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The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced Sept. 23 that the Pennsylvania State Rail Plan is available for public review and comment between now and Oct. 24.

The State Rail Plan (download below) is updated every four years, in collaboration with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), as well as stakeholders and the public. The plan, which focuses on safety, passenger and freight rail, funding, policy, the environment, and economic development, also evaluates and documents opportunities for improvement and growth in passenger and freight rail over the next 25 years to guide investments.

“With more operating railroads than any other state in the country, rail is a critical part of Pennsylvania’s transportation landscape,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “Through this comment period, Pennsylvanians can share their visions for passenger and freight rail across the commonwealth, and we look forward to their feedback.”

A virtual public meeting to discuss the plan will be held on Oct. 16.

The post PennDOT State Rail Plan Available for Review appeared first on Railway Age.

The proposed $1.1 billion MetroLink Green Line to expand light rail in St. Louis, Mo., will be canceled and other transit projects, including Bus Rapid Transit, will be considered for the corridor connecting Jefferson Avenue, Chippewa Street, and Fairground Park, according to St. Louis Public Radio and other local media outlets.

The 5.6-mile north-south Green Line (see a map at right and a project video below) would have linked to the existing MetroLink light rail service at a new transfer station near Scott Avenue.

The project was slated to connect residents to growing job centers in Downtown West and Midtown, as well as to educational opportunities and healthcare services.

As part of this project, 12 new light rail vehicles and a dedicated maintenance facility at the existing Ewing Yard were proposed. 

“The project would have been uncompetitive and out of reach for the city’s current funding stream, St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said in a statement,” St. Louis Public Radio’s Chad Davis reported Sept. 24.

“‘It’s imperative we have a project that meets our objectives and qualifies for federal funding, which is necessary to make the project viable,’ Spencer said. ‘Unfortunately, the Green Line, as proposed, has a $1.1 billion price tag for just 10 stations and less than 6 miles, making this project out of reach for our current funding stream and uncompetitive for federal funding.’”

“Spencer said she looks forward to looking into other transit projects, including looking into bus rapid transit opportunities in the Green Line corridor,” according to Davis’s report. “‘I’m excited to explore what bus rapid transit, along with a multi-modal component, can offer our citizens, visitors and the competitive federal grant administrators,’ Spencer said.”

Bi-State Development (BSD) has been responsible for leading the project planning, design and construction; it was expected that once the Green Line was built, Metro Transit, a BSD enterprise, would operate and maintain it. The City of St. Louis has been working with BSD and its Project Management Consultant, Northside-Southside Transit Partners (a joint venture of HNTB, KWAME Building Group, and KAI 360 Construction Services), “to make sure each step of the federal planning process is followed and that the public is involved,” according to the Green Line project website. City residents voted in 2017 for a tax increase to support light rail expansion on the north-south corridor.

According to the St. Louis Business Journal, BSD “says in new documents that the train orientation was unlikely to win key federal funding.” The BSD Board, it reported, “is set Friday [Sept. 25] to consider amendments to its agreement” with Northside-Southside Transit Partners. “If the board approves, it will instead work on a ‘bus rapid transit’ plan along the same line,” according to the Journal.

St. Louis Public Radio reported that Cara Spencer and BSD five months ago “paused plans to develop the north-south track”. Spencer “said then that she was concerned about costs and whether the track was likely to receive federal funding”; BSD “was able to continue its environmental review of the MetroLink plans but ceased applying for federal funding” through a Federal Transit Administration Capital Investment Grant (CIG), according to the news outlet.

St. Louis Public Radio said that the expansion application was approved last year under the FTA’s New Start Program; a CIG “could have covered up to 60% of the funding.” The environmental review and 30% design would need to be completed before a CIG could be awarded. 

According to the St. Louis Business Journal, “A Bi-State official said Tuesday [Sept. 23] the agency did not submit for the grant. Bi-State CEO Taulby Roach previously said the window to submit for that grant would have been in August.”

BSD “was ‘directed’ to start planning for a potential bus route … , documents slated for approval by the agency’s board Friday said,” the Journal reported. “A Bi-State official did not immediately respond to questions Tuesday.”

According to St. Louis Public Radio, BSD “held public events on the [light rail] expansion and said two years ago that competing for federal funding would be a competitive process.” The news outlet noted that in early 2024 “there were 26 transit projects waiting to apply for federal funding and 33 others that still needed a rating to apply for funding across the country.”

“The decision to choose light rail over electric buses often involves a trade-off between long-term benefits (e.g., capacity, permanence) and upfront costs,” according to the Green Line project website, which has not been updated to reflect the change in plans. “While light rail vehicles are more expensive initially, they historically provide higher capacity and attract more riders.”

The post Reports: St. Louis Light Rail Expansion Project to be Sidelined appeared first on Railway Age.

Railroad journalist and columnist Don Phillips died on September 23 after a years-long illness. He was 83.

Phillips was one of the nation’s leading transportation journalists, working for the Washington Post and International Herald Tribune. However, in the railroad world, he was best known for his columns in Trains, which ran from 1977 to 2018, with a brief hiatus in the late 1980s, often under the moniker “The Potomac Pundit.” 

Phillips grew up in Birmingham, Ala. He studied journalism at Auburn University before landing a job at United Press International’s Atlanta bureau in 1966, marking the start of a decades-long career in newspapers. That same year, Phillips had his first byline in Trains. He went on to cover many of the biggest stories in railroading during the late 20th century, from the Northeastern railroad crisis leading to the establishment of Conrail and the Staggers Act, to the infamous deadly wreck on the Northeast Corridor at Chase, Md., in 1987, to the merger mania of the 1990s.

Phillips wrote his last column for Trains in 2018 and soon found a new venue for his work with Railfan & Railroad, where he wrote “Capitol Lines.” He also wrote a column for Passenger Train Journal. Throughout his career, his writing carried both personality and warmth, whether examining the political hurdles facing the industry or evoking the deep nostalgia that has always been at the heart of railroading.

—Justin Franz 

The post Don Phillips, Railroad Journalist, Dies at 83 appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Reposted with permission from Trains magazine: Of all the bylines to grace Trains magazine’s pages over its 85-year history, likely none matches the record of transportation journalist and railfan Don Phillips, whose monthly column ran in the publication in two separate stints between 1977 and 2018, and whose feature stories covered everything from the creation of Amtrak and Conrail to Staggers Act deregulation to the Norfolk Southern steam program. His contributions were an essential part of the magazine for more than 40 years.

For much of that time he was also regarded as one of the nation’s top transportation journalists, with more than 20 years covering the subject for the Washington Post and the Paris-based International Herald Tribune, an affiliate of the New York Times. (Editor’s Note: Don also did some writing for Railway Age, as well as Transit Connections, a former Simmons-Boardman publication. Railway Age Capitol Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner provides commentary on his fellow journalist, following Kevin Keefe’s. – William C. Vantuono)

Phillips died Tuesday, Sept. 23, after a years-long illness. He was 83.

Phillips traced his interest in railroading to his childhood in Birmingham, Ala. It was a good time to grow up in the Magic City, served by such classic fallen flags as Frisco, the Southern, and Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast, all of which served the city’s monumental Terminal Station, a place Phillips grew to love.

He also made regular visits to relatives in Carbondale, Ill., where he developed a strong attachment to the Illinois Central and its 2500-series 4-8-2 steam locomotives and orange-and-brown streamliners. It became his “private Camelot,” he later said.

The young railfan subscribed to Trains in June 1956 and quickly became an admirer of Editor David P. Morgan. Phillips later credited Morgan with inspiring him to visit the Norfolk & Western, “to see the last of the big show,” meaning steam. It was on the N&W — at Pusher Siding near Vinton, Va., in November 1958 —that Phillips met his future best friend, photographer Victor Hand. Both were 16.

Phillips described their friendship as unlikely: “He was a brash kid from Brooklyn and I was a slow-talking kid from Alabama. By all rights we should have just said hello and passed on to other things.” They went on to travel the world together, mainly photographing and writing about steam railroads.

Not long after his encounter with Hand, Phillips went to college at Alabama’s Auburn University, where he studied journalism, edited the student newspaper Auburn Plainsman, stringed for several local weeklies, and worked briefly at the Atlanta Constitution. Upon graduation he joined United Press International’s (UPI) Atlanta bureau in 1966, covering Georgia state politics as well as Southern Railway’s attempt to win the state’s contract to operate the Atlanta-Chattanooga Western & Atlantic.

Phillips’s beat at UPI included the colorful Gov. Lester Maddox, a relationship he later mentioned in Trains. “Although Lester Maddox and I got along most days, I have the distinction of being thrown bodily from his office by Lester himself when I asked a question he didn’t like at a news conference.” Phillips was named manager of the Atlanta bureau in 1968 and soon received a transfer to UPI’s Washington bureau.

While still in the Atlanta bureau, Phillips made his first contribution to Trains, a report on the status of Atlanta & West Point 4-6-2 No. 290, in the January 1966 issue. Over the next few years came several memorable feature stories, ranging from a report on the Georgia Railroad’s surviving mixed train (September 1967) to an analysis of why the Southern at first stayed out of Amtrak (October 1974) to a profile of Chinese railroads under Mao (November 1972). And Phillips was often provocative: A December 1975 story asked, “Could Trucks Replace the RF&P?”. The author concluded, “Sadly, it’s not a silly question.”

Perhaps Phillips’s highest-profile cover story came in January 1971, when he explored President Richard M. Nixon’s personal and political ties to railroading. The story —“Richard M. Nixon: Rail Romantic” —was Morgan’s idea, not Phillips’s, but he gamely accepted the assignment. It caused a stir, given Nixon’s status as a politician, but the story itself was a marvel of reportage.

Phillips gained national prominence as a transportation writer when he joined the Washington Post in 1986, working there 19 years. After leaving the Post he spent nearly two years writing for the International Herald Tribune.

The transportation beat gave Phillips a front-row seat at a wrenching time, marked by deregulation across not only railroading but also aviation and trucking. He covered changes in federal transportation policy, the mega-merger era in the railroad industry, the growing use of super-size trucks, as well as a string of grievous, precedent-setting accidents, about which he also reported for Trains.

The latter included the infamous Jan. 4, 1987, wreck near Chase, Md., in which Amtrak’s New York-bound Colonial plowed into a Conrail local that strayed onto the Northeast Corridor main line, killing 16 people. The accident led to major changes in the railroad industry’s drug-testing policy. Phillips also reported extensively on the crash of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited at Bayou Canot north of Mobile, Ala., on Sept. 22, 1993, as well as the explosive loss of TWA flight 800 over Long Island on July 17, 1996.

Much of his experience at the Post informed his column in Trains, which began in the August 1977 issue under the name “The Potomac Pundit,” a moniker the ever-alliterative Morgan came up with and Phillips gladly accepted. Although the column mainly focused on the effect of Washington policy on railroads, Phillips sometimes followed his railfan muse and veered off in other directions.

In his first column, Phillips went to some pains to explain his wouldn’t be a railroad column, but a transportation column. “I am not here to promote the railroad industry. I am here to give you information and informed opinion that will allow you to decide for yourself what is right and wrong for the industry. Information —not propaganda —is power.”

Thus began a long run of “Pundit” columns, during which Phillips often ruffled the feathers of readers from various quarters: railroad management, card-carrying union members, even railfans and their pet interests. The column became a must-read.

However, inexplicably, Morgan terminated Phillips’s column —along with that of longtime “Professional Iconoclast” contributor John G. Kneiling —after the March 1986 issue. Then, just six years later, J. David Ingles, Morgan’s successor, revived the column in February 1992. As Ingles wrote at the time, “Suffice it to say we’ve wanted to bring Don Phillips’s learned views back into Trains regularly for a long time.”

Back in the saddle as columnist, Phillips continued to report on the industry from the Beltway perspective in an era marked by mega-mergers, changes in operational philosophy, and advances in communications and motive-power technology.

For most of his second act, Phillips’s column lost the “Pundit” title and was simply listed as “Don Phillips” or, later, “Commentary” with Phillips’s byline. Rescued from the encumbrances of being the pundit, Phillips was free to explore more personal themes, ranging from a love letter to the late railroad artist Ted Rose to his re-discovery of his old teenage photographs to a lament for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus train.

In May 2018, then-Editor Jim Wrinn discontinued the column, but Phillips found new venues for a column under the heading “Capitol Lines” for Railfan & Railroad and a revived “Potomac Pundit” for Passenger Train Journal.

Like any good journalist, Don Phillips didn’t take himself too seriously. When Dave Ingles brought him back in 1992, Phillips noted dryly: “MacArthur returned to the Philippines. Amtrak returned to Wyoming. Freddy returned to Elm Street. And now Phillips has returned to Trains.” In the end, Phillips’s second act on the magazine was as potent and entertaining as the first.

Railway Age Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner, whose friendship with Phillips dated to the 1970s, recalls that the late former Surface Transportation Board Chairperson Linda Morgan “had two media pets—Phillips and David Cawthorne of the Journal of Commerce—to whom she fed ideas that had consequences. Such was reflected in a Phillips bylined article in the Jan. 20, 1997, Washington Post revealing Morgan favored a split of Conrail between CSX and Norfolk Southern when the two were hellbent on winning 100% control for themselves. 

“In 1986, Conrail had rebuffed a $1.9 billion purchase offer from NS. A decade later, in October 1996, CSX announced it had reached agreement with Conrail for its purchase at $8.1 billion, with NS, in a hostile bid, upping the ante to $9.1 billion. Another of Phillips’ sources, the late NS official Jim McClellan, relayed to Phillips that CSX Chairperson John Snow had responded in a phone conversation with NS Chairperson David Goode, ‘This is war’—McClellan suggesting CSX and NS were in ‘hand grenade’ tossing distance in recognition of their corporate offices at the time only 90 highway-miles from each other in Richmond and Norfolk, respectively.

“As CSX and NS fought, Conrail stock levitated, the question becoming, ‘how high’ would these two competitors bid. When Morgan invited Phillips to her office, Phillips knew something was up. Morgan laid out her partition plan, Phillips wrote, the Post published, and two months later, in March 1997, Snow and Goode chose financial sanity and agreed, as Morgan suggested, to a joint acquisition price of $10.2 billion for Conrail—all in cash ($20 billion in 2025 dollars). 

“Phillips later revealed that frequent lunch partner McClellan—who almost weekly made the trek from Norfolk to Washington that included a tête-à-tête with Phillips—had taken the lead in drawing the partition map, which is roughly how the two were subsequently split as approved in 1998 by the STB. Crucial to approval was Morgan’s demand for preserving rail-to-rail competition that resulted in competitive access at the Port of New York, Philadelphia and Detroit through a jointly owned subsidiary, Conrail Shared Assets.” (Editor’s Note: At the time, Wilner was chief of staff to STB Vice Chairperson Gus Owen).

The post Don Phillips, Transportation Journalist, 83 appeared first on Railway Age.

The Port of Benton has achieved Class I track status for its Southern Connection, a 16-mile short line rail network that spans from the Union Pacific main line near the Columbia Center Mall in Kennewick, Wash., to the north end of the Horn Rapids Industrial Park in Richland, Wash., and is leased to Columbia Rail for management, maintenance, and operation.

This follows the completion of “major construction projects,” the Richmond, Wash.-based Port reported Sept. 22. Its rail line (see map, right) was acquired from the U.S. Department of Energy in 1998. The region’s industries are said to ship the second-highest tonnage of goods (primarily frozen fries and feed for local dairies) in the state—1.3 million tons annually—on the Port’s line.

Since 2015, the Port said it has invested “substantial resources” into revitalizing the track. The most recent improvements include the replacement of five road crossings and the installation of 3,400 new ties.

The Port also reported that it is in the process of contracting for a $9.56 million federal grant through the Rebuilding America Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program, now referred to as the 2025 Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program. Combined with $2.4 million in matching funds from the Port, the grant will support replacing approximately four miles of what it called “undersized, 75-plus-year-old track,” upgrading two additional crossings, and installing roughly 9,000 additional ties. The project was announced earlier this year. (Download details from the U.S. Department of Transportation award document below. Search Port of Benton.)

These upgrades, scheduled to begin next summer and wrap up by the end of 2027, will allow the track classification to move to Class 2 status, allowing train speeds to increase from 10 mph to up to 25 mph and “significantly improving safety for both trains and the public,” according to the Port, which noted that vehicle delays at crossings are expected to drop from more than 15 minutes to as little as four minutes.

“This investment marks a transformative moment for our region’s infrastructure,” Port of Benton Executive Director Diahann Howard said. “We’re not only improving safety and efficiency but also laying the groundwork for future economic growth.”

Additionally, the Port is following its Comprehensive Plan (scroll down to download), the Port of Benton and City of Richland Rail Master Plan, City of Richland/Port of Benton North Horn Rapids Area Master Plan, and Port of Benton Transportation Improvement Program to plan a rail intermodal facility or inland port on undeveloped industrial land in north Richland in partnership with the City of Richland  (scroll down to download rail intermodal facility plan). 

UP and BNSF serve the Port, which handles agricultural products, breakbulk, bulk, heavy lift, project cargo, and ro-ro (roll-on/roll-off).

The post Port of Benton Advances Short Line Track Projects appeared first on Railway Age.

On September 22, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) made an unprecedented announcement that its leadership was throwing its support behind the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. In return for the union’s support, UP and NS officials have stated that all SMART-TD members working in train and yardmaster service would be guaranteed a job for the length of their careers following the possible merger. It is the first time in history that a union has backed a major Class I merger of this size. 

In a press release, SMART-TD officials stated they believed that the guarantee not to furlough any members would reduce service disruptions following a consolidation, something that has haunted past mergers (including some of UP’s previous acquisitions). 

“This is a proud day for our members,” said SMART-TD President Jeremy R. Ferguson. “For generations, railroaders have worried about what mergers might mean for their jobs and whether or not they would be given the opportunity to reach retirement on the rail. Today, we can say with confidence that the biggest railroad and the biggest rail union in America are breaking new ground. We are protecting jobs, protecting families, and protecting the future of the U.S. supply chain.” 

UP CEO Jim Vena said that the deal with SMART-TD confirmed his previous assertion that no unionized employees would lose their jobs as a result of the merger. “When we announced our intent to create the first transcontinental railroad in America, I made a promise to protect the jobs of all unionized employees. Those who have a job when the merger is approved will continue to have one,” Vena said.

The post Union Backs UP-NS Merger appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Keith Andersen has joined PNW Railcars, Inc. (PNWR), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc., as Chief Commercial Officer.

He is responsible for driving revenue growth and strengthening operations at the full-service railcar leasing, maintenance, and management company headquartered in Portland, Ore.

Andersen, based in Chicago, has more than 30 years of experience in railcar leasing and operations, plus expertise spanning the full range of railcar asset types. He served previously as Senior Vice President of Sales for Wells Fargo – First Union Rail and spent much of his career in senior leadership roles, most notably as Executive Director of Sales and Leasing at Wells Fargo Rail and its predecessor organizations. Andersen holds an M.B.A. from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.

“We are thrilled to bring Keith on board at PNWR,” said Andy Vestergaard, CEO of PNWR. “Keith’s industry experience and long track record of commercial leadership will be a great benefit to us and our customers.”

The post PNWR Taps Andersen as CCO appeared first on Railway Age.

Two of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase for the week ending Sept. 20, 2025, compared with the same week in 2024, according to the AAR. They were grain, up 2,170 carloads, to 23,147; and metallic ores and metals, up 380 carloads, to 20,358. Commodity groups that posted decreases compared with the same week in 2024 included coal, down 3,112 carloads, to 60,029; miscellaneous carloads, down 1,644 carloads, to 8,634; and nonmetallic minerals, down 736 carloads, to 31,402.

For the first 38 weeks of 2025, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 8,423,372 carloads, up 2.2% from the same point last year; and 10,289,962 intermodal units, up 3.6% from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 38 weeks of 2025 was 18,713,334 carloads and intermodal units, an increase of 3.0% compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending Sept. 20, 2025, on nine reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 330,479 carloads, down 2.6% compared with the same week last year, and 366,778 intermodal units, down 1.2% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 697,257 carloads and intermodal units, down 1.8%. North American rail volume for the first 38 weeks of 2025 was 25,749,161 carloads and intermodal units, up 2.4% compared with 2024.

For the week ending Sept. 20, 2025, Canadian railroads reported 89,916 carloads, down 2.8%, and 72,704 intermodal units, up 4.2% from the same week last year. For the first 38 weeks of 2025, they reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 6,140,957 carloads, containers, and trailers, rising 2.1%.

Mexican railroads reported 11,954 carloads for the week ending Sept. 20, 2025, down 13.1% from the same week last year, and 12,006 intermodal units, down 0.2%. Their cumulative volume for the first 38 weeks of this year came in at 894,870 carloads and intermodal containers and trailers, a fall-off of 7.5% from the same point last year.

The post AAR: U.S. Rail Traffic Down in Week 38 appeared first on Railway Age.

Formed through the strategic merger of Triple Crown Services Company and Thoroughbred Direct Intermodal Services, Inc., TCSI is “delivering smarter, faster, and more flexible logistics solutions” across its network, NS said. This includes the operation of the Class I’s TCZU private container fleet with expanded service routes connecting Toledo and Mexico.

According to NS, TCSI ensures freight moves with precision from origin to destination. Whether it’s a short-haul delivery or a complex intermodal move, the NS team delivers with “agility and consistency,” the Class I noted.

With one point of contact and one trusted brand, customers benefit from a streamlined experience, NS said. TCSI eliminates complexity and confusion, making it easier to plan, track, and manage shipments. “With TCSI’s implementation of ModalView technology, we’re enhancing real-time visibility for street-level load tracking and accelerating access to critical documents. This combination allows us to fully onboard a customer and tender a load within a single day,” NS said.

From seasonal surges to specialized freight, TCSI flexes to meet demand, according to the Class I. NS’s network of motor carrier partners ensures the railroad is ready when customers need them most.

“We took the best of both legacy companies and created something stronger, so our customers can benefit from a more agile, responsive, and reliable supply chain partner,” said TCSI President Cheryl Trate.

Backed by NS’s rail network and powered by a customer-first mindset, TCSI is “helping shippers navigate today’s complex supply chain with confidence,” the Class I said.

“We’re not just delivering freight—we’re delivering operational efficiency, simplified logistics, and strategic value,” said Stefan Loeb, NS Vice President of Business Development and First and Final Mile Markets. “Triple Crown Services, Inc. is designed to make doing business with Norfolk Southern easier, faster, and more effective—so our customers can focus on growth, not complexity.”

In related news, NS recently announced that the Class I is ready to meet the demand of unexpected supply chain disruptions with a logistics network that is “built for stability, flexibility, and growth.”

“Intermodal freight isn’t just a passing trend; it’s a fundamental shift in how businesses build resilience. By combining the efficiency of rail with the flexibility of trucking, intermodal offers both cost and sustainability advantages while giving supply chains greater adaptability,” NS said.

According to Association of American Railroads (AAR) statistics, in the first half of 2025, U.S. intermodal volume climbed by 5.1% year over year—the third strongest start ever for the sector. That surge, NS says, underscores how businesses are rethinking their logistics strategies to capture efficiency and reliability at scale.

Norfolk Southern says it is well positioned with the most extensive intermodal network in North America. “We have partnerships with more than 50 inland, lake, sea, and river ports on the East Coast, and we have connections to Midwest hubs and fast-growing manufacturing regions, giving customers access to markets that matter most.”

To expand market reach, NS also works with other Class I rail partners to create innovative interline service products. The latest example leverages Union Pacific’s (UP) premier network to connect customers with key western and southern markets and NS’s modernized intermodal facilities in the Louisville area.

Through the Intermodal Service and Terminal Finder, businesses can see how NS’s strategic footprint aligns directly with areas of economic growth, “providing reach and resilience where it’s needed most.”

The value of NS, the Class I says, isn’t only in its trains and tracks. “It’s in the partnership we bring to customers. Norfolk Southern collaborates with businesses to develop tailored intermodal solutions, combining expertise, infrastructure, and customer-first service.

“We’ve invested heavily in technology-driven operations, from stack optimization to terminal and capacity management, to real-time tracking platforms that give customers full visibility and one central location for each shipment so they can operate with confidence and control.”

The post NS Introduces Triple Crown Services, Inc. appeared first on Railway Age.

The 87th St./Woodruff Station on the Metra Electric Line, which has been closed since December 2024 for a complete rehabilitation, will reopen on Oct. 6, Metra reported Sept. 23. It is the last of three Metra Electric (ME) stations renovated under one $33.9 million contract with IHC Construction of Elgin, Ill. (see map below). The project was funded through the Rebuild Illinois capital program.

According to the Chicago-based commuter railroad, the new station now has an enclosed, ADA-accessible street-level entrance and lobby with an elevator; new stairs and headhouse; new composite deck platform; and new lighting and signage. Similar work was completed at the 79th St./Chatham Station, which reopened in December 2024, and the 103rd St./Rosemoor Station, which reopened in March 2025.

Metra reported that the IHC Construction contract was awarded for all three stations in an aim to “carry out the work more efficiently,” and the work was staged so that no more than two of the stations were closed at a time.

The work was part of a multiyear, multimillion-dollar plan to reconstruct numerous stations on the line, including making them accessible to persons with disabilities, according to the railroad. Similar work was already completed at the 147th St./Sibley Blvd. and Homewood stations in 2024, and is under way at the 95th St./Chicago State University Station.

Although the 87th Street Station was built to be fully ADA accessible, the station may not always be accessible initially, Metra noted, because construction work at 95th Street “may require periodic track shifts and temporary, inaccessible boarding procedures during the midday Monday through Friday (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.).” Riders, it said, are advised to check the Service Alerts to verify that the station is accessible prior to travel.

“We want to thank the riders at all three of these stations for their patience and understanding as we worked to make them more welcoming, comfortable and accessible facilities,” Metra Executive Director/CEO Jim Derwinski said. “We are happy that our efforts to invest in our stations and promote transit ridership are starting to pay off.”

Separately, earlier this month and just days after the Surface Transportation Board granted Metra’s application for terminal trackage rights to continue commuter rail service over three Union Pacific-owned lines in Chicagoland, UP filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking compensation from Metra. Also, Siemens Mobility late last year announced that it will continue its efforts to “future-proof legacy rail networks across the country” by partnering with mission-critical wireless data network developer Ondas Networks to upgrade Metra’s legacy 900 MHz communications network with Siemens Mobility’s Airlink wireless networking equipment.

MTA Metro-North Railroad on Oct. 6 will launch what it is calling faster “super-express” trains on the Hudson Line between Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and New York City (download map below). The service introduction is part of the new railroad schedule that takes effect Oct. 5. These new trips were announced in New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2025 State of the State address. Initially projected to launch in 2026, Metro-North announced on Sept. 23 that work was completed ahead of schedule, allowing service to begin in October (watch announcement video above).

Metro-North is shortening five trips between Poughkeepsie and Grand Central to less than 90 minutes and one trip down to 95 minutes, which it said will deliver “the fastest trips ever between the two cities.”

The travel time for a non-express trip between Poughkeepsie and Grand Central can be up to 115 minutes, depending on the number of stops. The run time improvements cut travel times by as much as seven minutes one way compared with the current super-express train schedules, and by as much as 20 minutes one way compared with non-express trains. Click here for a schedule of “super-express” Hudson Line trains.

Adjustments to dozens of other trains, along with schedule optimization, resulted in clear paths for these Hudson Line Super Express trains to operate more efficiently, according to Metro-North. The commuter railroad’s team was said to have used specialized train-simulation software and in-depth analyses of GPS and signal data to create new timetables that shave up to seven minutes from some Hudson Line trains both into and out of New York. Additionally, improvements to Metro-North’s signaling infrastructure have allowed the railroad to increase train speeds and reduce the effect of speed restrictions along the Hudson Line, resulting in improved run times for some trains. 

“Thanks to these schedule improvements, riders can get where they need to go faster, while continuing to enjoy the safe, reliable service they expect from Metro-North,” Metro-North Railroad President Justin Vonashek said during the service announcement on Sept. 23. “These enhancements build on the railroad’s record-setting reliability with a systemwide on-time performance of 98%—and with more improvement work under way, this is only the beginning.”

Separately, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) this month announced that new 4,200-horsepower Siemens Charger locomotives received last year for testing have begun passenger service on Metro-North’s Hudson Line, “providing riders with even more reliable service while reducing airborne pollutants by 85%, all while producing 1,000 more horsepower than the current fleet.”

“Hurricane Sandy [in 2012] wasn’t as much of a wake-up call for the Port Authority as it was a reminder,” PANY/NJ reported Sept. 23 in a special website article. “Three years before the storm hit, the agency started incorporating sea level rise into its design and engineering plans. In 2009, it was a rudimentary approach, adding a foot across the board into blueprints, plans and calculations. By 2015, the Port Authority committed to a deeper understanding of the impacts of sea level rise at each of its facilities by weaving more customized, site-specific challenges into its plans.”

Now, on the 10th anniversary of those climate resilience design guidelines, the agency is looking back on new construction that it said has “quietly reshaped how its airports, seaport, bridges, tunnels, and transit system are built to withstand the future.” Railway Age reproduces the rest of the article below.

“Building codes are typically backwards looking, tending to protect against extreme weather conditions as they have historically occurred,” said Sarah Colasurdo, the Port Authority’s Climate Resilience Program Manager. “The challenge with climate change is that conditions aren’t static. They’re changing. And if we’re going to invest in assets that are meant to last decades, we have to design them for the conditions we expect in the future, not just the present.”

Those conditions have been changing for longer than many may realize. According to the New York City Panel on Climate Change, sea levels in and around New York have risen over 14 inches since 1900, about an average of 1.2 inches per decade. After the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy devastated the region in October 2012, the need for a more tailored approach became clear. Local scholars on that climate change panel developed more detailed and localized projections of sea level rise and storm surge. That gave the Port Authority the ability to customize solutions for its own facilities, many of which are located close to or directly on the water.

From the beginning, Colasurdo said, the idea was to weave resilience into any plans the agency had to update or upgrade its infrastructure. That meant building floodwalls, raising electrical systems, or installing pumps, barriers, or reinforced glass. Additionally, the projected sea level rise around a facility is adjusted for its expected service life. A building that could be decommissioned by 2030 may not be built to the same standards as one that’s expected to last another several decades.

“It’s an incremental approach. Every time we upgrade or repair something, we look at whether we can elevate it, protect it, or cost-effectively reduce future downtime from flooding. Over the course of decades, you end up touching every part of a facility. And every time you do, you make it stronger.” —Sarah Colasurdo, the Port Authority’s climate resilience program manager

That approach is visible across the region—though not always noticeable, by design. At PATH stations in Hoboken and Jersey City, flood barriers can be rolled out, sealed watertight, and then stowed away to keep trains moving after a storm, with headhouses and entrances featuring reinforced aquarium glass. At LaGuardia Airport, electrical infrastructure has been raised, and airfield pumps are in place to remove water quickly. Even in airport terminals the Port Authority did not build or does not operate, its guidelines have been incorporated, making them more protected than they would have been under standard building codes alone.

The work doesn’t always look dramatic, and that’s by design, Colasurdo said.

“If it’s done well, these measures blend into the urban fabric,” she said. “Most people won’t even realize they’re there.”

Some facilities, she added, are designed to live with water, built to accept that certain areas may flood without significantly disrupting operations. That includes parts of the agency’s seaport complexes, which rely on their proximity to the water to function.

The guidelines also connect to the Port Authority’s broader climate commitments. In 2018, the agency became the first U.S. transportation agency to adopt the Paris climate agreement, and three years later pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Since then, the agency has launched a multitude of programs to electrify its vehicle fleet, invest in renewable energy, and work with its partners to cut emissions across the region.

The resilience guidelines form another arm of the Port Authority’s climate strategy. Reducing emissions may slow climate change, but preparing for the impacts already locked in is essential as well, Colasurdo said.

“It might look like a big price tag, but the cost of inaction is usually much higher,” Colasurdo said.

The 10th anniversary of the guidelines arrives with the Port Authority far better prepared for the storms ahead, Colasurdo said, thanks to the proverbial blueprint laid out 10 years ago and the mindset of proactive readiness that they’ve inspired.

“We are much more able today to withstand extreme storm surge events and get back up and running quickly,” Colasurdo said. “Our goal working in resilience and sustainable design is not just to reduce our own carbon footprint, but to ensure our facilities can keep running safely and smoothly following the next big weather event.”

• Hurricane Sandy, Ten Years Later
• PANY/NJ: Prep for Hurricane Season Is Year-Round Effort
• Arcadis lands NYCT post-Sandy work
• NJ Transit gets disaster relief funds
• Guest Editorial: Flood-proofing; coal’s future
• Hurricane’s impact dampens U.S. freight traffic
• PATH again links Hoboken and Manhattan
• Hurricane Sandy devastates NY/NJ-area passenger rail systems

The post Transit Briefs: Metra, MTA Metro-North, PANY/NJ appeared first on Railway Age.

To meet demand, BNSF recently added new intermodal services providing the needed speed and efficiency, and all thanks to collaboration with Patriot Rail, the Utah Inland Port Authority and CSX, allowing us to immediately deliver that value.  

“By continuing to create more opportunities to convert over-the-road freight to rail, we provide a cost-effective, direct solution to bring freight to the dynamic and growing areas,” Jon Gabriel, BNSF’s Group Vice President of Consumer Products, said. “Partnering with other transportation providers allows us to meet that need sooner than later.” 

Here are some of the ways we’re helping to bring our customers—and their customers, the consumer—efficient, reliable intermodal services across our network and beyond. 

In July, we announced our new expedited intermodal service from Los Angeles to Houston that shaves two days from previous transit times. The new third-day service from the Hobart terminal in Los Angeles to the Pearland facility in the Houston area is designed to meet the needs of customers that require faster service, especially for those currently draying intermodal loads from Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston. 

With expanded capacity and improved transit times out of Southern California across BNSF’s busy Southern Transcon route, this new service brings more capacity and consistency for both current and prospective customers. 

Also in July, in partnership with Patriot Rail and the Utah Inland Port Authority, BNSF officially opened our new intermodal facility in Salt Lake City. This facility will be used in conjunction with our new service between California and SLC.  

“This new facility is an exciting opportunity to improve our capacity and efficiency as the industry’s intermodal leader, providing more flexible, competitive options for our customers,” said BNSF Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Tom Williams. “This new facility will strengthen our supply chains from the West Coast to Utah and beyond.” 

The 43-acre site is managed in close coordination with Patriot Rail, which will provide terminal operations and infrastructure support. 

Western railroad BNSF is partnering with CSX in the East to offer several new intermodal services. These will provide customers with seamless, efficient, coast-to-coast solutions and will include: 

• Coast-to-coast, direct domestic intermodal services between Southern California and Charlotte, North Carolina, and Jacksonville, Fla. 

• Service between Phoenix, Arizona, and Atlanta, aiming to convert over-the-road freight to rail through a seamless product (between Phoenix and Flagstaff, two new 10,000-foot sidings will further support this growing market by enabling more efficient meet/pass operations on the route connecting to BNSF’s Southern Transcon).

• Direct international intermodal services between the Port of New York and New Jersey, and Norfolk, Va., and Kansas City.

This collaboration between BNSF and CSX is a direct example of delivering immediate value to customers with faster, more reliable service while maintaining the flexibility and optionality needed for effective supply chains. 

Covering 32,500 miles, BNSF is the largest intermodal railroad, handling more than 1 million additional intermodal loads annually than our competitors. With that reputation, and a desire to grow with our customers, these new services promise to build on that history of success. 

The post BNSF Intermodal: We’re Going Where Markets Are Growing appeared first on Railway Age.

The Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Railway Business Women (NARBW) is marking 100 years of empowering women in rail with a celebration, to be held Nov. 1 at the Palos Hills Country Club in Orland Park, Ill. The event will feature a commemorative program, dinner, dancing, and opportunities to connect with industry colleagues, family, and friends.

In the early 20th century, women working in rail offices were often excluded from professional spaces and advancement opportunities. One defining moment came when Hazel Cornell saw a sign at Chicago Union Depot that read “FOR RAILROAD MEN ONLY.” In response, she co-founded what would become the NARBW—creating a space where women in rail could find support, recognition, and community. Her vision sparked a movement that continues today in chapters across the country.

Founded in 1925 as the second NARBW chapter, the Chicago Chapter has been a driving force for mentorship, leadership, and lifelong friendships. Once nearly 1,000 members strong, the chapter faced steep decline as rail jobs shifted. But in 2015, a small group of determined women reignited its legacy. Today, with more than 50 active members, the chapter continues to thrive.

NARBW’s motto—Connecting, Learning & Giving—is more than words; it’s a lived experience in Chicago. The chapter hosts guest speakers and social events that foster connection and growth, offers a scholarship program to support learning, and engages in community service projects that reflect a spirit of giving. From professional development to charitable outreach, the Chicago Chapter embodies the values that have guided NARBW for a century.

“This centennial is more than a celebration—it’s a tribute to the resilience, leadership and camaraderie that define our chapter,” says Jasmine Manley, President of the Chicago Chapter. “We’re excited to honor our legacy and look ahead to the next 100 years.”

Following are the details for the Centennial Celebration:

• Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025
• Palos Hills Country Club, 13100 Southwest Highway, Orland Park, Ill.
• $100 per guest (includes dinner, dancing, and open bar). Pay via Zelle or PayPal: narbwchicagotreasurer@gmail.com (reference “100th ANNV”)
• Coming from out of town? Stay at DoubleTree by Marriott – Alsip.
  • Group Code: NAR
  • Rate: $157.07 per night
  • Dates: Oct. 31–Nov. 1.  Book by Sept. 30.
  • Free shuttle to/from Midway Airport (advance request required).

Looking beyond the Centennial Celebration, NARBW members will gather again for the National Convention, taking place in Roanoke, Va., on May 1-2, 2026. This annual convention offers members from across the country a chance to connect, share ideas, and shape the future of women in rail.

NARBW is a supporting organization for the 2025 Railway Age / RT&S Women in Rail Conference, to be held Oct. 15-16 at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg in Schaumburg, Ill.

The post NARBW Chicago Marks 100th Anniversary appeared first on Railway Age.

In mid-September, Sound Transit took a significant step toward opening the final portion of its 2 Line. The first Link light rail vehicle crossed the I-90 floating bridge under its own power overnight on September 8, kicking off test runs on the line expected to open in early 2026. This marks a historic milestone for both Sound Transit and the transit industry – it was the first time light rail trains under power have operated across a floating bridge anywhere in the world.

During the historic test, a single train crossed the Homer M. Hadley bridge several times at increasing speeds, from approximately five miles per hour up to the full operating speed of 55 mph. The test was conducted in darkness so crews could observe and document expected electrical arcing. Arcing between the overhead catenary and the vehicle is typical in this phase of testing. 

The next step in the process is rigorous testing, which includes live wire and signal testing, which will be completed over the next few months. The opening of full 2 Line service is expected in early 2026.

—Bob Gallegos

The post Sound Transit Tests Floating Bridge appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

A runaway Montreal, Maine & Atlantic train with five locomotives and 75 loaded DOT-111 tank cars carrying volatile Bakken crude rolled into Lac-Mégantic and derailed on July 13, 2013. Much of the city center was destroyed and some 2,000 people were evacuated. 

The government of Canada on May 11, 2018, confirmed that it would fund 60% of the construction costs of the new Lac-Mégantic rail bypass, estimated at C$133 million at the time. The government of Quebec confirmed that it would fund 40% of that amount. The project will be managed by Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC). The Class I railroad will also own the bypass. Canadian Pacific, which merged with Kansas City Southern in 2023 to form CPKC, acquired the Central Maine & Quebec Railway (formerly the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic) in December 2019.

“Following extensive environmental consultations, Transport Canada and the rail operator [CPKC] reached a key milestone with the submission of the application to the CTA,” the government reported Sept. 20. The application includes environmental studies, consultation reports, as well as a well monitoring plan. These documents will be made available online as part of the public consultation process, which will be launched shortly, according to the government.

The project’s application was filed with the CTA in accordance with section 98 of the Canada Transportation Act. “This section states that, on application by the railway company, the CTA may grant approval to construct a railway line if it considers that the location of the railway line is reasonable, taking into consideration requirements for railway operations and services and the interests of the localities that will be affected by the line,” the government of Canada said. “To help determine whether a location is reasonable, the CTA takes into consideration the views of the communities, individuals and groups that will be affected by the railway line. The application submitted to the CTA for approval includes numerous mitigation measures to minimize the project’s impacts on the community and environment. Transport Canada and the rail operator have added environmental mitigation measures that were presented at the public consultation on hydrogeological [the study of the distribution and movement of water both on and below the Earth’s surface, as well as the impact of human activity on water availability and conditions] in the fall of 2022.”

The selected route for the bypass project “removes the rail right-of-way from downtown Lac-Mégantic and reduces the number of buildings near the railway,” according to the government (see map, top, and watch video, below). It was recognized “as the most advantageous one by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement du Québec (BAPE) and as having the least impact on agricultural land by the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec (CPTAQ),” according to the government.

The bypass project will establish two yard tracks in the Lac-Mégantic industrial park to allow rail operations from Nantes and Frontenac to be relocated to that location, “thereby maximizing rail safety,” according to the government, which noted that this component was announced by the Minister of Transport in 2019, and is in response to the request from the mayors and the community of Lac-Mégantic.

Construction of the bypass will begin once all regulatory approvals have been obtained, including from the CTA. The government said it “maintains an open dialogue and is working with all stakeholders to complete this project.”

“We will remove the railroad tracks from downtown Lac-Mégantic,” said Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. “The bypass project is becoming increasingly concrete now that the project’s application was officially submitted to CTA. All the information required to assess the project and start the public consultation process is now available to the CTA. We will be ready to go as soon as the application is approved by the CTA.”

The Coalition des Victimes Collatérales (CVC) on Sept. 22 reported issuing an open letter to Steven MacKinnon opposing the proposed Lac-Mégantic rail bypass. The group said “the project lacks social acceptability, with strong opposition from local citizens and municipalities.” According to CVC, “the bypass fails to improve rail safety and instead increases risks, including higher derailment probability, faster train speeds, and significant threats to drinking water.” Additionally, CVS said the letter “highlights irreversible environmental damage—destruction of wetlands, forests, and streams. It also denounces ballooning costs, which have grown from [C]$133 million in 2019 to over [C]$1 billion in 2025.” CVC said it “demands that Transport Canada immediately suspend the project, commission an independent safety and environmental review, and consider safer, less destructive alternatives.”

• Report: Quebec Court of Appeal Upholds Ruling That CP Was ‘Not Liable’ for Lac-Mégantic Disaster
• Two Essential Agreements Signed for Lac-Mégantic Rail Bypass
• Lac-Mégantic Bypass Project Proving Problematic
• Lac-Mégantic Bypass Work Continues
• Bypass Build Slated for Lac-Mégantic
• New rail line to bypass Lac-Mégantic center
• Railroad won’t face criminal charges in Lac-Mégantic disaster

The post Lac-Mégantic Rail Bypass Project Advances appeared first on Railway Age.

The students representing the university were Elijah Davis, Emma Lovely-Gonzalez, Sophie Perrigin and Bradley Sills. This year’s case, “A Port of Clearview,” addressed the real-world challenge of congestion at a hypothetical port, asking them to develop solutions for mitigating gate congestion while balancing operating and customer costs.

In addition to MSU, IANA’s other competing scholarship schools included: Cal Poly Maritime Academy, College of Charleston, Georgia Southern, University of Arkansas, University of Houston, University of North Texas, SUNY Maritime, University of Maryland, University of North Florida, University of Tennessee, Knoxville and University of Wisconsin, Superior. IANA’s scholarship awards support curriculum designed to attract students to intermodal transportation and related careers.

Since the Scholarship Program’s inception in 2007, IANA has awarded more than $6.0 million to support students in university programs focused on freight and intermodal transportation. The Program funds tuition, student research projects on intermodal issues, and curriculum development.

“We are extremely proud of our team. The competition brings together great students from leading universities, so for Mississippi State to win in our first year as a scholarship school and event participant was especially exciting and meaningful,” said Dr. Chris Boone, the university’s associate professor of supply chain logistics. “We’re very grateful to IANA for this opportunity and for their commitment to supporting students and developing the next generation of intermodal talent.”

“We’re thrilled to congratulate Mississippi State University on their well-deserved win. The team’s creativity and commitment really stood out,” said IANA President and CEO Anne Reinke. “It is inspiring to see the next generation from all of the IANA scholarship schools bringing such energy and fresh ideas to our industry.”

The post MSU Takes Top Spot at IANA Case Competition appeared first on Railway Age.

Philadelphia’s SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) is again operating its former level of service, despite recent threats of severe cutbacks. Riders are paying significantly more, but they are not forced to accept significantly less service for the money. A deal that prevented the cuts allows money previously dedicated to capital funding to be used for operations.

There could be long-term consequences from such a spending shift, but SEPTA did not appear to have a choice. With the fiscal cliff that many transit providers are facing today, the potentially Faustian bargain that SEPTA made to keep going at current service levels could become the industry standard, whether anybody likes it or not.

Railway Age has been covering the SEPTA story in depth lately, and several reporters have pitched in. The Fiscal Cliff that has been haunting the transit industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in ridership and revenue that it caused has placed SEPTA and many other providers in difficult financial straits, which threatened a large increase in fares on top of historically deep service cuts. They began on Aug. 24. At that time (updated immediately after Labor Day), I reported the first set of bus-service cuts and impending drastic rail service cuts. Dozens of bus routes were eliminated, and service was reduced on many others. There was also a plan to reduce local rail service by 20% and cut regional rail service in half. That was to be only the beginning. After the New Year, five regional rail lines, two trolley routes and a subway line would be eliminated entirely, along with more reduction in bus service. To add insult to injury for many riders, fares were slated to rise by more than 20% (21.5% in many instances). For example, the base fare would increase from $2.50 to $2.90 per ride.

According to SEPTA, the agency faced a $213 million deficit, believing that only a steep fare increase and drastic service cuts could fill the gap. On July 21, Railway Age Senior Editor Carolina Worrell reported ridership increases on the system, and that SEPTA had instituted cost-cutting measures. These factors reduced the deficit somewhat, but they weren’t enough.

Meanwhile, advocates for riders sued SEPTA to stop the fare increase and service reductions. As we reported on Sept. 2, Judge Sierra Thomas-Street of the Court of Common Pleas (Pennsylvania’s name for a court of general jurisdiction) granted temporary relief that the plaintiffs had requested. The fare increase and the service cuts (including on rail) that were supposed to take effect after Labor Day were put on hold. A hearing regarding permanent relief was held on Sept. 4. Executive Editor Marybeth Luczak reported on Sept. 8 that the judge had issued a ruling after the hearing. Service would be restored to the level that had run before the first cuts were made Aug. 24, but the 21.5% fare increase, as SEPTA had requested, would take effect Sept. 14. According to SEPTA, it would take until then to reassemble train crews, bus drivers and other employees for the return of the previous level of service.

Transferring funds originally earmarked for capital spending over to the operating side is a practice that managers do not like, and neither does the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Yet it has become a relatively widespread practice among transit agencies. In SEPTA’s case, it was the practice that allows the agency to keep offering the level of service to which the riders have become accustomed, for the next two years anyway. Luczak reported: “According to CBS, Gov. [Josh] Shapiro ‘directed PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll to flex $394 million’ from the Public Transit Trust Fund and directed SEPTA ‘to address its structural challenges and report to PennDOT every 120 days the steps taken and progress made to increase efficiencies within the system.’ ‘This is not a solution,’ said [SEPTA General Manager Scott] Sauer, according to 6ABC. ‘This is a band-aid that will get us through a couple of years, but at the expense of future capital programming.’”

The request was necessary because of ‘the ongoing state budget impasse,’ according to 6ABC.” Shapiro, a Democrat, supported a deal that would fund transit, as did the Pennsylvania House, where Democrats hold a slim majority. Republicans hold a more substantial majority in the Pennsylvania Senate, and they balked at funding transit instead of increasing the highway appropriation. So, there was no funding deal.

SEPTA’s situation is not unique. Many transit agencies, including the ones that operate sizeable rail networks, are facing financial woes as time moves them closer to the Fiscal Cliff. In the summer of 2024, I reported on the impending fiscal crunch that many providers were about to face, considering the recent COVID-19 pandemic and changes in commuting and other riding patterns. While local media reported on the plight of local agencies, this remains an underreported story at the national level.

On Dec. 5, 2024, I reported on SEPTA’s woes at the time, and on a 7.5% fare increase that had gone into effect. The agency’s money problems were serious then and held the likely prospect of getting worse. At that time, I reported: “So, at the very least, a fare increase became necessary, with the possibility of severe service cuts, too.” Luczak reported the story as it unfolded through the fall. On Sept. 6, she reported that the agency was considering a fare increase. It would be a relatively mild one, with the base fare staying at $2.50, the cash price at the time, but eliminating discounts for using a stored-value card and other changes. It was slated to take effect Dec. 1 and raise $14.4 million in annual revenue.

Before that increase could be approved by the SEPTA Board and before hearings were held (they were scheduled for Dec.13), Luczak reported 30 days earlier, on Nov. 13, that “SEPTA had a bigger shock in mind for its riders. Fares would rise by 21.5% on top of the previously proposed 7.5%, and service cuts of 20% across all modes (including regional rail and streetcars both in the city and interurban-style lines in nearby suburbs) that would take effect early in 2025, after the required hearings had been held.” Thus, the SEPTA story has been developing for more than a year, the large fare increase is now in effect, and the reprieve that riders got last year ended up lasting for about nine months.

In a statement concerning this year’s fare hike and the restoration of service, both scheduled for Sept. 14, SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer thanked the riders for their understanding and said that the fight for long-term funding continues: “While we restored full service, I want to be clear that we still don’t have a long-term solution to the funding crisis that’s at the heart of it all. For the short term, we’ve received permission to transfer funds that were set aside to replace or upgrade aging equipment and infrastructure. But to guarantee the future of public transit in our region, we will continue the fight to secure the resources our system needs to meet those expectations.”

Many major transit providers are facing similar problems (not to mention smaller agencies that only run buses) and face a hard choice. Get the money from somewhere or cut service drastically and make the riders pay much more money for much less mobility. But is that really a choice, or is the course of action determined by circumstances beyond the transit agencies’ control, or even the control of elected officials, many of whom do not ride transit and do not necessarily understand the needs of the riders who depend on it?

Some places, like New Jersey and the New York City area, have raised some taxes and fees to help pay for transit, at least for the next three or four years. Other places made attempts to reach similar deals, but they fell through (Pennsylvania is an example). The analogous situation is a family that has been saving money to make major improvements on their house (a capital investment), but the family income has decreased, and they need to use that money for food, heat and other necessities. The home improvements will just have to wait, and the folks facing such a situation can only hope that the emergency will be over before too long. It appears that transit providers must act similarly during the current emergency. They know that people need to get to their jobs and to other places, and not everybody has a private vehicle available for the purpose. They also know (or should know) that the local economy in many places, especially in the larger cities, depends on having viable transit.

Government agencies like the FTA disfavor using capital dollars for operating purposes, because the practice detracts from efforts to keep the systems in a state of good repair. Managers don’t like the idea, either, and some rider-advocates are concerned about the same issues. The situations that transit providers are now facing can also damage those providers’ financial ratings. Luczak reported on the SEPTA situation on Sept. 8: “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.’”

The memorandum from Moody’s attached to the report explained the downgrade “SEPTA is currently under significant operating stress linked to uncertainty around increased state transit funding and an Aug. 29 court ruling that prevented the agency from implementing a 21% fare increase and further service cuts. These changes were part of SEPTA’s plan to balance an estimated 13% ($213 million) budget gap left unfilled by the Commonwealth’s budget impasse. If the injunction becomes permanent and the commonwealth does not provide additional funding, then SEPTA would have to rely on reserves to balance its budget, resulting in a stark decline in liquidity.”

The Moody’s report also summarized the Ratings Outlook: “The negative outlook reflects SEPTA’s sizeable structural budget gap that will be difficult to resolve without further financial support from the Commonwealth or significant adjustments to operations. In the event the court ruling is reversed and SEPTA enacts fare increases and service cuts, the resulting ridership losses could create persistent budget gaps that weaken operations, asset quality and metrics over time.” Moody’s also mentioned factors that could lead to future upgrades, or to more downgrades in the future.

It appears that the transit agencies are between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Rriders, especially those who depend on transit and whose jobs help keep the local economy going, are in an even worse position. Worse yet, the federal government does not appear supportive of transit, which increases the pressure on transit providers and local and state-level elected officials to come up with a means to keep the local transit going with a reasonable level of service.

If a “good result” for the agencies and for the riders means a strong level of service without requiring those riders to pay significantly more for their transit, we can’t look forward to many “good results,” possibly not any. The question then becomes how to mitigate the damage to the greatest extent possible. “Flexing” capital dollars over to the operating side has its difficulties, but at least it can allow the riders to have as much mobility as possible. If that’s not the bottom line for transit everywhere, it probably should be.

Gov. Shapiro’s act of releasing the capital funds for SEPTA’s operations will have some negative consequences, but probably not as severe as the repercussions that drastic service cuts would have brought to Philadelphia and its surrounding area. It’s not easy for many transit riders to withstand such a large fare increase, but at least they still have their transit. They would have been much worse off without it. Similar dramas will play out in other cities soon, and we’ll be here to report on them.

The post SEPTA’s Faustian Bargain appeared first on Railway Age.

According to the USDOT, the NOFO (download below) includes approximately $2.4 billion of the $4 billion the Federal Railroad Administration de-obligated in August from the California High-Speed Rail project, which it said will “now be reinvested into successful projects, critical infrastructure upgrades, and rail safety.” The California High-Speed Rail Authority is suing the POTUS 47 Administration for the $4 billion funding pull-back.

The “new National Railroad Partnership Program,” administered by the FRA, will fund projects that improve safety, including grade crossing safety, or that reduce the state-of-good-repair backlog or otherwise improve performance, the USDOT said.

The FRA is reissuing the NOFO for fiscal year (FY) 2024 and adding funding for the FY 2025 National Railroad Partnership Program. The FY 2024 NOFO was originally published last September as the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program, and the USDOT said that the reissued NOFO includes several important changes, including:

• “The repeal of unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements.”
• “Emphasizing grade crossing safety projects within the program.”
• “Supporting projects that align with the Administration’s focus on the American family and ensuring a more seamless travel experience, such as adding mothers’ rooms, expanding waiting areas, adding new family restrooms, creating children’s play areas, and other projects improving overall travel for families in U.S. intercity passenger rail stations.”

Eligible National Railroad Partnership Program applicants include:  

• a State.
• a group of States.
• an Interstate Compact.
• a public agency or publicly chartered authority established by one or more States.
• a political subdivision of a State.
• Amtrak, acting on its own behalf or under a cooperative agreement with one or more States.
• a Federally recognized Indian Tribe.  
• any combination of the entities described above.  

Applications are due no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on Jan. 7, 2026, and FRA will provide technical assistance to potential applicants prior to the deadline.

Meanwhile, the USDOT also obligated four grants totaling more than $42 million to fund rail safety projects on the Brightline Florida corridor. The grants, the oldest of which was issued three years ago, are a part of a “backlog” of more than 3,200 “unobligated grants,” and support installing safety fencing, grade crossing upgrades, and a trespassing alert system, according to the Department.

The four grants include:

1. $24,934,138 for the East Coast Corridor Trespassing and Intrusion Mitigation Project. Announced in August 2022, the RAISE grant went to the Florida Department of Transportation for improvements to 330 highway/rail grade crossings along 195 miles of corridor, including fencing, crossing delineators, crisis support signage, and other intrusion prevention mitigations, according to the USDOT.
2. $1,648,000 for a Trespassing Identification and Classification System. Announced in September 2023, the grant was under the CRISI Grant Program for FY22. “The project will advance a technology that will provide real-time alerts and aggregate data to generate heat-maps of trespassing and potential collision events on the Florida East Coast Railway right-of-way from Miami to Cocoa,” USDOT said.
3. $15,440,000 for the Broward County Sealed Corridor Project. Announced in June 2023, the funding will be used to increase safety at 21 grade crossings along the Brightline/Florida East Coast Railway corridor with additional crossing gates and delineators, according to the USDOT.
4. $150,000 for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office “to support overtime costs for targeted enforcement of pedestrian trespassing at identified hot spots,” the USDOT reported. 

“Under [U.S. Transportation] Secretary [Sean P.] Duffy’s direction, the Department of Transportation is working diligently to accelerate the distribution of these long-overdue funds and address core infrastructure projects,” the USDOT said. 

• USDOT Approves $3.2B for 180 Infrastructure Grants

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U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) alongside U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and 41 additional cosponsors (32 original) in mid-February reintroduced the Freight RAILCAR (Rail Assets Investment to Launch Commercial Activity Revitalization ) Act, bipartisan legislation backed by the Railway Supply Institute (RSI) and the Rail Security Alliance (RSA) that would “encourage the replacement and modernization of the U.S. freight railcar fleet.” Now, Senators Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) have introduced a companion bill, S. 2758. The legislation’s intent, supporters say, “would lead to a renewed investment in higher capacity, fuel-efficient freight railcar manufacturing in the United States.” It would “provide a nonrefundable 10% tax credit to help offset the costs to replace or upgrade existing railcars to improve fuel efficiency or capacity. ” 

The current North American railcar fleet comprises more than 1.6 million railcars, with roughly 20% in storage.

“The companion bill marks the first time the Freight RAILCAR Act has been introduced in the Senate,” said RSI President Jim Riley. “We encourage Congress to pass this vital legislation, which will encourage investment in the modernization of the North American railcar fleet, improve sustainability, and support American manufacturing jobs.”

The Freight RAILCAR Act of 2025 (H.R. 1200) debuted in 2020 (H.R. 8082), and was reintroduced in 2021 (H.R. 2289), 2022 (H.R. 7902), and 2023 (H.R. 838). In all these instances, the legislation went nowhere and did not produce a companion Senate bill. The Act would provide a nonrefundable 10% tax credit for the replacement or modification of existing railcars over a three-year period. The credit is limited to 1,000 new freight cars per taxpayer, and existing railcars must have been in service during the 48 months prior to enactment.

“What we need to see is an equipment cycle driven by demand, not by tax credits or congestion or poor service—those never end well,” commented Railway Age Financial Editor David Nahass in February. “It seems odd that the RAILCAR Act would be re-proposed while the issues around tariffs for Canada and Mexico remain so unsettled. With more than 90% of the railcars manufactured in North America being produced outside the U.S., it feels like the Illinois Congressional team should take some time to read the room before proposing tone-deaf legislation. Perhaps their effort would be better spent by working on ensuring carveouts for railcar and railcar component manufacturing from the proposed blanket tariffs applied against Canada and Mexico and from the steel and aluminum tariffs currently being proposed. There is zero chance that the proposed legislation causes a pivot to increase railcar production in the U.S. at this time.”
According to RSI, the Freight RAILCAR Act:

• “[E]ncourages greater investment by introducing time-limited tax credits to offset costs associated with replacing or modernizing railcars that are outdated. Due to modern manufacturing methods, innovative new materials, and improved safety standards, new railcars have significant safety and efficiency improvements, which increases reliability across the board.”
• Supports environmental sustainability by “encouraging the replacement of older railcars with new, more efficient ones.” If just one-third of the nearly 300,000 outdated hopper cars were replaced by higher capacity railcars, RSA said, 4.3 million gallons of diesel fuel would be saved in the first year alone.
• “[S]upports supply chain reliability and the critical movement of essential goods and services on the U.S. rail interchange system every day.”
• Provides economic benefits. “The freight rail supply industry is a key contributor to the economies of the U.S. as seen in its 240,000 American jobs and $75 billion GDP in 2023 alone,” RSA reported. “The Act will spur job growth within the freight rail manufacturing industry, ensuring thousands of family-wage jobs are sustained and new opportunities are created.”

The Freight RAILCAR Act was reintroduced on Feb. 11 and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means on the same day.

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