USA railroad industry news – Page 33
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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.
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NewsFederal Railroad Administration publishes research reports
USA: The Federal Railroad Administration has published a number of technical reports and research results. The topics covered are: Wireless Digital Train Line for Passenger Trains; Validating a 70-Ton Higher Speed Freight Truck Design: Phase II; Impact Test Data Analysis for Load Environment Characterization of Tank ...
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NewsTwo goals for Greenbrier in the Covid-19 crisis
GREENBRIER: Wagon manufacturer The Greenbrier Companies has two primary goals during the coronavirus pandemic, Chairman & CEO William A Furman said when presenting its Q2 results on April 7. These are ‘protecting the safety and health of employees and preserving the economic well-being of our enterprise in ...
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NewsOmniTRAX launches Rail-Ready Sites programme
USA: OmniTRAX has launched a Rail-Ready Sites programme on the Winchester & Western Railroad in Cumberland County, New Jersey. The programme initially covers with 10 locations, which have been selected suitable for developing rail-served manufacturing, food processing, recycling and distribution facilities. ‘Together with our community partners, we ...
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Metro Report InternationalBART reduces services and redeploys staff to capital projects as ridership drops to 7%
USA: The San Francisco Bay Area’s BART metro is to withdraw alternate trains to reduce its weekday service from 15 min to 30 min headways from April 8 until further notice. The operator said ridership data showed that social distancing would remain possible on all trains, while ...
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NewsZTR and BlackBerry partner to launch rail asset monitoring platform
MONITORING: Locomotive modernisation technology specialist ZTR and security software company BlackBerry have launched a remote wagon monitoring system designed to provide operators with greater insights into the fleets. Monitoring devices offer a long battery life in the rough railway environment, while the online dashboard provides location, utilisation ...
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Metro Report InternationalFederal Transit Administration releases $25bn in Covid-19 grants
Most of the emergency funding will be focused on urban transport operators such as MARTA in Atlanta. USA: The Federal Transit Administration is to make $25bn available in emergency funding to help the public transport sector through the coronavirus pandemic. FTA is allocating the majority of the ...
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Metro Report InternationalBoston consolidates light rail stops
USA: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has awarded MAS Building & Bridge a $17·8m contract to replace four existing light rail stops on Boston’s Green Line into two new stops. St Paul Street and BU West will be replaced by one stop, and Babcock Street and Pleasant Street ...