WEEKLY RAIL REVIEW
FOR THE WEEK ENDING Friday, Aug 3, 2007
BY: DAVE MEARS
(Posted by permission)
WEEKLY RAIL REVIEW
FOR THE 7 DAYS ENDING FRI,
AUGUST 3, 2007
BY DAVE MEARS
THE WEEK’S TOP
RAIL AND TRANSIT NEWS (in chronological order):
(SUN) Extreme
high temperatures were experienced in many parts of the U.S., with some railroads again effecting
heat restrictions for passenger trains operating over their lines. In a
story about such heat restrictions, the New York Times reported that, when the
temperature reached 95 degrees in Manhattan’s Central Park, the deputy chief engineer of Amtrak’s
New York Division orders Northeast Corridor trains to operate no faster than 80
mph. The newspaper noted that heat
restrictions are not only a precaution against heat kinks in the rails,
but also against damaging sagging catenary.
(ffd: New York Times)
(MON) Canadian
National suffered an on-duty employee fatality.
Daniel Riels, Age 46 and a train conductor
with five years' service, was crushed when he was run over and pinned beneath a
rail car he was switching. The accident
happened in Jackson, TN on CN’s former
Illinois Central lines. (ffd: wire services)
(MON) Congress
passed the “Improving America’s Security Act of 2007.” The act, which was expected to be signed by
President Bush, includes a provision potentially allowing the U.S. Department
of Transportation to order the rerouting of rail cars loaded with toxic
inhalation materials (TIH). USDOT is
expected to work with stakeholders to weight the risks of each TIH route, first
issuing a rule to direct railroads to conduct their own analyses of possible
routes. NARP reported that any rerouting
orders may face legal challenges, but could potentially begin by April, 2009. (ffd: NARP, Washington Post)
(MON) VIA Rail Canada issued a notable statement against
Hudson Bay Railway, which operates the line over which VIA run its passenger
trains between Winnipeg, MB and Churchill, MB.
Deteriorating track conditions and a freight train derailment led VIA to
indefinitely suspend operation of those trains.
In a statement, VIA President Paul Cote said in part, “The management of
HBR is failing to meet its responsibilities to deliver VIA, its passengers and
employees to their destinations safely…We are tired of the apparent disregard
of operating host railways in this country for the important public
responsibility with which they have been entrusted. HBR did not immediately comment on Mr. Cote’s
statement. (ffd: NARP, Trains)
(MON) Economic
Planning Associates, a forecasting firm, predicted a slight decline in rail car
deliveries this year. The decline was
explained as being the result of a “soft economy, rising interest rates, and
declining rail traffic.” EPA projected a
total of 66,500 deliveries by year’s end.
EPA further predicted approximately 63,000 deliveries next year, as “box
car and centerbeam [car] demand remains lackluster,
coal car deliveries flatten and small-cube covered hopper assemblies
ease.” (ffd: EPA, Progressive Railroading)
(TUE) Volusia County, Florida agreed to co-fund the construction
of a 61-mile, $615 million commuter rail system serving the greater Orlando, FL area.
The county was the last local signatory needed to help pay for the rail
system, which will be financed through 30-year fixed guideway
bonds issued through the state of Florida.
A state spokesman said that work on the line, which has already been
purchased from CSX, will begin shortly and that trains are “expected to roll”
by mid-2010. (ffd: RT&S)
(WED) The I-35 highway bridge across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, MN collapsed into the river, which is
shallow at that crossing. The collapse
killed at least five persons, with several others still missing. The collapse also blocked a line of the
Minnesota Commercial Railroad running alongside the river at that point and
crushed three rail cars of plastic pellets sitting on a siding underneath the
bridge. (ffd: Trains)
(WED) New
passenger rail car crash strength standards were proposed by the Federal Railroad
Administration. Under the proposed new
standards, cars that feature both passenger seating and a cab from which the
train is operated would have to withstand 300,000 pounds of force, an amount
double the current federal requirement.
If approved, the new standards would apply to such cars ordered after
October, 2009. An FRA spokesman said
that it is accepting public comment on the new standards through October 1. (ffd: Progressive Railroading)
(WED) The
Associated Press erroneously reported that Amtrak would offer $100 in free
alcoholic beverages to passengers on some of its overnight trains. Later in the week, Amtrak issued a statement
clarifying that this credit, which would be for all kinds of beverages, would
only be offered to those Amtrak Guest Reward members who purchase
accommodations on GrandLuxe luxury passenger
cars, which will soon be added to the rear of selected Amtrak trains. NARP noted that this credit “was a common
incentive to fill premium space in the cruise and hospitality industries.” (ffd: Amtrak, NARP, wire services)
(WED) CSX
announced that another state, Kentucky, would be participating in its new “rail
security partnership.” The new security
initiative gives the state access to CSX’s Network Operations Workstation (NOW)
System for tracking the location of CSX trains and the contents of these
trains’ rail cars. New York and New Jersey announced their participation in the
program the previous week. (ffd: CSX Corp., Lexington
Herald-Leader)
(WED) Canadian
Pacific Railway announced that it would sell its Windsor Station in Montreal, PQ for future development. A CPR spokesman said that the station
building would continue as it now is and that the railroad “expected to remain
as a long-term lead tenant” there. Later
in the week, CPR announced that it would outsource part of its Information
Technology Department. Another CPR
spokesman said that the outsourcing was to IBM and Infosys
Technologies, and that they would assist the railroad in “managing IT
application development and [provide] application development and support
associated with overseeing and maintaining CPR’s operations.” (ffd: Progressive Railroading, wire services)
(THU) Amtrak
temporarily removed from service all Talgo-type trainsets used to operate its Cascades services in Washington and Oregon.
An Amtrak spokesman said that the decision was made as a result of
finding cracks in the suspension systems of some Talgo
cars. The spokesman added that further
inspections and any necessary repairs would be undertaken, but that the trainsets would likely be out of service through the
weekend. (ffd: Amtrak, NARP)
(THU) Virginia
Railway Express, which operates commuter rail services between Washington, DC and Northern Virginia, announced that its on-time performance
during the current summer had improved notably compared with previous
summers. A VRE spokesman said that one
factor in the improvement is a new heat restriction agreement with CSX, over
which VRE operates its Fredericksburg Line.
In the past, CSX had a blanket policy to slow all passenger and freight
traffic by 20 mph whenever the temperatures reached 85 degrees or higher. Now, according to the spokesman, CSX
“achieves the same safety goals by sending inspectors to check specific track
segments, ordering slower speeds only when necessary.” (ffd:
Washington Post)
(FRI) In spite
of the Talgo trainsets
having been temporarily taken out of service earlier in the week, the Oregon state legislature passed what one news
report called an “innovative solution” to funding its portion of Amtrak
Cascades services. Under a new Oregon law, personalized license plates costing
$50 each will provide funding and are expected to generate $8.6 million of the
$9 million Oregon pays for Cascades services. The balance due will come from the state's
general fund, which will also fund litter removal previously covered by the
personalized plates. (ffd: NARP)
STATS – TRAFFIC:
(NOTE: Canadian
traffic includes that on U.S. operations of Canadian-headquartered
railroads.)
(THU) For the
week ending July 28, 2007, U.S. rail volume grand totaled 35.1 billion
ton-miles, up 0.3 percent from the comparable week last year. U.S. carload rail traffic was down 0.9
percent, down 1.7 percent in the East and down 0.2 percent in the West. Also for the week, U.S. intermodal
rail traffic was down 3.1 percent, Canadian carload rail traffic was up 2.0
percent, and Canadian intermodal rail traffic was up
4.7 percent.
For the month of
July, 2007 and compared with July, 2006, U.S. carload rail traffic was down 3.0
percent. Notable traffic increases
included food products up 4.8 percent, motor vehicles and equipment up 4.0
percent, and chemicals up 3.0 percent; notable traffic decreases included
metals and metal products down 11.9 percent, crushed stone, sand and gravel
down 10.1 percent, and coal down 2.9 percent.
Also for the month, U.S. intermodal
rail traffic was down 2.6 percent, Canadian carload rail traffic was down 0.6
percent, Canadian intermodal rail traffic was up 5.4
percent, Mexico’s Kansas City Southern de Mexico’s
carload rail traffic was up 2.1 percent, and KCSM’s intermodal rail traffic was up 28.3 percent.
For the first
seven months of 2007 and compared with the first seven months of 2006, U.S. rail volume grand totaled 988.5 billion
ton-miles, down 2.7 percent. Also for
this period, U.S. carload rail traffic was down 3.9
percent, U.S. intermodal
rail traffic was down 1.5 percent, Canadian carload rail traffic was down 0.5
percent, Canadian intermodal rail traffic was up 2.1
percent, KCSM’s carload rail traffic was down 3.9
percent, and KCSM’s intermodal
rail traffic was up 12.5 percent. (ffd: AAR)
MORE STATS –
OPERATING PERFORMANCE:
(NOTE: Effective
October 1, 2005, railroads that had been furnishing operating performance
statistics to the Association of American Railroads began applying a new
standardized definitional framework, aimed at eliminating differences in
calculation methodology. Concurrent with
but unrelated to these changes, Canadian National elected to no longer furnish
these statistics.)
(WED) For the
week ending July 27, 2007 and versus the comparable week last year, average
total cars on line was as follows: BNSF,
234,082 cars versus 225,136 cars; Canadian Pacific, 81,329 cars versus 79,831
cars; CSX, 221,936 cars versus 226,534 cars; Kansas City Southern, 27,818 cars
versus 26,751 cars; Norfolk Southern, 200,758 cars versus 201,299 cars; and
Union Pacific, 310,898 cars versus 318,460 cars.
Also for the
week ending July 27, 2007 and versus the comparable week last year, average
train speed was as follows: BNSF, 22.7 mph versus 22.5 mph; Canadian Pacific
Railway, 25.0 mph versus 24.8 mph; CSX, 21.5 mph versus 19.1 mph; Kansas City
Southern, 24.1 mph versus 23.8 mph; Norfolk Southern, 22.5 mph versus 21.9 mph;
and Union Pacific, 21.6 mph versus 21.4 mph.
Finally for the
week ending July 27, 2007 and versus the comparable week last year, average
terminal dwell time was as follows: BNSF, 24.8 hrs versus 24.7 hrs; Canadian
Pacific Railway, 18.4 hrs versus 18.9 hrs; CSX, 22.8 hrs versus 25.3 hrs;
Kansas City Southern, 22.6 hrs versus 20.8 hrs; Norfolk Southern, 20.7 hrs
versus 21.3 hrs; and Union Pacific, 24.6 hrs versus 26.0 hrs. (ffd: AAR)
EXPANSIONS,
CONTRACTIONS AND ALIKE:
(TUE) BNSF filed
to abandon approximately nine miles of line near Red Cloud, NE. (ffd: STB)
(TUE) Global
Railway Industries announced that it would acquire “most of the working capital
and other assets" of Canada Allied Diesel and its affiliates. A Global spokesman said that the acquisition
would double to company’s revenue base to more than $65 million. (ffd: Railway Age)
(WED) The
Surface Transportation Board granted Central Railroad Company of Indianapolis’s
earlier request to discontinue service over approximately three miles of line
between Marion, IN and West Marion Belt, IN. (ffd:
STB)
(THU) Canadian
National filed to discontinue the automatic block signal system on about three
miles of its Illinois Central-Memphis Subdivision and about one mile of its
Illinois Central-Grenada Subdivision. In
its filing, CN said that ABS is no longer necessary because these line segments
are now located entirely within the Memphis Terminal yard limits, where all
movements are coordinated by the person in charge of the yard there. (ffd: USDOT)
(THU) CSX
announced that it would convert Seneca Yard in Lackawanna, NY to an intermodal
terminal. A CSX spokesman said that the
project, costing approximately $8.5 million, would see the new terminal
in operation by this fall. (ffd: Buffalo News)
(FRI) Canadian
National said that it would build a $5 million customs facility in Ranier, MN, at the northern end of CN’s
former Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific line. A CN spokesman said that the new facility
would provide for improved customs handling.
The spokesman added that Rainer manages the second-highest volume of
cross-border rail traffic into the U.S., after Port Huron, MI and followed by Laredo, TX. (ffd: Trains)
(FRI) CSX filed
to discontinue an interlocking, control system signals, and power-operated
switches at various locations on its 110-mile line between Gladstone, VA and Clifton Forge, VA. In its filing CSX said that “pole line
elimination and the installation of a microprocessor-based signal system” allow
for the proposed changes and also that “present-day operations do not warrant
retaining the power-operated switches and controlled signals.” (ffd: USDOT)
(FRI) New Jersey
Transit announced that it had awarded the contract for the first phase of the
forthcoming Trans-Hudson Express (THE) Tunnel project. The award was to a joint venture comprising
Parsons, Tishman Construction, and Arup. The $7.5
billion THE project will build two additional single-track rail tunnels beneath
the Hudson River and a new station below 34th Street in Manhattan connecting with Penn Station. Construction is scheduled to start in 2009. (ffd: Progressive Railroading)
APPOINTMENTS,
ACHIEVEMENTS AND MILESTONES:
(MON) The Indiana Rail Road appointed Jacklyn
Hardy its Director-Human Resources and Chief Administrative Officer. Ms. Hardy was earlier GM of RailAmerica’s Pacific Region. (ffd:
Progressive Railroading)
(MON) Family
announced the passing of Doug Hagestad at Age
63. Mr. Hagestad
was earlier a SVP-Marketing at the former Illinois Central and later taught
transportation and management subjects at the University of Denver and Northwestern University. (ffd: Trains)
(TUE)
Simmons-Boardman Publishing appointed Douglas Bowen as Railway Age’s managing
editor. Mr. Bowen has been a business
journalist and is also the president of the New Jersey Association of Railroad
Passengers. Mr. Bowen succeeds Marybeth Luczak, who has left rail journalism to start a family. (ffd:
Railway Age)
(WED) Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway appointed Stephen
Greene its VP-Mechanical. Mr. Greene was
most recently a service area coordinator for shortline
holding company OmniTrax. (ffd:
Progressive Railroading)
(THU) Union
Pacific announced the reorganization of its regional public affairs offices
such that they will now be collocated with UP’s existing three operating
regions. Related to
this change, UP appointed Joe Adams, Joe Bateman and Scott Moore vice
presidents of public affairs for its Southern, Northern and Western Regions,
respectively. (ffd: UP Corp.)
* * *
Weekly Rail
Review (WRR) is edited from public news sources and published weekly to those
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BE SAFE AND
PROSPER,
Dave Mears
Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA
Posted: 08/10/07