Prototype News

BNSF (Photograph Courtesy of BNSF)

BNSF on Sept. 4 announced that it will open an intermodal facility in Oklahoma City. The 42-acre site, which will launch in mid-November, was “a direct result” of a partnership with customer Hobby Lobby, which “was looking for a simpler and more economical movement of its loaded containers from the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach to the network of Hobby Lobby distribution centers in OKC,” according to the railroad.

In the future, Oklahoma farmers and other businesses will have the opportunity to utilize the facility for export to the West Coast, the railroad reported.

“Expanding into this new rail market is a great example of us listening to our customers’ needs and looking for ways to provide solutions that will spur shared growth opportunities across the region,” BNSF Group Vice President of Consumer Products Jon Gabriel said. “We are excited to offer this unique solution to Hobby Lobby, which creates a much more effective supply chain and at full potential could eliminate up to 40,000 truck moves off the highway each year.”

“This is an exciting opportunity for Hobby Lobby to partner with the BNSF,” Hobby Lobby Chief Financial Officer Jon Cargill commented. “As we grow our business, more efficient movement of product will allow us to continue to offer the great value our customers have come to expect.”

BNSF also has an automotive facility in Oklahoma City.

Further Reading:

• BNSF, CSX Teaming on Intermodal Services
• BNSF Opens Logistics Center in North Houston

CSX (Image Courtesy of CSX)

CSX on Sept. 3 reported that Diageo, Geocycle LLC, and Chemours have received 2025 Customer Environmental Excellence Awards “for their commitment to reducing carbon emissions and advancing sustainable supply chain solutions through rail transportation.” Together, the three companies eliminated more than 38,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions by choosing rail, CSX said. 

Now in its fourth year, the annual awards program honors customers who are demonstrating leadership in environmental stewardship by shifting freight from truck to rail; helping to lower greenhouse gas emissions; and supporting a cleaner, more sustainable future, according to the Class I railroad.

“Rail is the most fuel-efficient way to move freight over land, and when our customers choose CSX, they’re also choosing to reduce their environmental impact,” said Kevin Boone, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at CSX. “We’re proud to partner with Diageo, Geocycle, and Chemours, and all of our customers who are making sustainability a priority and taking measurable steps to decarbonize their supply chains.”

Announcing a major milestone in #NewYork: Massena Industrial Land is the state's first CSX Select Site! This prime 209.2-acre location is development-ready for #logistics & #manufacturing with direct CSX #rail access. Move your business forward: https://t.co/dDFnxjrCi3 pic.twitter.com/Ye85Lg7i7A

— CSX (@CSX) September 4, 2025

Meanwhile, CSX on Sept. 4 reported that Massena Industrial Land is New York’s first CSX Select Site. A bronze-level site, it is “strategically positioned” in Massena, St. Lawrence County, N.Y. It offers 209.2-acres, direct CSX rail service, full utility access, and immediate proximity to major U.S. and Canadian transportation corridors, according to the railroad. “With extensive due diligence completed, the site is ready for immediate development in logistics, advanced manufacturing, or cross-border distribution,” CSX said.

The railroad last month reported presenting the Madisonville-Hopkins County Economic Development Corporation with a commemorative rail spike, celebrating Madisonville Industrial Park II as Kentucky’s first Silver Level CSX Select Site.

Sites that earn CSX Select Site designation are said to “meet stringent criteria for infrastructure, site preparedness, and streamlined regulatory compliance, ensuring they are ready for immediate development.”

For more on CSX Select Sites, read: Diageo North America Establishes Beverage Distribution Plant at CSX Select Site, Rickenbacker South Industrial Rail Park Receives CSX Select Site Platinum Designation, CSX Adds Eight Rail-Served Properties to ‘Select Site’ Program, and CSX Launches Select Site Online Property Search Tool.

(Photographs Courtesy of NS) NS

“Shout out to our railroaders at Decatur Yard in Illinois for hitting a major safety milestone: 365 days injury-free and counting!” NS reported via social media on Sept. 4.

This is an “incredible achievement,” it said, “at the largest flat switching yard in North America.” The 3.6 mile-long facility moves 1,000-plus railcars per day and serves agricultural customers.

“To our team at Decatur: thank you for all you do to stay safe and look out for one another,” NS wrote in its post. “Your hard work and dedication keep us—and the world’s food supply chain—safely rolling, 24/7.”

Further Reading:

• UP, NS Notify STB of Intent to File Merger Application
• One Merger at a Time, Please
• Deal Vs. No Deal
• Vena’s Art of the Deal With NS
• UP+NS: An ‘Absolute Monster of a Railroad’
• NS Issues Sustainability, Safety, Operations, Community Impact Report
• NS Showcases Restored Illinois Terminal Heritage Unit 
• NS Delivers ‘Strong’ 2Q25 Results
• Shippers Appeal Rail Price-Fixing Win
• NS’s Adams Tops 2025 Women in Rail Lineup
• Rail Insights 2025 Takeaways

The post Class I Briefs: BNSF, CSX, NS appeared first on Railway Age.

RAILWAY AGE, SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSUE: Imagine a future where autonomous freight trains in North America operate across long distances. This future is one the industry must consider if it wants to compete against trucking and its futuristic vision of autonomous truck platoons, according to those working to bring autonomous operations to freight rail. “If it can help the industry be more efficient and productive, it can bring more volume to the network,” Philip Moslener, Wabtec Corporate Vice President Advanced Technologies, told Railway Age. 

Automation Exploration

Autonomous rail already exists in many places around the world, such as airport people-movers or driverless rapid transit like Honolulu’s Skyline system. But taking rail to the next level and incorporating autonomous technology into the freight rail space, like that used in Rio Tinto’s Australian operations, requires the ability to handle complex situations. Unlike airport people-movers and rapid transit, which operate in a captive, self-contained environment, autonomous freight rail must have systems that can anticipate, analyze and respond to various situations occurring along an open right-of-way, in real time.

“You need to have what’s called a perception system,” Moslener said. He and his team research new technologies, such as those incorporating AI (artificial intelligence), and see how they can be leveraged in rail operations to support market share growth and reduce carbon emissions. “It could be cameras, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), heat sensors, acoustic sensors, you name it. That’s one of the fundamental building blocks of any autonomous system—rail, truck, cars, whatever.”

MxV Rail has been working to develop increased levels of automation in North American freight rail. Researchers there have been benchmarking efforts against what’s been done in Australia, and they’ve also studied automation advancements in the automotive space, according to Joe Brosseau, Assistant Vice President of Communications and Train Control. “Overall, the approach to automation in North America has been an incremental development roadmap, essentially adding technologies piece by piece to attain near-term benefits that will increase safety, operational consistency and efficiency, but building those things on a pathway to higher levels of automation,” he said.

When the freight rail industry initially explored automation several years ago, it looked first at designing the full specifications of what would be required for autonomous operations, according to Brosseau. However, as time went on, the industry realized that one huge system would lead to unreasonable costs with no benefit for a long period of time. “In 2021, we redesigned the program to focus more on an incremental approach where we can gain benefits along the way but still be on a pathway to what we call high automation,” he said.

Now the rail industry uses a multi-pronged approach to develop automation technology. This approach seeks to incorporate Positive Train Control (PTC), the existing overlay system that enforces speed restrictions and train separation, among other safety-critical tasks. 

Researchers have been exploring how PTC can interact with sensors that would enable autonomous operation, including those that detect and identify right-of-way obstacles, for example. Information from those sensors would interact with PTC to set up stop or speed targets. Some in the industry call this “PTC 2.0.”

“PTC enforces the maximum speed limit, but it’s still incumbent on the crew to look out for obstacles in front of the train,” Brosseau said. “With the restricted speed enforcement enhancement, we essentially add some of these sensing capabilities to detect obstacles.” The PTC system gets the information on the obstacle and automatically forces the train to slow down. MxV Rail has also explored how energy management can promote automation in manual control zones, according to Brosseau.

MxV Rail doesn’t directly investigate use of rail AI applications, but it does indirectly review its use. The various sensing capabilities that MxV Rail is testing with the supply community also involve machine vision capabilities, for example; “AI that’s interpreting data and then providing that information to automation systems, energy management or PTC, to detect obstacles,” Brosseau said.

Indeed, suppliers such as Wabtec use AI to develop sensors that take in data from the environment. The AI assists in situational analysis and trajectory planning, according to Philip Moslener.

Research Vs. Real World

MxV Rail spends a lot of its time in autonomous rail researching sensing capabilities. One aspect of that is evaluating the radar technology being used in some of the automotive automation space and developing proof-of-concept testing. “It’s a low-cost technology, and from what we’ve seen, it may be capable of doing what’s needed for restricted speed enforcement operations, our current focus on the incremental roadmap,” Brosseau said.

Another aspect is working with suppliers with technology they believe can meet requirements for the automation space. They involve several different sensor types, among them cameras, video, radar and LiDARs. “We’re not focused on one specific technology. We want to see what’s out there,” Brosseau said. “We’re setting up a program for next year where we hope to be equipping locomotives with some of the technology now available in the supply market, essentially demonstrating if it has the potential to meet our requirements for restricted speed enforcement, specifically.”

MxV Rail has been working with suppliers to conduct testing at MxV Rail’s Pueblo, Colo., campus, but Brosseau hopes next year will see deployment in revenue service operations so that MxV Rail and others can collect information in different operating environments. “There’s a lot we can do at our facility in terms of testing out fundamental functions of the technology,” Brosseau said. “But for this type of sensing technology, we need to see how it operates when there’s dense foliage, for instance, which we don’t have here in Colorado. We want to collect information from a more diverse environment.”

Like MxV Rail, Wabtec approached the concept of constructing an autonomous rail system by thinking in terms of multiple building blocks. These include perception, supervisory and PTC systems. This approach has helped Wabtec develop Teleops, its solution for when an autonomous freight train breaks down in a remote location and there is no one on board to take care of the problem.

“Teleops is basically the ability for somebody to go on board the train virtually,” Moslener said, likening the program to situations where someone in an IT department assesses a work computer remotely. “Teleops means ‘operation from a distance.’ So, it’s somebody at a desk, with the controls, patching themselves into the train and controlling it.” Wabtec has demonstrated the technology on its locomotives at its Erie, Pa., test track. 

Although Teleops is still in the research and development phase, Wabtec is using some of its elements now, according to Moslener. “We can use it today, for example, to prepare trains for departure,” Moslener said. “In a yard, it takes a long time to initialize a train and prepare it for operation. Why can’t we do it from an air-conditioned office?”

Wabtec Maverick autonomous locomotive

Another Wabtec R&D project is the Maverick, a small autonomous locomotive that would haul short trains traveling distances less than 750 miles, such as between a port and a distribution center. Designed to haul 10 to 15 railcars, a Maverick would be equipped with perception and teleoperation technologies, enabling it to be operated from a remote dispatch center. Its purpose is to capture a short-haul, just-in-time market that tends to be underserved by the rail industry and where transloading from truck to rail is cost-prohibitive.

Development of Wabtec’s R&D projects depends in part on market demand and interest in these offerings, according to Moslener. However, “we’ve found that as we develop these technologies, we come up with other ideas,” he said. “Teleops is going to be needed for a large, fully autonomous train, but we can use it today in certain applications.” For example, a mining customer in Brazil is interested in using Teleops for unmanned zone operations where it’s too dangerous for humans because of landslides. 

Through its work on Teleops, Wabtec has developed Pathfinder, a technology that can be implemented on older, low-horsepower locomotives to allow them to use new digital equipment and sensors that one day may allow for autonomous operations. “If you want Netflix on your older TV, what do you do? You change the TV, or get a Roku Streaming Stick,” Moslener said. “Think of Pathfinder as a Roku Stick for an older locomotive. Pathfinder, with its digital technologies and PTC, can be plugged in, allowing older low- and medium-horsepower locomotives to be outfitted with new technology.”

Wabtec describes Pathfinder as “a small digital slug designed to automate the train, not necessarily the locomotive. It detaches the brain from the brawn, where the low-horsepower unit still relies on its existing propulsion technology, but all the intelligence and automation in how to run the train resides in Pathfinder.”

Progress Rail Talos installed on a test locomotive.

Meanwhile, the R&D team at Progress Rail has been developing Talos, which the company describes as “leveraging machine learning to analyze and optimize train routes, as well as develop customized strategies for individual routes that factor in operational conditions. Talos incorporates track topography, train consist information, route data and historical analysis to build a unique and optimized operating strategy resulting in significant improvements in fuel and/or time efficiencies, The technology will also enable the locomotive engineer to focus on safety and situational awareness.”

Talos has been designed “for use in all locomotive makes and models,” and Progress Rail engineers have been testing the technology at MxV Rail. The company says the train, controlled by AI, operated more than 200 miles “without human intervention, operating flawlessly with independent power.”

“Talos is more than an energy management system—it’s a bridge to the future of autonomous freight rail,” Sammy Akif, Progress Rail Vice President of Advanced Rail Technology, told Railway Age. “By integrating an AI-based controller and machine vision safety systems, Talos transforms traditional rail operations into an intelligent, sustainable network. As the industry moves toward automation, Talos stands out as a scalable, interoperable platform designed to optimize fuel, reduce emissions and seamlessly connect legacy infrastructure with next-generation locomotive technologies.”

Overcoming Hurdles

Discussing autonomous freight rail operations in North America may sound glamorous or futuristic, but for some, the elephant in the room is whether autonomous trains will replace workers. Moslener said he believes that wouldn’t be so, and Teleops is being designed with the understanding that automation will still require some level of human involvement in the loop.

“Everybody’s saying, it’s going to replace jobs and all that. The way we look at it is, there’s a lot of opportunity in rail. Rail is underutilized,” Moslener said, pointing to how the North American rail network, despite some choke points, has a lot of capacity. To him, addressing that underutilization “really should be our motivation in the industry to say, if we can grow rail traffic, it means more jobs, not fewer jobs. It’s not about eliminating people. It’s about maximizing what we have. We’re working for the purpose of increasing the amount of volume on the network, which increases the amount of jobs, and we’ll need more maintenance and more operators. The message we’re trying to convey: Don’t be afraid of AI in this space. A good utilization of AI is one where we can improve efficiency and bring more volume onto rail, and that just benefits the industry.”

Besides the issue of jobs, bringing autonomous technology to freight will also require discussion and interaction with the public, just as the debates over autonomous trucking lanes have surfaced. The major benefit in developing intermediate steps to autonomous freight rail technology is that “it builds trust with the public,” Moslener said. “Autonomous technologies are now used in other applications. We need to build trust in the systems we’re developing. The building block approach helps gain trust in these systems. We’re going to be able to get to autonomous freight rail at some point, but we need to make sure we can trust these systems. And we’ve got to put them out there and try them.” 

The post A Future With Autonomous Trains? appeared first on Railway Age.

The newspaper reported that Judge Sierra Thomas-Street’s “order applies to route cuts, service reductions, and staffing reductions”; SEPTA is also “barred from implementing any new cuts.”

This order covers bus routes, Regional Rail and special services like Sports Express, and the transit agency must also stop station closures and any Paratransit route eliminations or reductions, according to 6abc.

Judge Thomas-Street did allow SEPTA “to move ahead with a fare hike of 21.5%,” 6abc reported. “That increase was supposed to go into effect earlier this week, but was postponed” per her Aug. 29 ruling.

SEPTA Map (Courtesy of the transit agency)

The judge did not provide an opinion explaining the rationale behind her decision, which The Inquirer noted “is a typical practice in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.”

According to 6abc, Thomas-Street’s decision “stems from a lawsuit filed against SEPTA,” arguing that the transit agency’s cuts “were not equitable and put low-income riders and minorities at a disadvantage.”

SEPTA has not decided if it will file an appeal, spokesperson Andrew Busch told The Inquirer. “‘We’re evaluating our legal options,’ he said, adding that the transit agency plans to comply with the judge’s order … [and] hasn’t set a date yet for restoring service or raising fares.”

The transit authority, The Inquirer noted, previous said full-service restoration would take “at least 10 days.”

“We did make very clear that there are certain baseline things we need to do to make sure we’re doing this safely,” 6abc reported Busch as saying. “That’s safety for our workforce and safety for our riders, so immediately was never going to be tomorrow morning [Sept. 5].”

Meanwhile, 6abc reported, “talks continue in Harrisburg to find a permanent funding solution for SEPTA’s $213 million budget deficit.”

Like transit agencies across the country, SEPTA has said it is facing a budget gap due to a combination of the end of federal COVID-relief funding and increases in the day-to-day costs of providing service to riders. The federal COVID funds helped SEPTA maintain service for essential workers through the pandemic. While ridership has recovered over the past few years, SEPTA said it has had to take on additional costs to address “emerging challenges—particularly crime, disorder, and the vulnerable population,” and “to grapple with the impact of inflation on everyday necessities such as fuel, power, and supplies. In response, SEPTA has reported that it has been cutting costs and generating new revenue. “Aggressive” austerity measures, including a freeze on management pay and cuts to third-party consultants, have resulted in savings of $30 million, according to SEPTA. Other measures, such as an earlier fare increase and the resumption of paid parking at Regional Rail lots, are generating new revenue. Together, the transit authority said, these efforts have helped reduce its budget deficit from $240 million, reported last fall, to a forecasted $213 million.

In a related development, SEPTA on Sept. 4 reported that Moody’s Ratings had revised its outlook from stable to negative for the transit agency but did not change any of its “currently positive ratings for SEPTA’s debt” (download the Moody’s report below).

Rating_Action-Moodys-Ratings-affirms-03Sep2025-PR_909351765Download Further Reading:

• SEPTA: Drastic Service Cuts Begin, Deeper Cuts Planned for 2026 
• SEPTA Beginning 20% Service Cuts Aug. 24
• SEPTA Releases Reduced-Service Schedules
• SEPTA FY26 Budget Includes Service Cuts, Fare Hikes
• Second of a Series: Philadelphia Leads the Way
• 2025 Passenger Rail Outlook: ‘Murphy Was an Optimist!’
• Fifth of a Series: SEPTA Hopes for Good News

The post Reports: Judge Orders Service Restoration, Allows Fare Hikes at SEPTA appeared first on Railway Age.

RAILWAY AGE SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSUE: Improved train dynamics, ease of retrofits, lower maintenance costs, increased safety: All these figure into draft gear and cushioning device developments.

In-train forces—buff and draft—can literally make or break safe train operation if not properly controlled. Among the critical components are draft gears and end-of-car cushioning units from such suppliers as Amsted Rail, Miner Enterprises and Strato, Inc. These components need to be capable of managing thousands of tons of force. Following is a roundup of offerings from these suppliers. 

AMSTED RAIL
Amsted Rail Active Draft Cushioning Unit 

“Amsted Rail’s Active Draft Cushioning Units are designed to provide railcar draft shock protection from in-train forces caused by changes in speed and topography in a moving train,” Director Engineering John Deppen and Vice President Global Engineering explained to Railway Age. “Our Active Draft Cushioning Unit employs internal polymer pads that maintain a neutral piston position that allows for draft travel, absorbing draft shock energy through both hysteretic and hydraulic damping. Without this provision, the neutral piston position in conventional cushioning units is in a fully extended mode with no available draft travel, which can result in metal-to-metal contact (yoke-to-railcar draft lugs) and thus significant draft shock forces.

“As the draft travel from the neutral position is relatively short, typically 1.00 inch and up to 2.00 inches, active draft cushioning units are still able to effectively protect the railcar and its sensitive lading against without compromising buff shock performance. Voluminous testing and simulation work performed by both the AAR Research Committee/MxV Rail and industry participants over the past several years have validated the performance of active draft cushioning units, including the necessary draft travel.

“AAR specifications M-921E (autoracks) and M-921F (general service railcars) define the requirements for active draft cushioning, which still maintain the 50,000-pound and 100,000-pound hydraulic lock preloads, respectively. While the specifications have been in place for many years, the AAR recently decided to mandate active draft cushioning unit applications in new railcars effective Jan. 01, 2026. The Cushioning Unit Manufacturers Engineering Committee (CUMEC) is currently reviewing the viability of upgrading reconditioned and aftermarket units to active draft standards, as there are many different configurations, as can be seen in Rule 59 of the Field Manual of the AAR Interchange Rules. This will help the AAR determine a potential timeline for requiring those units to be converted to active draft type cushioning, as many of them are becoming obsolete.

“This implementation of active draft cushioning units is critical to improving the reliability and efficiency of train operations, as enhanced draft shock protection will reduce stresses and load cycles in railcar draft components, particularly the coupler knuckle. Increasing train length, trailing tonnage and operating speeds demand more from the running gear, so this is a step in the right direction to extend component life, help reduce line-of-road failures and get sensitive lading to its destination damage-free.”

MINER ENTERPRISES

“Often with hydraulic-based systems, energy is not efficiently managed. Short life cycles lead to costly maintenance; and assets are not sufficiently protected when broken knuckles, hose separations and lading shifts interrupt operations,” says Miner Enterprises, which, with nearly 130 years of experience in railcar equipment design, is “one of the industry’s top suppliers of draft gears, brake beams, gates, constant-contact side bearings and other high-performance components.”

Introduced in 2018, the Miner FCS® (Friction Cushioning System), the company says, is designed to “raise the standard of protection currently being provided by traditional hydraulic cushioning devices. FCS® units utilize Miner’s proven draft gear technology to achieve greater slack management, increased draft protection and better control over run-in and run-out events.  This results in significant reductions in train consist restrictions, fewer unplanned service interruptions, and improved operations throughout the network.” 

Installed in the railcar pocket, each Miner FCS® uses two draft gears in a specialized tandem arrangement. “Utilizing Miner’s proven draft gear technology, Miner FCS® minimizes free movement caused by slack, which prevents premature wear, lowers maintenance costs and better-protects assets,” the company notes. “It also provides the flexibility to safely operate longer trains.”

The Miner FCS® also mitigates run-in and run-out events by combining draft gear friction with Miner’s patented TecsPak spring material. This, Miner says, “leads to fewer lading shifts, broken knuckles and hose separations—root causes for undesired stoppages and costly delays often associated with hydraulic units.”  

Miner notes that the FCS® “installs easily as a straightforward application” on refrigerated and standard boxcars, steel coil cars and flat cars, including center beam and general service flat cars. The company has been collaborating with Class I railroads for several years in developing the Miner FCS®. More than 10,000 Miner FCS®-equipped cars are in service, with a combined 400-plus million service miles.

STRATO, INC. Strato Sentry Cushion Unit

“Strato continues to conduct R&D on Non-Hydraulic Energy Management Systems to bring the benefits of these technologies to the industry,” Vice President Strategic Business Development Mike Ring tells Railway Age. “Aside from our Selective Cushioning Unit (SCU), which has gained approval under the new AAR M-902 specification, and which has performed well over the past seven-plus years in thousands of cars, we have developed the new Sentry Cushion Unit for autorack service. We are working with the AAR committees to gain approval to begin field service testing. 

“We also have a version of the Sentry unit for 286K GRL (gross rail load) service  entering field service applications in September 2025. The main advantages of the Sentry series of cushion units are easier and lower retrofit costs, lighter weight, and improved impact and train action characteristics. Car types that have received these energy management system upgrades include box cars, coil steel cars, and centerbeam and bulkhead flat cars. They’ve have been running well over the entire North American interchange rail system, in all climates and regions, for more than seven years.”

“Moving all our efforts with individual unit testing, cycle testing, and proof loading and everything else we do in-house to perform full-scale impact tests—which we did previously with third-party facilities like MxV Rail—re-ups our commitment to the product line and its continuous development, as well as to some new iterations we’re working on to improve retrofitting costs on different car types,” Ring adds. “In continuing these efforts, we’ve been chasing after the retrofit cost to make it a direct swap for existing units to help what our customers are searching for. We continue to find ways to increase performance while lowering retrofit costs, moving toward a direct swap for ease of conversion. On the draft side, we have an established and mature product line, from yokes to coupler bodies and knuckles and all the jewelry that goes along with it.” 

Strato has added products in the area of four-port receiver access plates “to help ensure the industry has adequate supply in converting the North American fleet, as these are now mandatory where they can be applied,” Ring says. “Strato has also added C10 pins, a full complement of brake pin sizes, draft keys and brake shoe keys, as well as reconditioning services for couplers and yokes. We continue to grow through developing new products and services that our customers need and we have a new product pipeline full of innovative projects to come in the future.

“The rail industry continues to move in the direction of non-hydraulic energy management systems to improve train dynamics, lower in-train forces, improve safety of train consists, reduce operational delays caused by hose separations and knuckle breakage, and to reduce the amount of maintenance required to maintain cushioned cars. 

“Life cycle cost savings are a key driver of these relatively new energy management systems. In many cases, when assets are improved with AAR M-902-equipped energy management systems, these assets are chosen over the hydraulic equipped counterparts and in more demand, thus improving asset utilization for M-902 equipped fleets. Leasing companies that have or are upgrading to the M-902 energy management systems will find that these equipped cars are getting requested to be utilized by the railroad operators for the above mentioned reasons. 

“When the railroads can spend their time moving freight instead of setting out and repairing cars, and dealing with operational delays caused by hydraulics, the whole system operates more efficiently, thus helping the railroads deliver their customers’ freight on a more consistent basis and helps competition with the long haul trucking industry. 

“The M-902 energy management system-equipped cars benefit the entire rail system in so many positive ways and will surely become the de facto standard as the years pass. That said, Strato is committed to doing the best job we can to support the betterment of our industry and our customers.” 

The post Force Control appeared first on Railway Age.

The National Capital Trolley Museum in Montgomery County, Maryland, has acquired a rare PCC car from the Netherlands, allowing the museum to “extend the narrative” about these significant streetcars. 

Built in 1952 as part of a series of 22 cars, The Hague Tramway Company 1006 served in revenue service until 1981. From 1983 to 2008, it was on display at the factory where it was manufactured, before being modified for narrow-gauge operation and used sporadically on the Belgian Coast line until 2014.

In May 2022, HTM 1006 was transferred to the Netherlands Transport Museum in Hoofddorp. Unfortunately, with the closure of the NTM announced last year, the future of 1006 was uncertain. As two cars of this series (1022 and 1024) are already preserved in the Netherlands, there was limited local interest in saving 1006. Wanting to be able to tell the story of how the PCC streetcars — developed in the United States in the late 1930s — were used all over the world, the National Capital Trolley Museum stepped in to save it. The car was recently relocated to another museum in the Netherlands, where it is being converted back to standard gauge. It is expected to arrive in the United States in 2026.

—Railfan & Railroad Staff

The post European PCC Bound For National Trolley Museum appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Sound Transit

The Sound Transit staff on Aug. 28 “reported a need for an additional $14 [billion] to $20 billion in today’s dollars to cover capital program costs to complete” the ST3 light rail projects that voters approved in 2016—“unless cost-saving measures are applied,” according to KIRO 7 in Seattle. This is 20%-25% more than “what’s currently outlined in the Long Range Financial Plan,” the media outlet reported on Sept. 1. Sound Transit, it said, cited “challenges including lower-than-expected revenues, rising costs and uncertainty surrounding tariffs and federal funding commitments.”

The agency also said “it will need a few billion dollars more to cover service delivery costs, including new and replacement light rail vehicles, investments to improve light rail system resiliency and other maintenance and operations costs,” according to KIRO 7.

The Sound Transit Board for the past few months “has been focused on implementing an action plan, deemed ‘the Enterprise Initiative,” KIRO 7 reported. “It describes the initiative as a comprehensive effort that helps identify affordability gaps and tools available to cut costs. The initiative aims to update the system plan, while staying in line with the original voter-approved ballot measure.”

According to the media outlet, the initiative’s first phase “calls for analyzing how the region has changed since 2016, building a deep understanding of the scale of the problem and understanding how to use available tools to solve these challenges (or coming up with new tools to fix them).” The second phase, “which the agency has previously said will begin in 2026, calls for identifying approaches for updating the ST3 System Plan and adopting a new long-range financial plan,” reported KIRO 7, which noted that the process is expected to wrap up in the first half of 2025, “but the deadline is not set in stone.”

According to a Sept. 2 KIRO-7 report, “[t]his is not the first time Sound Transit has had to realign its budget for ST3.” It adopted in 2021 a realignment plan “after recognizing an estimated $6.5 billion affordability gap for delivering on ST3.”

“It’s not about whether these projects are going to happen, it’s about when they’re going to happen,” Sound Transit Board Member and Seattle Councilman Dan Strauss said, according to KIRO 7.

Sounder Map (Courtesy of Sound Transit)

Meanwhile, the Sound Transit Board on Aug. 28 also approved a six-year $92.7 million contract with the Systra-Brookville Joint Venture for the mid-life overhaul of all 58 Sounder commuter railcars (18 cab cars and 40 coaches). The work covers the door system, HVAC control system, floors, restrooms, lighting, painting, couplers, and trucks, and other key components will be rebuilt. Rider amenities such as USB power outlets and improved bicycle storage areas will also be included.

“The 58 existing cars, which were manufactured by Bombardier, are all between 22 and 26 years old, and have been in use since Sound Transit started launching commuter rail service in 2000,” The Urbanist reported Sept. 2. “The aging cars will be overhauled in stages, with an average of five cars out of service for overhauls at any given time over the next six years. Those cars will be subbed out for new railcars Sound Transit purchased from Alstom, which acquired Bombardier in 2021. Those 11 cars were purchased in 2020 for $46.5 million, as part of a joint order with two California transit agencies, the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission and North County Transit District.”

NJT (Photograph Courtesy of NJT)

NJT and Alstom on Sept. 3 released the following statement regarding the 34-mile River LINE light rail system in Southern New Jersey:

“NJ Transit and Alstom are committed to providing safe and reliable service for our customers on the River LINE. After several years of working closely together to assess the conditions of the River LINE, NJ Transit and Alstom today announced that responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the line will begin to transition to NJ Transit on Sept. 3, 2025. NJ Transit will assume all responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the River LINE by the end of this year.

“This mutually agreed decision reflects the evolving investment needs of the service, which have grown beyond the current scope of Alstom’s contract covering River LINE operations and maintenance. This transition will enable NJ Transit to be best positioned to shape and implement the next steps that will strengthen and enhance the future of the service.

“Alstom remains committed to ensuring a safe and efficient transition, while continuing its support of NJ Transit’s success through other ongoing projects—including the manufacturing and delivery of hundreds of new multilevel commuter railcars, the first of which are expected to arrive beginning in the middle of next year. Both NJ Transit and Alstom value the strong partnership built over many years and look forward to continuing to work together on projects that deliver safe, reliable and innovative public transportation for New Jersey and the region.”

The Camden-to-Trenton River LINE (download map below) was originally operated by the Bombardier Transportation, which in 2021 was acquired by Alstom. It has a fleet of 20 Swiss-built Stadler Rail GTW (Gelenktriebwagen, or “articulated railcar”) 2/6 DMUs (diesel multiple-units).

Riverline_021925_webDownload

NJ.com on Sept. 3 reported that the joint NJT-Alstom statement “had an upbeat, conciliatory tone,” but the transit agency’s “own data reporting reflected dissatisfaction with River Line operations.”

“In July, the line had the highest number of canceled trains, 15, out of all NJ Transit’s three light rail lines,” according to the media outlet. “The majority of light rail rider feedback in July was about the River Line. NJ Transit officials blamed it ‘largely due to the contractor’s inability to maintain a sufficient level of available equipment throughout the course of the month.’ River Line trains rolled the least mileage between breakdowns of the three light rail lines. River Line trains averaged less than 5,000 miles in July. It also had the worst on-time light rail performance at 82% of trains arriving on schedule, NJ Transit data said.”

Additionally, NJ.com reported, “problems with trains [in August 2023] prompted a reduction in the frequency of weekday service from trains every 15 minutes to every 30 minutes during the morning and afternoon commuter rush periods [which lasted until October 2023].” The problems included “engine and heating, ventilation and air conditioning issues,” according to the media outlet. “A $700,000 program to rebuild River Line rail car diesel engines that was announced in 2020 had resulted in only one of 18 engines being completed as of Oct. 2023,” it reported.

Amtrak Passenger Rail Station Alternatives Study Map (Courtesy of ARC)

“The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and the City of Atlanta have joined forces to conduct an in-depth $625,000 Passenger Rail Station Alternatives Study to determine where a new Amtrak station should be built in Atlanta,” according to the SaportaReport, a online media outlet based in Atlanta. “ARC, through federal funds, allocated $500,000 towards the study, while the City of Atlanta is contributing $125,000. The team has commissioned the engineering firm WSP to lead the planning effort. It is working with Decatur-based Sycamore Consulting, which is overseeing public outreach.”

According to ARC, relocating the current Atlanta Amtrak Station on Peachtree Street in midtown to another, modernized site in the downtown area “could create opportunities to improve customer service, ADA-accessibility, and multimodal connections for rail travelers” on Amtrak’s Crescent route, which links Atlanta to New Orleans, Birmingham, Charlotte, Washington D.C., and New York City. The relocated station, it said, would also serve as a “signature local destination and gateway to the city for visitors while providing scalability for longer term service improvements between Atlanta and other cities.”

“I’m very optimistic that we are going to put together a plan that identifies an ideal location and outlines the next steps,” ARC Principal Transportation Planner Tejas Kotak said, according to the SaportaReport. “By the end of December, we will identify our ideal location for a future Amtrak station.”

Metrolinx Unloading the Ontario Line twin TBMs at the Port of Oshawa on June 9, 2025. (HOPA Photograph, Courtesy of Metrolinx)

Metrolinx’s two new tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have officially been named “Libby” and “Corkie.” A naming contest launched in June 2025 saw more than 900 submissions and 1,000-plus votes cast. According to Metrolinx, Jason Paris submitted the winning names as a tribute to two of the communities the Ontario Line subway will serve in the City of Toronto: Liberty Village and Corktown (see map below). Libby and Corkie are slated to dig about 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) of twin tunnels beneath the city’s downtown core. 

(Courtesy of Metrolinx)

The 9.7-mile (15.6-kilometer) Ontario Line will have 15 stations, running from Exhibition Place through the downtown core and connecting to the Line 5 Eglinton at Don Mills Road. During peak periods, the Ontario Line is slated to reduce crowding by up to 15% on the busiest stretch of TTC’s Line 1 between Bloor-Yonge and Wellesley.

According to Metrolinx, excavation is now complete at the tunnel launch shaft where the TBMs will start tunneling in early 2026. Construction crews recently broke ground on the second tunnel launch shaft at Gerrard. 

(Courtesy of Metrolinx)

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Editor’s Note: In the current world of new media and new analytical tools such as AI (artificial intelligence), some might try to use them to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of complex railroad mergers. Two industry veterans offer this “alert message” on possible challenges with complex enterprise merger evaluation techniques: Contributing Editor Jim Blaze with his USRA and Conrail experience, and Chris Rooney with his policy and financial experience. Both are graduates of the University of Chicago, with different skill sets. They represented opposing parties during the “Let Conrail be Conrail” era. Here, they comment on “theoretical dependence upon early-generation AI-based tool kits” and their “risk/reward-profiles.” – William C. Vantuono

Now afoot: an $85 billion dollar megamerger being pursued by Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. How is that prospective outcome going to be commercially and geopolitically examined as the companies seek regulatory approval, while others oppose it?

What if we used an AI model to analyze the UP+NS merger, for example, OpenAI-o3, Anthropic Claude Sonnet, Perplexity or Llama? What can we two veteran merger hands infer from using these new logic tools?

From a top-down level, UP+NS looks like a marriage made in heaven Top table), with high stock valuation and equity money needed to put together a merger of this scale. This is particularly so if you make the “collateral assumption” that BNSF must then buy CSX. But is that a necessarily true condition? The bottom table below isolates the few strategic resulting enterprise key sizing metrics of the two theoretical resulting rail systems. UP+NS vs. competition with a follow-on BNSF+CSX merger. At an elevated level, we, as long-term spreadsheet- and database-using business analysts with hands-on experience, do see well-balanced aggregate metrics between the top two likely to emerge east-west expanded rail networks.

If we substituted AI tools, what’s the learning curve? Are they necessarily better? Are the initial AI tools ready, capable of detailed insight? Or are they “inferring” at a less precise commercial and operational level?

“Old school” pre/post-merger analysts would focus on network and pro forma models developed between 1970 and 2000 for an assessment of realistic operations/marketing and financial outcomes. That is not how analysts using new AI systems might initially proceed with their risk/reward assessment. The AI technician will of course focus upon data sets. But will initial railway freight sector data contain biases? We can’t be sure yet.

Example: So called “Grok Techniques” would harvest a vast amount of raw data, including all relevant entries and then add something from ChatGPT. But how rich is a place where railroad analysis and critical data sets are possibly found? Do we know?

The early use process for employing AI might very well perpetuate some critical biases, leading to unfair or inaccurate risk assessments. Is that not a prudent risk expectation? For example, an AI tool used for loan applications might unfairly deny loans to certain demographics if the AI model training data reflects historical lending biases. 

Furthermore, many AI models, especially deep learning models, are really “black boxes,” meaning they are difficult to understand and explain in order to produce an audit of how they arrive at their decisions. The black box developers might even try to disguise from STB regulators how their “private box” works. Any lack of transparency can make it challenging to identify the root cause of errors or biases in the risk assessment process. It can also make it difficult to comply with existing and still important safety and pro-competitive regulations that require explainable decision-making, as in a court-like public review.

Over-reliance on AI for risk assessment can also potentially result in a missed interpretation of how internal corporate culture and human behavior can disrupt the projection of complex merger execution events. In contrast, skilled people with technical case study and audit assessment experience can often identify subtle nuances and contextual factors that AI might miss, due to its early formatting as a tool of equations and algorithms.

Where and how does such human “touch” come into play in a complex, high-dollar risk/reward assessment process that uses  early versions of AI logic models? AI, by broad admission, is in the early stages of equation and algorithm testings. “Be cautious” is our message. Over-reliance on AI for risk assessment can lead to a lack of experienced human insight. It all depends on your point of view, whether you are an owner or user.

ECONOMICS OF NETWORK GEOGRAPHY

The geography of the deal presents another level of data and yet another level of operational subtleties. Railroads are the quintessential physical undertakings, operating on the ground, not in the cloud, on fixed rails well within the laws of physics—more so even than trucks. No tracks, no service, unless deals can be cut with whoever owns the rails. 

Test, but expect some errors. A few critical errors may change the resulting outcomes, perhaps negating old predictions of market share shifts among freight modes, and upending otherwise-probable sector volume expectations by corridor or other segmented definitions. 

Let’s take a geographical look at the UP+NS and then BNSF+CSX by studying the coverage of the rail tracks themselves.

Figure 1: ArcGIS Rendering of UP+NS System Tracks Figure 2: ArcGIS Rendering of Hypothetical BNSF+CSXT Tracks

The above maps suggest possible weaknesses in both the proposed UP+NS merger and the hypothetical combination of BNSF and CSX to the trained eye. Areas that appear underserved bythe UP+NS deal are virtually all New England (NS has access to Ayer in central Massachusetts) and most of Florida beyond Jacksonville and anything north of Minneapolis.

Likewise, BNSF+CSX misses a large part of the Central Corridor (BNSF has the limited right to use UP tracks from Denver to Northern California) and its access to Mexico would be more precarious if it could not reach the CPKC in Mexico (via UP) and had to rely solely on its connections with the other Mexican carrier, Ferromex (26% owned by UP) at Eagle Pass and El Paso. 

Drilling down farther, all tracks are not created equal.

Figure 3: FRA Rendition of 2014 Waybill Sample Freight Flows

That all tracks do not receive equal traffic volume is illustrated by the above graphic, which is the result of the Federal Railroad Administration flowing the STB mandated statistical sampling of individual freight invoices (waybills) across the rail system with tons as the common denominator.

Thus, “to and from specifically where?” becomes a second-order concern not encountered with other modes such as air and trucking. For example, take Florida: Setting aside the West Coast, which would require a deal with CSX to reach Tampa, how well is the East Coast served? Yes, NS could reach the East Coast on existing lines to Jacksonville and, yes, it could hand off traffic to Florida East Coast, as it does today.

But one level lower, as a third-order concern, are routing decisions that solve access problems but may increase costs. From New Orleans for example, the options for routing traffic over NS up to Birmingham and then to Atlanta and back down produce 20% more miles than today’s usual routing via Mobile on CSX.

And, as a fourth order concern, many of the freight cars carrying carload traffic such as hoppers and tank cars are rented to shippers on a mileage basis, thus complicating the calculation of who benefits, who must invest capital to succeed, and what factors or secondary decision makers (investors) have a significant role to play out in order to achieve the promised gains. 

To mitigate these analytical weaknesses, the ideal oversight and commercial plus regulatory process would suggest the following roles and testing to improve AI’s evaluation contribution. Following is a simple checklist offered for discussion.

• Build robustness into the modeling of operations and critical data sets. Invest in data cleaning and bias detection and mitigation techniques to ensure objectivity. Specifically, rail mergers normally proceed at the STB with parties having reasonable access to the Rail Waybill Sample, a statistical sampling of all orders to move freight cars or containers from one point to another. This allows participants to study the probable effects of the merger on established freight flows.
• Prioritize explainability. Choose models that are inherently explainable or develop methods to make complex models more transparent.
• Implement test routines on version 1.0 toward 3.0 logic models. Protecting against being seduced by the early output versions is the message here. It might be too easy to succumb to such low-labor-cost “budget versions” without vetting.
• Maintain human oversight. Don’t rely solely on AI models. Ensure humans participate in the risk assessment process and that they can override AI formula structure decisions when necessary.
• Continuously search for the critical relevant data patterns and assess their impact on AI models’ conclusions if such models are used as conclusive evidence.

The prospects of these two mega railroad mergers are worth exploring. New tools are to be welcomed. But we should expect twists and turns in how predictable some expectations might or might not be. Certainly, achieving elevated levels of decimal place position in anyone’s pro forma impact model is tentative, way too early to confidentially call out.

Keep a prudent “discount rate” in your toolbox to be periodically reassessed over the next two or more years.

Independent railway economist and Railway Age Contributing Editor Jim Blaze has been in the railroad industry for close to 50 years. Trained in logistics, he served seven years with the Illinois DOT as a Chicago long-range freight planner and almost two years with the USRA technical staff in Washington, D.C. Jim then spent 21 years with Conrail in cross-functional strategic roles from branch line economics to mergers, IT, logistics, and corporate change. He followed this with 20 years of international consulting at rail engineering firm Zeta-Tech Associated. Jim is a Magna Cum Laude Graduate of St Anselm’s College with a master’s degree from the University of Chicago. Married with six children, he lives outside of Philadelphia. “This column reflects my continued passion for the future of railroading as a competitive industry,” says Jim. “Only by occasionally challenging our institutions can we probe for better quality and performance. My opinions are my own, independent of Railway Age. As always, contrary business opinions are welcome.”

Chris Rooney has more than 30 years of experience in transportation and financial management. As Deputy Federal Railway Administrator, he was a government spokesman before Congress and other government bodies and authored government positions on rail transport regulation and coordination. He led the federal government technical support team for the sale of U.S. government-owned Conrail to the private sector, eventually as an IPO. His work has included recommendations on capital and operating funding for railway assistance and on appropriate regulation. He has advised many railroads, railroad clients and federal, state and local transportation agencies on strategic planning, economic, contractual and financial issues in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. He has appeared as an expert witness in several ICC and Surface Transportation Board merger proceedings and was a member of the team re-examining the role of Constrained Market Pricing and the Stand Alone Cost principles used by the STB for rate regulation in quasi-monopoly situations. Rooney holds a Chartered Financial Analystprofessionaldesignation from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts.

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The recommendation, NTSB says, stems from the agency’s investigation of the Aug. 4, 2023, accident in Great Burlington, Mass., that resulted in the death of a worker after a Middlesex Corporation maintenance machine struck the machine operator, who “had no safety devices beyond a wide-angle mirror to look for hazards,” according to the investigation.

According to NTSB, investigators also found communication and oversight failures in the Great Barrington investigation. The Housatonic Railroad Company roadway worker-in-charge was unaware of the full scope of work, “leading to an inadequate safety briefing and the absence of a second qualified supervisor.” The NTSB concluded that “stronger supervision and communication would likely have reduced risk.”

​​As a result of the investigation, the NTSB issued six new safety recommendations addressing “unsafe machine operation, the need for collision avoidance technology and stronger Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) oversight of railroads with poor safety performance.” Recommendations were issued to the FRA, all Class I railroads, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC), the Housatonic Railroad Company, and Middlesex Corporation.

The NTSB’s final report, including findings, probable cause, and safety recommendations, is available here and to download below.

RIR2511Download

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Taking place Nov. 17-21, the event will feature a dynamic lineup of technical sessions and collaborative opportunities across the international rail sector. 

One of the week’s most anticipated highlights lies just a short drive away: a behind-the-scenes tour of MxV Rail’s newly unveiled research and testing campus. MxV Rail is proud to host this year’s event and open the doors to our industry-leading facilities. The technical site tour will offer attendees a rare opportunity to witness the tools, technologies and expertise driving the future of rail performance and safety.

New Era for Rail Research

Following a major relocation from our legacy site, MxV Rail purpose-built this new campus to accelerate innovation and meet the evolving needs of the rail industry. Designed from the ground up, the campus integrates decades of technical knowledge with next-generation tools and infrastructure. Today, it represents a bold step forward in how research is conducted, results are applied, and rail systems are improved globally. 

From fatigue testing to advanced electromagnetic technologies, our new environment is built to support the development and deployment of rail solutions for both freight and passenger operations. Attendees will see how MxV Rail conducts durability and safety assessments on critical rail components under real-world stressors; performs failure analysis and advanced materials testing to extend component lifespan and enhance reliability; and operates track systems engineered to meet and exceed industry standards—serving as test beds for validating designs, improving safety, and accelerating innovation.

Power, Precision, Performance

A cornerstone of our new capabilities, the Mechanical Laboratory supports rigorous component and system testing to ensure safer, more reliable rail operations across North America. This lab is equipped with high-capacity machines that provide exceptional accuracy and repeatability, including: 

• Side Frame and Bolster Tester: Capable of 660,000 pounds loading; used for M-202 and M-203 certification and customized rail and component testing.
• Truck Warp Stiffness Tester: Designed for large-scale truck/bogie deformation analysis.
• Tie Wear Machine: Simulates long-term deterioration of tie and fastener systems under cyclic loading. 
• Rolling Contact Fatigue Simulator: Replicates wheel-rail interactions to analyze wear, cracking and material flow—ultimately improving service life and safety.

Science Behind the Steel

At the heart of MxV Rail’s materials research is our advanced Metallurgy Laboratory, where science and engineering meet to address complex rail challenges. These capabilities help us uncover why materials fail and how to engineer stronger, more durable components that extend service life and reduce downtime. Key tools include:

• A Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with cryogenic capabilities for high-resolution imaging.
• An Optical Emission Spectrometer for precise chemical analysis of conductive materials.
• A full suite of non-destructive testing tools, including ultrasonic, eddy current, and magnetic particle testing.
• Automated hardness testing and optical microscopy for steel cleanliness, microstructure analysis, and grain size evaluation. 

Performance in Motion

MxV Rail’s five test tracks offer unmatched dynamic, real-world evaluation opportunities. Custom-engineered to meet the industry’s most stringent standards, these loops provide a robust platform for validating designs, improving safety and advancing innovation in freight and passenger rail applications. Two standouts include: 

• Curving Performance Track (CPT): Evaluates vehicle curving behavior with 3- to 12-degree curves, traction ratio testing, and compliance with Chapter 11 and M-976 standards.
• Suspension Resonance Track (SRT): Multi-zone track that simulates pitch, bounce, twist, roll, yaw and sway, allowing for holistic evaluations of railcar performance over known track geometry defects.

Rail Research Week 2025 is more than a conference. It’s a celebration of rail innovation and collaboration. Register now and reserve your spot on the MxV Rail technical tour to experience our world-class capabilities firsthand. Questions? Contact us at askMxVRail@aar.com. We look forward to welcoming you to Colorado and showcasing the future of rail research in action.

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Railroads are employing drones equipped with high-resolution cameras for inspections to improve efficiency and safety. The technology—also called unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)—is being used across yards and intermodal facilities, around bridges, along track, to aid with service interruptions and weather emergencies, and to add “eyes in the sky” for security purposes, for example. 

BNSF and CSX shared with Railway Age their drone applications. Currently, Part 107 of the Federal Aviation Administration’s regulatory framework allows commercial users to operate drones that are within their “line of site” and weigh less than 55 pounds apiece, among other limitations, according to Michael Ibanez, Manager of BNSF | Tech.

BNSF: Harnessing Drone Tech

In 2014, BNSF was one of the first companies authorized by the FAA to fly commercial drones, such as fixed-wing models and quadcopters. BNSF began by using drones to aid in the manual inspection of the railroad’s more than 13,000 bridges. As needed, drones piloted by the inspection team capture high-definition video of areas not easily seen—assisting in the detection of structural steel failures and indications of stress, for instance. According to John Martin, Director of BNSF | Tech, inspectors can review the footage during flight or load it onto a computer to view on a large monitor.

In 2015, the railroad conducted the first commercial “beyond visual line of sight” (BVLOS) flight without visual observers (VO’s) in the United States covering more than 135 miles of its Clovis Subdivision. In this first flight, BNSF tested the viability of fixed-wing drones to perform inspections using computer vision. This successful demonstration accelerated BNSF’s automated inspection efforts.

Since then, BNSF has expanded the types of drones it employs and in 2021 began routine remote flights; the FAA granted the railroad one of the first national Class G airspace waivers to do so across its 32,500 route-mile network, which spans 28 states and three Canadian provinces. During such BVLOS flights, the drone is flown out of the view of the pilot, who monitors its status from a remote location. Martin likens remote operation to a self-driving car. While the flight mission is “keyed up” by the pilot, the drone operates autonomously on a route designed by the railroad and learned by the drone through AI and machine learning; the pilot can intercede if there is an abnormality.

The FAA waiver allows the railroad to inspect intermodal facility inventory, which helps improve not only yard dwell time but also customer service. “We use drone technology to make sure we always have an accurate inventory of where our customers’ freight is in a facility,” Martin tells Railway Age. This ensures that freight either gets onto the proper train as scheduled, or onto the truck for the last mile delivery. “With millions of containers coming through our terminals every year, being able to precisely locate each shipment is key to efficiency,” he says. “Drones, combined with other automated technologies, provide near real-time location updates of our customer’s containers.”

Adds Ibanez: “When we tell a customer their freight will be there on Monday at 11 a.m., drones are helping us meet those expectations.”

Dedicated drone pilots handle remote operations at BNSF’s Flight Center in Fort Worth, Tex. BNSF performs about 1,200 flight hours per month across two intermodal facilities.

At BNSF, drone technology also plays an important role in incident response and assessing weather emergencies and natural disasters. “Drones help us understand how we can restore service for our customers as quickly as possible,” Martin says. More than 250 employees across its network are licensed pilots who aid in supporting this fast-response capability. Drones also play an important role in freight security, “putting more eyes in the sky” to spot bad actors, for instance.

Additionally, civil engineering teams are deploying drones mounted with LiDAR to plan construction and improvement projects.

What’s next? The Class I railroad is working to expand drone use across not only its intermodal terminals, but also its switch yards. And while it has invested in automated machine vision systems and locomotives equipped with laser profilometer systems to measure track health, BNSF is evaluating how drones can help inspect other critical assets.

Martin tells Railway Age that the railroad is researching fixed-wing drones that can cover 200 miles of track. “The ability to cover longer distances will unlock new capabilities,” he points out. “It’s something we’re actively working on in the industry. We’re also investigating drone swarm technology, where the drones work and communicate with each other autonomously to accomplish a task.”

Last year, the FAA granted BNSF another waiver, which allows a pilot to remotely operate up to six drones simultaneously, helping “efficiently scale the technology.”

In July, the U.S. Department of Transportation released a proposed rule to “normalize” BVLOS flights, including detailed requirements for safe operations (see Performance-Based Regulations, below). BNSF is hopeful that the new rule “takes flight.” 

“We’re committed to being on the forefront of how we can leverage [drone] technology to better serve our customers,” Martin sums up.

(Chris Little Photograph, Courtesy of CSX) CSX: Empowering Employees

CSX has been implementing drone technology since 2015. More than 320 FAA Part 107-certified pilots operate 250-plus drones across the company’s bridge, engineering, police, mapping/surveying, and transportation departments. Drones are outfitted with sensors to accomplish different tasks. The police, for instance, have drones with thermal technology to perform surveillance at night for enhanced security operations.

Drones supplement manual bridge inspections to take railroaders out of harm’s way. “That’s been a great success story for us,” CSX Technical Director of GIS Services Patrick Barnett tells Railway Age. “Equipped with collision avoidance, drones allow bridge inspectors to get right up close to the structure and its components to keep those employees safe verses having to get underneath a bridge.”

Drones also help with disaster recovery. “We used them [last fall] following Hurricane Helene and the damage it caused to the Blue Ridge Subdivision,” he says. “Being able to go in there and assess very quickly with drone technology enabled us to make decisions quickly.” Blue Ridge, a 60-mile stretch of railroad in North Carolina and Tennessee that handles some 14 million gross tons of freight annually, suffered extensive damage due to flooding. It has taken roughly 10 months to get the roadbed ready for track panel installation.

CSX also employs autonomous drone technology at 13 sites spanning 10 yards across its some 20,000 route-mile network in 26 states, the District of Columbia, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. As a supplement to manual inspections, drones outfitted with sensor cameras are helping to measure track gauge, identify broken rail and detect switch-point gaps of greater than 1/8th of an inch, for instance. “The way I like to tell people is we’re flying at 150 feet, and we’re detecting if the [switch-point gap] is greater than the width of a credit card,” Barnett says. “We’re working toward identifying defects that can potentially cause a derailment in a yard.”

In February, the railroad received BVLOS approval from the FAA for autonomous or remote drone operation at those yards. Rollouts to identify track defects will begin at the end of this year. The railroad is approved to fly drones at 150 feet above ground level and operate at two-plus miles in each direction from where the drone site is located through 2027, according to Barnett. Hypothetically, he says, an employee working as a “drone pilot” at the Command-and-Control Center in Jacksonville, Fla., could be overseeing drone operations in New York. An employee in a yard office could launch the operation via the CSX computer system, confirming that a track is clear, for example. This action would trigger the drone to perform an automated and programmed inspection and stream data to the Command-and-Control Center in real time.

With the new FAA waiver, “we went from needing three individuals on the ground to operate a drone to not needing someone there, so that has been a monumental milestone for our company, and it’s one that leads the industry and something we’re very proud of,” Barnett says.

In the future, CSX expects to implement remote drone operations at additional yards and consider implementing drones for line-of-road track inspections. “This will take additional dialogue with our federal regulators because we are talking about a vision of inspecting 50 miles at a time,” he says, noting that CSX would pair drones with other types of technologies. Combined, that would not only reduce track time and improve operations but also increase railroader safety. “Safety is our number one priority,” Barnett stresses.

Performance-Based Regs

Last month, the FAA and Transportation Security Administration proposed “performance-based regulations to enable the design and operation of UAS at low BVLOS altitudes and for third-party services, including UAS Traffic Management, that support these operations.” Comments are due on or before Oct. 6, 2025.

The proposal is necessary to support the integration of UAS into the national airspace system, according to the FAA and TSA in their Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. It is also intended to provide a “predictable and clear pathway for safe, routine, and scalable UAS operations that include package delivery, agriculture, aerial surveying, civic interest [to include wildfire recovery, wildlife conservation, and public safety], operations training, demonstration, recreation, and flight testing.” According to the FAA and TSA, operations would occur at or below 400 feet above ground level, from “pre-designated and access-controlled locations.” The TSA also proposes making “complementary changes to its regulations to ensure it can continue to impose security measures on these operations under its current regulatory structure for civil aviation.”

“To date, the FAA has allowed some such [BVLOS] operations through individualized exemptions and waivers to existing regulations,” according to the NPRM. “This NPRM leverages lessons learned from individual exemptions and waivers to create the repeatable, scalable regulatory framework … that would allow for widescale adoption of UAS technologies.”

Under the proposed rule, all operators would need FAA approval for the area where they intend to fly. They would identify boundaries and the approximate number of daily operations, as well as takeoff, landing, and loading areas, the FAA explained in a fact sheet. They also “would ensure adequate communications coverage and procedures in cases where the communications with the drone are lost.” The FAA noted operators “would have to be familiar with airspace and flight restrictions along their intended route of flight including reviewing Notices to Airmen,” and “be required to identify and mitigate any hazards.”

Operators would also use Automated Data Service Providers “to support scalable BVLOS operations,” the FAA said. “ADSPs could provide services to keep BVLOS drones safely separated from each other and manned aircraft.” The FAA would approve and regulate these entities and require services to “conform to industry consensus standards following vetting and testing.”

Additionally, drones would have technologies that “enable them to automatically detect and avoid other cooperating aircraft,” the FAA said. They would also “yield to all manned aircraft broadcasting their position using ADS-B” and “could not interfere with operations and traffic patterns at airports, heliports, seaplane bases, space launch and reentry sites or facilities where electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft take off or land.”

“It is encouraging to see this long-overdue BVLOS rule released,” Association of American Railroads President and CEO Ian Jefferies says. “America’s freight railroads commend Secretary [Sean P.] Duffy and the USDOT for advancing a forward-looking policy that could help unlock the full potential of unmanned aircraft systems across our national transportation network. Routine BVLOS operations hold tremendous potential for railroads—enhancing safety, speeding up inspections, and improving emergency response in ways that were previously limited. AAR members have long advocated for a rule that offers clarity, scalability, and meaningful safety benefits, and while we are still reviewing the rule in full, we are optimistic that [the] action represents a significant milestone toward that goal.” 

SUPPLEMENTING FRA-MANDATED MANUAL/VISUAL INSPECTIONS

Will federal regulations be updated to incorporate advanced tech like drones as part of the track inspection process? “While we can’t speculate about specific future regulatory developments concerning track inspections, FRA will continue to explore and embrace industry’s use of new and innovative technologies including UAVs in railroad operations,” FRA tells Railway Age, noting that railroads use drones for a variety of applications, including for bridge inspections as long at such use is part of the approved bridge management plan. It added that while “FRA is aware that railroads are interested in using drones as part of their track inspection processes, from a technical perspective at this point, drones are of limited utility for track inspection because they cannot measure the track under load.” Following is FRA-sponsored research:

Railroad Bridge Inspection Using Drone-Based Digital Image Correlation. https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/railroad-bridge-inspection-using-drone-based-digital-image-correlation, 2023.

Utilization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Accident Reconstruction. https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/utilization-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-accident-reconstruction, 2022.

Automated Track Centerline Following for Drone Flight Automation. https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/automated-track-centerline-following-drone-flight-automation, 2022.

Line-of-Sight Analysis Using Drones and Photogrammetry. https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/line-sight-analysis-using-drones-and-photogrammetry, 2021.

AXIS: An Automated, Drone-Based, Grade Crossing Inspection System. https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/axis-automated-drone-based-grade-crossing-inspection-system, 2020.

An Automated, Drone-Based Inspection System. https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/automated-drone-based-inspection-system, 2020.

The post ‘Force Multipliers’ appeared first on Railway Age.

Regional/commuter rail operator Metra and UP have been negotiating the transfer of commuter rail services on the three lines—the Union Pacific North, Northwest, and West—for several years. UP has historically provided service for Metra under a PSA (Purchase of Service Agreement), which has been extended several times while the railroads negotiate a new agreement.

Approximately 39% of Metra’s annual ridership (13.7 million out of a total 35 million passengers) is associated with the three lines owned, used and dispatched by UP (see map, below). Those lines were once operated by the Chicago & North Western Railway: the West Line to Elburn, the Northwest Line to Harvard and McHenry, and the North Line to Waukegan, with limited service to Kenosha, Wis. Metra has eight other lines; one of which, the historic Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line to Aurora, runs on right-of-way owned by BNSF, which still operates it under contract with Metra.

(Map Courtesy of Metra)

Metra’s March 7, 2025, application for terminal trackage rights “states that ‘substantial progress’ has been made, and that as of May 16, 2025, Metra for the first time will be solely responsible for operating the commuter rail service on the UP Lines,” according to the STB’s recent decision (download below). “However, despite their efforts, including Board-sponsored mediation in Docket No. FD 36800 that concluded unsuccessfully in December 2024, the parties have been unable to reach agreement regarding an appropriate ‘interest rental’ or access fee for the UP Lines … During the transition, until recently, Metra and UP had agreed on short-term extensions of the PSA (usually 30 to 90 days) … However, in view of the parties’ impasse on the access fee and uncertainty that the short-term extensions would continue, Metra filed this application seeking terminal trackage rights over the UP Lines.”

52691Download

Metra filed the application under § 11102(a), “which provides that ‘[t]he Board may require terminal facilities, including main-line tracks for a reasonable distance outside of a terminal, owned by a rail carrier . . . to be used by another rail carrier’ if it finds that specified criteria are met,” according to the STB. The federal agency explained that Metra proposed three alternatives for defining a terminal area for purposes of this proceeding:

1. “First, Metra asserts that the UP Lines that are the subject of its application ‘function and operate as a terminal area or as part of the larger Metra system terminal area.’ … Metra explains its view that Metra’s commuter rail system, including the three UP Lines, ‘functions as and constitutes a unified terminal,’ … and exists within a commercially cohesive area known as Chicagoland. … Metra contends that the UP Lines that exist within this terminal are not too long to be considered terminal facilities.”
2. “Second, Metra asserts that the UP Lines are part of a larger Chicago rail terminal area overseen by the Chicago Planning Group (CPG), described as ‘a consortium of freight, passenger, and commuter railroads, established in 2000 to monitor freight and passenger train performance and develop solutions to daily operating problems to promote efficiency and safety.’ … According to Metra, both UP and Metra are members and active participants in the CPG and the entities that operate under its auspices—the Chicago Transportation Coordination Office (CTCO) and the Chicago Integrated Rail Operations Center (CIROC)—to collect real-time data, review routes and schedules, identify potential operational problems, and mobilize the equipment and personnel needed to keep traffic moving through the city. … Metra states that the CTCO defines its territory as extending one crew district from the downtown Chicago freight terminal district.”
3. “Finally, Metra asserts that the terminal area could consist of the Chicago Freight Terminal … in which the three UP Lines at issue originate, and that the remainder of each of the UP Lines is within a reasonable distance of the terminal for purposes of § 11102(a).” It noted that “UP Lines used by Metra outside of the CFT are within a ‘reasonable distance’ of the CFT and thus eligible to host Metra trackage rights under § 11102(a).”

The Board said it “construe[d] the terminal area in this proceeding as the Chicago Freight Terminal (or CFT),” as both Metra and UP “acknowledge that the CFT qualifies as a terminal area under any definition the Board may apply.”

According to the STB, Section 11102(a) also provides that “the Board may require terminal facilities owned by a rail carrier to be used by another rail carrier ‘if the Board finds that use to be practicable and in the public interest without substantially impairing the ability of the rail carrier owning the facilities . . . to handle its own business.’”

“Metra states that the parties’ long experience under the PSA demonstrates that use of the UP Lines for commuter rail service is practicable and does not substantially impair UP’s operations,” the STB wrote in its decision. “Metra maintains that the transfer of operational responsibility from UP to Metra, and Metra’s use of trackage rights to operate the service, will not reduce that practicability or impair UP’s operations … Metra explains that UP will continue to maintain and dispatch the UP Lines; that Metra’s trains will transport the same rolling stock over the same routes using essentially the same operating personnel (who have been transferred from UP to Metra); and that the workforce that maintains equipment and provides passenger services will also include the same experienced personnel who previously performed those functions for UP and are now Metra employees. … Metra also points to capital improvements and several technologies implemented in recent decades that it contends will help ensure safe, efficient commuter operations over the UP Lines going forward. … Metra states that, to Metra’s understanding, UP does not dispute that the use of the UP Lines for commuter service has been and would remain practicable, and that UP’s ability to handle its own business has not been, and will not be, impaired.”

The Board also reported finding Metra’s request for trackage rights “is in the public interest.”

“Metra provides a vital public service over the UP Lines to suburban residents north and west of Chicago and has done so for decades,” the STB wrote in its decision. “According to Metra, it serves a total of 66 stations along the UP Lines, which in 2024 supported more than 13 million passenger trips and accounted for 39% of Metra’s total annual ridership. … Metra states that it has invested more than $1 billion in public funds in the UP Lines to improve UP’s infrastructure and make it fully functional for combined passenger and freight use. … Metra’s opening submission also describes that dozens of communities were planned and built along the UP Lines, details the many public benefits its service provides, and asserts that even a temporary cessation of service would have wide-ranging and harmful economic and social impacts. The Board finds that there is a strong public interest in having this service continue, and … the record demonstrates that Board intervention is warranted to ensure that result.”

What Happens Next?

The STB reported that it “expects and encourages Metra and UP to undertake a concerted, good faith effort to reach agreement on terms and compensation for Metra’s use of the UP Lines.” If they cannot reach an agreement, however, the Board said it will “establish the compensation and conditions of use in accordance with the statute.”

Metra in its application asked the STB to “set a reasonable and prompt deadline for the parties to establish agreed conditions and compensation for Metra’s use of the facilities, or report to the Board that they cannot agree.” While the Board said it “does not typically set a deadline by which the parties must complete the negotiation process under § 11102(a) and will not do so here,” it is directing them to “submit a joint status report, if possible, or separate reports by November 3, 2025, stating whether they have reached agreement, require additional time, or are unable to agree.” If additional time is required, the STB said, further status reports should be filed every 60 days. “If or to the extent the parties are unable to agree, either party may request the Board to establish compensation and/or conditions of use,” it noted. “The request must identify the disputed issue(s) and be accompanied by a proposed procedural schedule for the Board’s consideration to govern the process for resolving any remaining issues pertaining to compensation or conditions of use. The other party may file a written response to the request within 20 days.”

Further Reading:

• STB Denies Metra’s Request for Temporary Injunction
• Metra to STB: Ensure Passenger Service on UP Lines ‘Continues Uninterrupted’
• UP, Metra Move Closer to Service Transfer
• STB Orders Mediation for UP, Metra
• Judge Pronounces Common Carrier Obligation for ‘Commuter Rail’ Dead
• Report: RTA Redirects Funds From Metra, Pace to Prevent CTA Service Reductions

The post STB Grants Metra’s ‘Terminal Trackage Rights’ Application appeared first on Railway Age.

Colossal brings expertise in rail, road, barge, and ocean transport, offering end-to-end project management for industrial-sized, heavy-lift cargo. Specializing in custom-engineered transport solutions, Colossal provides route planning, 3D drawings to navigate route obstructions, securement, GPS monitoring, and direct-discharge capabilities. Additional services are rigging operations with detailed lift plans for cranes, gantries, or jack-and-slide systems, along with last-mile delivery and site coordination.

“Colossal’s deep industry knowledge and reputation for handling multi-modal complex, largescale projects complements our ability to provide innovative, reliable, and flexible logistics services,” said Watco Logistics President Eric Wolfe. “We’re excited to welcome the Colossal team into the Watco family, and together we offer customers an unmatched breadth of capabilities and an expanded geographic reach.”

Bill Taylor and Nestor Bernabe, co-founders of Colossal Transport, said what was important to the Colossal team’s legacy was “continued focus on growing alongside the customer, culture and fit for their talented team members and having access to added resources to support future growth.”

“We will continue to grow and only strengthen our position as a leading project cargo provider,” Taylor said. “We believe Watco’s vast resources will allow us to provide unparalleled value to our customers. We are excited to be a part of this continued journey with Watco,” Bernabe added.

The post Watco Logistics Acquires Colossal Transport Solutions appeared first on Railway Age.

A 30-inch gauge 0-6-2T saddle-tank steam locomotive has been restored in Hawaii. Hawaiian Sugar Company 3, named Kaipu, was built by Baldwin in 1925 and worked on the west side of Kauai. It was later sold to the Grove Farm Company, where it got its current name and number. The locomotive operated until 1957, when it was retired and stored.

In the 1980s, the locomotive was restored to operation, and it ran intermittently into the 2010s. In 2023, the Grove Farm Homestead Museum decided to put the locomotive back in service with the help of FMW Solutions. The locomotive was completed in the spring and was back under steam in July. The locomotive leads short excursions throughout the year. Visit www.grovefarm.org for more information. 

—Railfan & Railroad Staff

The post Saddle Tank Locomotive Restored in Hawaii appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

This year, Railway Age and RT&S are pleased to venture to Pittsburgh on Oct. 1-2 for the much-anticipated 2025 Light Rail Conference, featuring a packed lineup of LRT (light rail transit) professionals who are significantly influencing today’s rail transit industry. Among the reasons to attend is a back-by-popular demand feature, Engineering for Operations and Service Delivery. This detailed-filled presentation will examine the numerous issues affecting shared use of LRT and freight railroad right-of-way.

This edition of our annual in-person Light Rail Conference will be filled with dynamic panels and the chance to network with a wide-reaching group of like-minded professionals. It offer a comprehensive review of the specialized technical, operational, environmental, and socio-economic issues associated with LRT in an urban environment. All this will take place at the Fairmont Pittsburgh.

Session Overview Al Fazio

Presenters for Engineering for Operations & Service Delivery are Thomas R. Hickey, Transportation Strategist, West Chester Intersection, LLC; John Mardente, Civil Engineer, Passenger Rail Division, Federal Railroad Administration; and Alfred E. Fazio, P.E., BRT Rail Services. “The focus of this year’s session will be on designing new-start LRT systems or extensions to an existing LRT with an eye on operational integration at all times,” explains Fazio. “Generic repetition of design is becoming all too common, particularly when applied to LRT, the most flexible, varied and adaptable of all fixed guideway modes. LRT designs must be guided by a clearly defined CONOPS (Concept of Operations) that considers system growth, operational changes, implementation of express service, and maintenance-of-way support, including yards and work equipment. We’ll look at shared use of LRT and freight railroad right-of-way, including treatment of operational and safety issues. As well, we’ll discuss innovative means of operating various types of expedited, or express, services, with prerequisite engineering design considerations such as higher-speed crossovers, turnback tracks, appropriate signage and station design.”

Program Highlights

Presented Oct. 1-2 at the Fairmont Pittsburgh, the 2025 Railway Age and RT&S Light Rail Conference is a must-attend premier conference on LRT for transportation professionals in planning, operations, civil engineering, signaling and train control, and vehicle engineering. Students at the undergraduate and graduate levels are also welcome.

Key sessions will focus on:

• Strategic insights into major new-builds and expansion projects.
• Engineering sessions illustrating how to best support long-term efficiency and safety.
• Capital program oversight, risk mitigation, and performance tracking.
• Resilience planning, sharing adaptive strategies for extreme weather events.
• Improvements to customer-facing technologies such as fare collection, communications and security.
• The viability and scalability of alternative propulsion technologies.
• Confronting funding challenges.

In addition to Fazio, Mardente and Hickey, transit leaders on the program include Andy Lukaszewicz and Justin Selepack of Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT), Bryan K. Moore and Casey Blaze of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA), Henry Posner and Ida Posner of Railroad Development Corporation (RDC), Harry Skoblenick of Alstom, Barbara M. Schroeder ofBenesch, Rachel J. Burckardt of WSP USA, and many more.

Supporting Organizations

Industry support for the Railway Age / RT&S 2025 Light Rail Conference is strong, including sponsorship from 4AI Systems, Piper Networks, Benesch, and RDC. To inquire about sponsorship opportunities, contact Jonathan Chalon at jchalon@sbpub.com or (212) 620-7224.

The post 2025 Light Rail Conference Focus: CONOPS, Service Delivery appeared first on Railway Age.

You’ll find these articles in Railway Age’s latest issue:

• Mechanical Marvel — Contributing Editor Dan Cupper takes readers behind the scenes at Norfolk Southern’s Juniata Locomotive Shop in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains. America’s largest locomotive repair facility, a 70-acre complex, handles scheduled engine and truck overhauls, wreck repairs, and capital-upgrade programs that turn out rebuilt and updated units at half the cost of buying new locomotives.

• ‘Force Multipliers’ — Executive Editor Marybeth Luczak explores how drones are helping railroaders assess risk, reduce dwell, and boost efficiency and safety.

• A Future With Autonomous Trains? — This future is one the industry must consider if it wants to compete against trucking and its futuristic vision of autonomous truck platoons, according to those working to bring autonomous operations to freight rail, reports Contributing Editor Joanna Marsh.

• Force Control — Improved train dynamics, ease of retrofits, lower maintenance costs, increased safety: All these figure into draft gear and cushioning device developments, according to Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono, who provides a roundup of supplier offerings.

• MxV Rail R&D — Rail Research Week 2025, including an MxV Rail technical site tour, will provide a front row seat to rail innovation’s future.

Plus, Railway Age Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner asks: Is shipper salvation performance standards? “Revenue adequacy, as defined by statute, means earning enough to cover total operating costs, including depreciation and obsolescence, plus a competitive return on invested capital sufficient over the long term to attract more of it to maintain a railroad’s large and costly infrastructure, including locomotives and rolling stock,” he writes. “It’s a mouthful, so no wonder railroads and their customers can’t agree on the determination process.” And Railway Age Financial Editor David Nahass discusses the Union Pacific+Norfolk Southern merger/acquisition and the inevitable fallout about what will happen next. “To be honest,” he writes, “the railroad merger dialogue is beginning to make North American rail feel a bit like Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ Not the best look.”

These highlights and more can be found in Railway Age’s September 2025 digital edition:

The post Now On Line: Railway Age September 2025 Digital Edition appeared first on Railway Age.

MDOT

MDOT on Sept. 2 released its Draft Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP) for Fiscal Years 2026 to 2031, outlining a $21.5 billion balanced plan “to further enhance safety, keep the system in working order and support the state’s economy.”

“Thanks to Governor Moore’s budget and the approximately $400 million in additional annual revenues passed by the General Assembly, the Department was able to use state dollars as a match to acquire additional federal funding in the previous Final CTP for Fiscal Years 2025-2030. That continued effort to match federal funding has resulted in an increase in this year’s draft program of nearly $300 million total compared to the Final CTP,” MDOT noted.

“This capital budget focuses on our priorities of enhancing safety, maintaining our system and driving economic growth,” said Acting MDOT Secretary Samantha J. Biddle. “Thanks to Governor Moore’s leadership and the General Assembly’s commitment to transportation funding, the additional revenues allow us to continue to advance projects that achieve these goals.”

The Draft Fiscal Year 2026-2031 CTP (download below) shows that MDOT “is strategically using available resources and focusing on data-driven investments to advance Maryland’s goals.” The $21.5 billion program includes key investments across all transportation modes, including significant reinvestment in the Maryland Transit Administration’s (MTA) core service, such as rehabilitation and modernization of the central light rail line.

The six-year Draft CTP outlines capital investments in each mode funded by the Transportation Trust Fund: Maryland Aviation Administration, Maryland Port Administration, MTA, Motor Vehicle Administration, State Highway Administration and The Secretary’s Office, as well as Maryland’s investment in the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The MTA’s toll facilities are financed, constructed, operated and maintained with toll revenues paid by customers using those facilities and represent an additional $5 billion investment in the State’s transportation system in fiscal years 2026-2031, according to MDOT.

FY26_FY31_Draft_CTP_Full_ReportDownload BART

From Antioch to Millbrae, the Transbay Tube to the Dublin hills, BART fans can now see the system like never before as the agency releases a new series of videos showcasing the entire system from the point of view of a train operator. The BART Cab Cam series is the first time this footage will be available to view on YouTube.

BART released the first video—a ride on the Red Line from end to end—on Monday, Sept. 1, to kick off Transit Month. A total of 12 videos will be released of all five BART lines and the Oakland Airport Connector in both directions. 

The videos will be published on YouTube weekly over the next 12 weeks, with the final video debuting on Nov. 3. 

 Produced in-house by the BART Communications and Marketing teams, the videos were filmed throughout 2025 and showcase BART’s diverse service area in stunning 4K.

Denver RTD

Denver RTD is using virtual reality technology to augment its training program for Transit Police officers to learn how to safely assess a multitude of situations and address threats, the agency recently reported.

(Denver RTD)

The virtual reality technology offers reality-based training scenarios for officers to safely hone skills and supports certification in using TASERs. Almost half of the 100 sworn officers in the Transit Police Department (RTD-PD) have completed the reality-based training since the program was implemented in June. The program is taught by two of RTD-PD’s certified Master Taser instructors, Corporal Jacob Schubert and Corporal Chance Fitzgerald.

Through the technology, officers see and hear a simulated environment requiring them to take the best course of action and safely use TASERs. The technology manufacturer and service provider, Axon, currently provides 12 scenarios and continues to add more for officers to build upon their technical skills and refine in-the-moment decision-making. The technology, RTD says, “enables officers to progressively build skills, even accounting for factors such as the physical and mental state of the individual in the scenario, whether they’re standing, sitting or partially obscured––right down to the details of the clothing a person may be wearing and how that would impact the use of TASERs.”

The RTD-PD elected to implement the technology for a variety of benefits, including the ability to safely train officers without the use of live rounds from TASERs, RTD noted. The system’s headset and tablet device are portable, enabling training to be conducted in many locations. Transit Police brings the virtual reality training to almost every in-service training to maximize the ability of officers to use the technology.

With AI advancements, it is anticipated the training modules will evolve and benefit the program with future modules allowing for two-way communication with virtual suspects to better prepare officers for real world scenarios, according to RTD. The training’s virtual reality technology is built to represent the identical size, weight and capabilities of real-life TASER counterparts.

The virtual reality program costs RTD-PD approximately $170,000 a year for six headsets and tablets to directly view an officer’s actions in the simulated environment, and it provides access to performance metrics. Program costs are offset by the ability to provide a safe and versatile training environment for officers, as well as being able to keep officers on patrol while offering periodic bursts of training in about 20-minute intervals, the agency noted. “This reduced time for training means tens of thousands of dollars are saved on training field days and the associated costs for equipment and staff time.”

More information is available here.

Caltrain (Caltrain)

Caltrain has installed new digital displays at its Capitol, Blossom Hill, Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy stations to improve the South Santa Clara County riding experience. These displays, the agency says, will help keep riders informed, offering real-time train schedules, service alerts and announcements.

Each display also includes text-to-speech functionality—at the push of a button, riders can hear important information read aloud, making it easier for all riders to stay updated.

This brings Caltrain’s live train updates and real time notifications to South County stations for the first time.

The digital displays are provided by Papercast. A pilot version was installed at San Carlos Station earlier this year.

LIRR

Gatekeeper Systems Inc. (Gatekeeper), a leader in video and data solutions for protecting people in transit, on Sept. 2 announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Gatekeeper Systems USA Inc., has entered contracts valued at approximately $19.55 million (approximately C$27 million) with the LIRR for the commuter rail’s Audio-Visual Recording Monitoring System Upgrade

The project, Gatekeeper says, relates to the replacement of LIRR’s audio-visual recording monitoring system on its railcar fleet in compliance with the FRA mandate, which requires that “all passenger train lead locomotives providing scheduled intercity rail passenger or commuter service be equipped with crashworthy memory modules and image recording devices prior to Oct. 12, 2027.”

The post Transit Briefs: MDOT, BART, Denver RTD, Caltrain, LIRR appeared first on Railway Age.

Total rail traffic for the week ending Aug. 30, 2025, comprised 234,740 carloads, up 0.6% from the same week last year, and 286,762 intermodal units, up 1.2% from 2024, according to the AAR.

Five of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2024. They included chemicals, up 1,618 carloads, to 34,960; metallic ores and metals, up 762 carloads, to 22,362; and nonmetallic minerals, up 446 carloads, to 32,602. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2024 included petroleum and petroleum products, down 878 carloads, to 10,559; grain, down 741 carloads, to 19,766; and forest products, down 288 carloads, to 8,236.

For the first 35 weeks of this year, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 7,749,143 carloads, up 2.5% from the same point last year; and 9,471,467 intermodal units, up 4.1% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 35 weeks of 2025 was 17,220,610 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.4% compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending Aug. 30, 2025, on nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 338,856 carloads, down 2.2% compared with the same week last year, and 374,612 intermodal units, up 5.2% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 713,468 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.6%. North American rail volume for the first 35 weeks of 2025 was 23,701,966 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.7% compared with 2024.

Canadian railroads reported 90,367 carloads for the week ending Aug. 30, 2025, a down 3.9%, and 71,949 intermodal units, up 23.1% compared with the same week last year. For the first 35 weeks of 2025, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 5,661,886 carloads, containers and trailers, up 2.3% compared with the prior-year period.

For the week ending Aug. 30, 2025, Mexican railroads reported 13,749 carloads, down 28.0% compared with the same week last year, and 15,901 intermodal units, a 12.1% jump. Their cumulative volume for the first 35 weeks of 2025 was 819,470 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, dropping 8.5% from the same point last year.

The post AAR: U.S. Rail Traffic Remains Flat in Week 35 appeared first on Railway Age.

IANA (BNSF Photograph)

IANA on Sept. 3 announced that Lucille Marvin is its Vice President for Government Affairs. In this newly created position, Marvin will be IANA’s representative on Capitol Hill. She served previously as Managing Director of the Federal Maritime Commission, and before that was FMC’s Legislative Counsel, as well as counsel to two chairmen and one commissioner. Marvin has also served as the Director of the Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance at the Surface Transportation Board. She began her career in federal service working in the U.S. House of Representatives for David Skaggs and Mark Udall of Colorado, her home state. She is an alumna of the Georgetown University Law Center, Teach For America and a member of the New York State bar.

“Having someone with Lucy’s deep history on the Hill and with our members, makes her an asset who will be working for IANA’s membership to ensure the concerns and interests of intermodal are heard and recognized,” IANA President and CEO Anne Reinke said. “We are all very excited with her arrival at IANA.”

Further Reading:

• IANA: Intermodal ‘Stays Strong’ in 2Q25
• IANA: ‘Tariff Deadlines’ Drove Up 1Q25 Intermodal Traffic

Port of LA (Port of LA Photograph)

Melanie Roberts is the new Human Resources Director at the Port of LA. She will oversee City employment operations for the Port’s nearly 1,000 employees. Roberts joined the City of Los Angeles in 2008 as an Accounting Clerk with the Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Street Services. She was later promoted several times with assignments at Los Angeles World Airports and the Bureau of Contract Administration, and served most recently as Senior Personnel Analyst II with the Personnel Department and liaison to LA Sanitation & Environment.

Roberts graduated from California State Dominguez Hills with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and earned a master’s degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix.

“We’re thrilled to have Melanie join our team at the Port of Los Angeles,” said Erica Calhoun, the Port’s Deputy Executive Director of Finance and Administration. “She brings a wealth of direct experience with the City of Los Angeles to the position. Additionally, her proven track record for results will be important in managing the human resources function for the busiest container port in the U.S.” 

Further Reading:

• For Ports of LA, Long Beach, ‘Record’ July Cargo
• Port of LA Participates in U.S. Library of Congress Project
• Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach Seek Short Line Operator
• Port of Los Angeles: Busiest June in History

Rajant (Rajant Image)

Cris Boyd has joined Rajant as Chief Growth Officer. A retired U.S. Army officer, he served for 32 years across the Infantry, Signal Regiment, and Army Acquisition Corps, holding key positions in product management and project management. His service culminated as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at RDECOM (now CCDC DEVCOM). Following retirement, Boyd transitioned to a civilian industry leadership role, “specializing in business development and customer relations with a strong focus on integrating innovative technologies to defense priorities,” according to Rajant, which in 2018 entered into a strategic partnership with Wabtec Corporation to jointly develop and market Rajant’s Kinetic Mesh® wireless networking products to rail operators worldwide.

In his new role based at Rajant’s U.S. headquarters in Malvern, Pa., Boyd will lead the company’s growth strategy, focusing on expanding partnerships, driving customer engagement, and supporting the company’s evolution in delivering advanced edge computing and customer-focused solutions to targeted vertical markets, Rajant reported.

“Cris’s extensive background in defense operations and his proven ability to bridge innovation with mission requirements make him an outstanding addition to our executive team,” Rajant CEO Bob Schena said. “His leadership will be instrumental as we continue expanding Rajant’s global footprint and advancing our role in edge networking for critical industries.”

“It is an honor to join Rajant at such a pivotal time for intelligent edge networking in the industry,” Boyd said. “I’m excited to work with this exceptional team to strengthen our relationships, expand our markets, and continue delivering solutions that meet the real-world demands of our customers.”

Further Reading:

• Rail Runner: Upgrading Wireless Service

The post People News: IANA, Port of LA, Rajant appeared first on Railway Age.

Members of the International Association of Sheet, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers’ Mechanical and Engineering Department (SMART-MD) have ratified an agreement with Union Pacific (UP).

The American Arbitration Association finalized the vote count and advised that SMART-MD members working on UP unanimously ratified the agreement, the union reported Sept. 2.

Based on the terms of the agreements reached with other freight rail carriers, the union said the agreement with UP “provides a variety of improvements,” including:

• “Annual general wage increases effective July 1 of each calendar year, totaling 17.5% (over 18.75% when compounded).
• “Paid vacation days for new-hire employees and accelerated qualification and accrual of paid vacation for tenured employees.
• “Substantial increases for vision frame allowances from $115 to $250 every two years and the orthodontia lifetime maximum benefit increased from $1,000 to $2,500 per covered individual.
• “Optional high-deductible health plan with lower monthly cost-share contribution that will be available in 2026.
• “Increased Opt-Out Payment of $200 per month for employees who select not to have health insurance.”

According to the union, members should expect backpay issued by UP within 60 days of Aug. 29, 2025 (Oct. 24, 2025).

“Our Railroad, Mechanical and Engineering Department dedicated themselves to reaching an agreement that met the demands of our members,” SMART General President Michael Coleman said. “With this 100% ratification vote, SMART members at UP made one thing clear: This is an agreement they can be proud of, and that recognizes their work. SMART members keep our economy moving, and they deserve a contract that rewards them for that. I’m proud of every member who stood up for what they have earned, and I congratulate the SMART-MD negotiating team for securing real gains for our members.”

“This ratification is a clear victory for our UP members,” added SMART General Committee 2 Directing Chairperson John McCloskey. “It reflects their unity and commitment to securing a stronger future. Thank you to every member that voted to make this agreement possible.”

“The ratified agreement provides real wage increases, plus substantial improvements to paid time off and health and welfare benefits with an added benefit option for those that want it in 2026,” SMART-MD Director Peter Kennedy noted. “It is a respectable agreement, and I appreciate the members taking the time to review their ratification packet and vote their conscience.” 

Separately, the National Carriers Conference Committee earlier this year announced that SMART-MD members ratified a national collective bargaining agreement. Additionally, SMART-MD members ratified agreements with BNSF, CSX, and Norfolk Southern in fall 2024.

The post SMART-MD Ratifies Agreement With UP appeared first on Railway Age.