternationalSeattle light rail extension designer selected
USA: Seattle-Tacoma transport authority Sound Transit has selected Parsons as lead designer for the Federal Way Link Extension project, the company announced on July 11. Parsons will work as part of a team led by Kiewit Infrastructure West Company, which was awarded a design-build contract earlier this year. ...
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NewsIowa Northern Railway orders integrated PTC package
USA: Iowa Northern Railway has awarded Wabtec a contract to provide integrated I-ETMS Positive Train Control, LDRS-V digital video recording and data transfer and analytics capabilities across its entire locomotive fleet by late 2020. The order announced on July 10 is the first such contract won by Wabtec since its ...
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NewsEagle Railcar Services buys wagon workshops
USA: Eagle Railcar Services has agreed to acquire five wagon workshops along with around 400 employees from Rescar. This will take Eagle Railcar Services’ network to 10 sites employing almost 1 200 full-time staff, and according to the company will make it the largest full-service provider of wagon repair and ...
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Metro Report InternationalLED beacons certified for the New York subway
USA: Eflare Corp is supplying the New York subway with 22 000 compact handheld LED hazard warning beacons for use by track workers. New York City Transit Authority worked with Eflare for more than three years to ensure the Australian company’s beacons meet its demanding requirements, and testing was undertaken ...
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NewsSouth Coast Rail groundbreaking ceremony
USA: A groundbreaking ceremony at East Freetown in Massachusetts on July 2 officially marked the start of work on Phase 1 of the South Coast Rail commuter project. The $1·047bn project will extend Boston’s Middleborough Line commuter rail services to Taunton, New Bedford and Fall River, the only major cities ...
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NewsCalifornia High-Speed Rail Authority publishes northern route preferences
USA: California High-Speed Rail Authority has published its recommended alignments for two sections of the planned line in northern California. Public feedback will now be sought before the board makes a decision in September. Draft environmental documents would then be published in December 2019 and March 2020, ahead of a ...
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Metro Report InternationalSFO AirTrain operating contract awarded
USA: The City & County of San Francisco has awarded Bombardier Transportation a new contract to operate and maintain the SFO AirTrain automated peoplemover at San Francisco International Airport. The contract is worth $220m over 10 years, and has an option for an additional five years. Bombardier supplied the SFO ...