At 1:19 p.m. on Feb. 2, Grand Central Terminal’s 110th anniversary train—a local Metro-North Railroad train from Stamford, Conn., to Grand Central—arrived on Track 27. MTA officials greeted passengers and distributed commemorative stickers. (Marc A. Hermann / MTA)

Happy 110th, Grand Central Terminal!

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials on Feb. 2 celebrated the 110th anniversary of Grand Central Terminal, just days after it became the expanded house of the two busiest commuter railroads in the country, Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR).

The Guadalupe River Bridge Replacement Project will replace the Northbound Bridge (MT-1), built in 1935, and extend the Southbound Bridge (MT-2) for passenger and freight rail service.

Caltrain Advances Guadalupe River Bridge Replacement Project

Caltrain on Jan. 31 will host a virtual community meeting on the $63.3 million Guadalupe River Bridge Replacement Project in San Jose, Calif., which will replace the northbound wooden trestle bridge built in 1935 and extend the southbound concrete bridge built in 1990.

BMWED Passenger-Rail Groups Merge

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED) has announced that members of its Chicago Passenger Federation (CPF) have voted to merge with its United Passenger Rail Federation (UPRF).

Map of Heart of Georgia (HOG) Railroad, a Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary

GDOT Completes Upgrade Project for HOG

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) in January wrapped up its first Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program grant project, which included upgrades along 138 miles of the 219-mile Heart of Georgia (HOG) Railroad.

Ohio Commission OK’s Grade Crossing Safety Projects

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has approved safety upgrades at highway/rail grade crossings in Clinton, Fairfield and Jackson counties.

(East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Rendering, Courtesy of LA Metro)

AMM JV Selected for East San Fernando Valley LRT Project

Joint venture partners Arcadis and Mott MacDonald (AMM JV) on Jan. 17 reported that they will serve as Construction Management Support Services consultant for the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project at LA Metro (Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority).

(MTA Metro-North Railroad Photograph)

Skanska Lands NYMTA Contract

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has selected Skanska, a New York-based construction and development firm, to make circulation improvements at Grand Central-42nd Street Terminal, which serves MTA Metro-North Railroad and MTA

(Wiskerchen Grapple Truck, Courtesy of RELAM)

RELAM Expanding Hi-Rail Truck Business

Railway Equipment Leasing And Maintenance (RELAM) Inc. on Jan. 5 reported its acquisition of Wiskerchen Truck & Equipment, LLC and Wiskerchen Rental & Leasing, LLC, (Wiskerchen), which specialize in the sale, service, rental and leasing of hi-rail trucks and truck equipment.

ICC Approves Highway/Rail Grade Crossing Projects

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) last month reported signing off on stipulated agreements to improve safety at highway/rail grade crossings in Fayette, Pike, Stephenson and McLean counties.

The San Dieguito Double Track and Platform Project is slated to replace the nearly 100-year-old wooden trestle across San Dieguito Lagoon, add about one mile of double track in Solana Beach and Del Mar, and add a special events platform at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, according to SANDAG. (Photograph Courtesy of SANDAG)

Report: NCTD, Del Mar at Odds, Again

North County Transit District (NCTD) and the city of Del Mar, Calif., disagree on how to spend a $300 million grant from the state’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

R&LHS added the new passenger rail article award to its awards program in honor of the late William F. Howes Jr. (pictured), who was a career railroad official at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and its successors Chessie System and CSX Transportation.

R&LHS Adds Passenger Rail Article Award

The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS) has announced the addition of a seventh category to its Railway History Awards. Recognizing “excellence in magazine journalism devoted to past or present passenger rail service,” it is the William F. Howes Jr. Passenger Rail Article Award.

The Center for Railroad Photography and Art of Madison, Wis., and independent author Sandra Jackson-Opoku of Chicago have received research fellowships from the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society.

R&LHS Awards 2022 Research Grants

The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS) has selected the Center for Railroad Photography and Art of Madison, Wis., for the 2022 William D. Middleton Research Fellowship, and independent author Sandra Jackson-Opoku

Loram’s outgoing CEO Phil Homan (left) and incoming CEO Bradley Willems.

Loram: Homan to Retire, Willems to Take Throttle

Loram has announced that CEO Phil Homan will retire in May 2023 following 30 years of service. Bradley Willems, current President and COO, will succeed him.

Sumitomo Forestry America is bringing an investment of $19.5 million and 129 new jobs to Randolph County, N.C., though a planned wood-products manufacturing facility, to be served by Norfolk Southern.

NCRR Investing in New Rail-Served Site

North Carolina Railroad Company (NCRR) is investing approximately $200,000 in a new rail-served site, where a wood-products manufacturing facility will be built.

Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway is one of 12 North Carolina short lines to receive grant funding under the state’s Freight Rail and Rail Crossing Safety Improvement Program. (Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway Photograph)

NCDOT Awards $12MM for Small-Road Infrastructure Improvements

Twelve short lines will share approximately $12 million in infrastructure-improvement grant funding from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).

Amtrak Looks to Remove Pennsylvania ‘Distant Signals’

With Positive Train Control (PTC) operational, Amtrak is seeking Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) approval to remove automatic wayside signals serving as distant signals to existing interlockings on the Mid-Atlantic Division’s Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg, Pa.

From left to right: Stephanie Wiggins, LACMTA CEO; Paul Krekorian, L.A. City Council President; Eric Garcetti, L.A. City Mayor; Ara J. Najarian, Glendale City Council Member and LACMTA Board Chair; Monica Rodriguez, L.A. City Council Member; Jesse Gabriel, State Assembly Member; Charlene Lee Lorenzo, Director of FTA Region 9; and Tony Wilkinson, Panorama City Neighborhood Council Board Member. (Photograph Courtesy of LACMTA)

LACMTA: East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Project Under Way

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) on Dec. 1 held a groundbreaking ceremony for advanced utility work on the East San Fernando Valley, Calif., light rail project’s first segment.

Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Photograph Courtesy of Clark County, Wash., Public Works

For Chelatchie Prairie Railroad, a $4.7MM Upgrade

The first phase of a $4.7 million rehabilitation project will start this fall on the 33-mile Chelatchie Prairie Railroad in Washington state.

“We must take immediate action to protect our planet from climate change,” Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said on Nov. 24. “Our government will continue to invest in measures that address the impacts of climate change. This is why we are providing funding under the Climate Change and Adaptation to Extreme Weather Infrastructure initiative: to address severe weather impacts on railway operations.”

Transport Canada to Address Climate Change Impacts on Rail

Transport Canada has launched its first climate change-focused call for proposals to help ensure “railway infrastructure is resilient to extreme weather events.”

Wabtec Expanding M/W Business

Wabtec Corporation on Nov. 17 reported the addition of Brazil-based Super Metal to its maintenance-of-way (m/w) business. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

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