USA railroad industry news – Page 33
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NewsJeantet ousted from Keolis over ‘strategic differences’
FRANCE: Former SNCF Réseau chief executive Patrick Jeantet has been dismissed as Chairman of Groupe Keolis with immediate effect, the company’s Supervisory Board announced on June 2. A new Executive Committee has been formed to oversee the business pending the appointment of a successor.
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Metro Report InternationalOrange County Streetcar operating contract awarded
USA: California’s Orange County Transportation Authority has selected Herzog Transit Services for a $45m contract to operate and maintain the 6·7 km OC Streetcar which is under construction in Santa Ana and Garden Grove for opening in 2022. Herzog Transit Services beat two other bidders for the ...
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Metro Report InternationalDallas SCADA upgrading contract approved
USA: The Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board has approved a contract for Alstom Signaling Operations to upgrade its supervisory control & data acquisition system, which was installed in 1996. Alstom will replace software, servers, workstations, tunnel ventilation control systems, an overview display wall and a cyber security ...
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NewsCaltrain’s first Stadler EMUs on test
Stadler Kiss EMUs for Caltrain (Photos: Caltrain) USA: On-track testing of the Kiss electric multiple-units ordered by Californian commuter operator Caltrain has started at Stadler’s plant in Utah. Stadler is supplying an initial batch of 16 six-car EMUs under a $551m ...
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NewsBombardier to supply 28 BiLevel coaches to two operators
USA: Bombardier Transportation has signed contracts totalling US$108m to supply 28 BiLevel double-deck coaches to two West Coast transport operators. The order anounced on May 27 covers three push-pull driving cars and eight intermediate coaches for Seattle’s Sound Transit, which led the procurement, as well as five ...
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NewsSMART to acquire freight operations
USA: The board of California’s North Bay area commuter rail operator Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit has approved plans to acquire 33 km of railway between Healdsburg and the Mendocino-Sonoma County line from the North Coast Rail Authority, which the state is to dissolve, and the purchase of ...
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NewsShort Line safety culture resources published
USA: The Short Line Safety Institute has released Strong Safety Culture Best Practices, a resource which draws on more than five years of safety culture assessments and the 10 core elements of a strong safety culture as defined by the Department of Transportation’s Safety Council. Best practices ...
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NewsClimate change question in REMSA’s 2020 scholarship application
USA: The Railway Engineers Maintenance Suppliers Association has made climate change the focus of its 2020 scholarship programme, for which applications close on May 29. Applicants are being asked to draft an essay addressing ‘in what ways can the freight rail industry can benefit our environment? Do ...
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NewsPartnership to offer mission-critical IoT radio communications in the rail market
NORTH AMERICA: Siemens Mobility and private licensed wireless data network developer Ondas Networks have announced an exclusive partnership to offer a Siemens-branded portfolio of radio communications in the North American rail market. This will feature dual-mode equipment that is interoperable with Siemens Mobility’s extensive installed base of ...
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Metro Report InternationalFTA clarifies restrictions on the use of federal funding for vehicle orders
USA: The Federal Transit Administration has published guidance intended to help transport agencies and vehicle manufacturers understand the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which imposes limits on the use of federal funding to procure rolling stock from manufacturers controlled by corporations based in certain ...
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NewsAmtrak requires face coverings as services increase
USA: Amtrak has announced that all customers using its trains, stations or connecting bus services will be required to cover their nose and mouth with effect from May 11. The national passenger operator explained that the mandatory face coverings could be removed when ...
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Metro Report InternationalBoston fare collection contract changes approved
USA: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Fiscal & Management Control Board has approved changes to the public-private partnership contract for a consortium of Cubic Transportation Systems and John Laing to modernise its fare collection systems. MBTA said the amendments would ensure ‘an achievable and enforceable schedule’ for providing ...
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Metro Report InternationalNew York to halt overnight Subway service under Covid-19 measures
Photos: J M Calisi Subway ridership has collapsed since the onset of the coronavirus crisis in New York. USA: As part of its Covid-19 measures, New York MTA is to end overnight operation of the New York Subway with effect from May 6. This will allow an ...
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NewsPandemic scuppers Amtrak’s hopes of breaking even
USA: Amtrak has lost close to 95% its ridership since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, just as the national passenger carrier was projecting that it would finally break even for the first time in almost 50 years. Ridership has all but disappeared because of the ...
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NewsCalifornia awards grants to drive modal shift
USA: The California State Transportation Agency has awarded $500m in capital grants for 17 ‘transformative’ rail and public transport projects under its Transit & Intercity Rail Capital Program. The grants announced on April 21 are intended to support design and construction works, and will be complemented by ...
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Metro Report InternationalBART increases opportunities for small businesses
USA: San Francisco Bay Area metro operator BART says it is taking ‘unprecedented steps’ to increase the opportunities available to small businesses during the coronavirus outbreak. ‘We are actively soliciting as many small businesses as possible to help us with essential work’ said Fei Liu of BART’s ...
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Metro Report InternationalSacramento orders low-floor light rail vehicles
USA: Sacramento Regional Transit District has decided to replace its fleet of ageing high-floor light rail vehicles with low-floor cars to be supplied by local manufacturer Siemens Mobility Inc. SacRT’s first order for new rolling stock in 20 years covers 20 S700 vehicles together with spare parts ...
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NewsGreenbrier suspends wagon manufacturing at Gunderson site
USA: The Greenbrier Companies has suspended wagon manufacturing at its Gunderson site in Portland, Oregon, owing to the economic impacts of Covid-19. The announcement on April 16 came a week after Greenbrier Gunderson ended production on its double-stack intermodal line, which has run nearly continuously for 25 ...
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NewsSkanska awarded Acela depot upgrading contract
USA: Amtrak has selected Swedish engineering group Skanska to refurbish and modernise its rolling stock maintenance depots in Washington DC, New York and Boston, ready for the introduction of its next-generation Acela high speed trainsets, which are now being built by Alstom at its Hornell plant and ...
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NewsAmtrak awarded $1bn from coronavirus relief package
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration is making available more than $1bn to support Amtrak operations during the coronavirus pandemic, under the terms of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security Act approved by the US Congress on March 27.