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New York City-based STV on Feb. 19 reported launching a 2026-28 strategic plan that outlines how it will “sharpen its focus, expand in high-growth markets and geographies, and evolve how it delivers value to clients as infrastructure demands continue to accelerate across North America.”

The new plan builds on the 2023–2025 strategy, according to the firm that advises, plans, designs, engineers, and delivers projects in the transportation, buildings, water and facilities sectors. It also reflects “the changing infrastructure landscape, including rising power demand, supply chain reorganization and changing expectations on infrastructure-focused professional services companies,” STV reported.

The plan is said to center on the following strategic priorities:

• “Expand STV’s Business by focusing growth in high-demand markets and geographies, developing capabilities in power services and strengthening private-sector client relationships.
• “Elevate STV’s People by investing in training and skills that prepare team members to solve complex challenges now and for the future.
• “Evolve STV’s Operations through harnessing technology, refining project delivery methods and accelerating schedules.”

For more on the plan and how it will help position STV, read CEO Greg Kelly’s commentary here.

Separately, the firm earlier this month appointed Jerry Jannetti as President of Transportation South.

• STV Launches ‘Revamped’ Advisory Services Practice
• STV Opens Jacksonville Office
• Valley Metro Selects STV to Assess Environmental Design Across Rail System

Brandt on Feb. 18 reported teaming with On-Site Services to help improve rail operator access to parts and service for Brandt R5 Power Unit railcar movers across the continental U.S.

Based in Fort Worth, Tex., On-Site Services is a nationwide mobile maintenance provider for Class I and II railroads, as well as the gas, oil, and utility industries. The company’s mobile repair “minimizes downtime for operators and provides service to remote locations and on machines that are too difficult to transport for repair,” according to Brandt, which is headquartered in Regina, Saskatchewan, and services markets in Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

“We’re excited to partner with On-Site Services to back our industry-leading R5 Power Units with service that comes right to operators, wherever they’re located,” said Russell Solomon, Brandt Director of Sales-US-Wholegoods-Sales. “Brandt and On-Site are a great partnership, because we share a commitment to maintenance, safety, and customer service.”

“We’ve enjoyed working on Brandt Power Units for more than 15 years—from the very first models to the R5s,” said Jeremy Thompson, General Manager of On-Site Services. “With the intertwining of our customer base, partnering with Brandt just makes sense.”

• On the Rocks
• Brandt Expands Material Handling Division Across Canada
• Brandt Shows R5 Power Unit on Exhibition Floor

The post Supply Side: STV, Brandt appeared first on Railway Age.

Through its Responder Incident Training (RIT) program, CSX in 2025 completed 75 training sessions and equipped 5,645 first responders with the skills and knowledge needed to handle railroad-related emergencies, the Class I railroad recently reported, sharing a specially produced video (see above).

The RIT program “provides first responders, emergency managers, and public safety officials with hands-on experience and critical insights into rail incident response,” according to CSX. Training is said to focus on rail equipment familiarization, hazardous materials awareness, and coordinated emergency response, which fosters “stronger preparedness and collaboration at the local level.”

The railroad in 2025 it introduced a training locomotive, described as “a dedicated asset that provides first responders with realistic, hands-on learning opportunities.” The unit is said to help users better understand “locomotive systems and the challenges of incident response.”

“Safety is at the core of everything we do at CSX,” CSX Director of Hazardous Materials Joe Taylor said. “Through the RIT program, we’re proud to share our expertise and work alongside first responders to ensure they are well-prepared to protect their communities, our employees, and our network in the event of a rail emergency.”

In a related development, CSX TRANSFLO and the Beauharnois Fire Department recently held an emergency response drill in Quebec (see social media post below).

CSX TRANSFLO & the Beauharnois Fire Department teamed up for an emergency response drill in #Quebec. The exercise focused on enhancing #safety procedures & collaboration with local #FirstResponders, underscoring our commitment to protecting our employees, customers, &… pic.twitter.com/0oomK1YIQ4

• For CSX, $670MM Power Upgrade Order
• CSX 4Q, Full-Year ’25: ‘Challenging Year’

“Despite a year of unusual market dynamics,” BNSF’s agriculture business—from field crops to fertilizer to renewable fuels—wrapped up 2025 “with some notable achievements,” the railroad recently reported in the Rail Talk section of its website.

Corn volumes reached an “all-time annual record” and were the most since 2018, according to BNSF. “All-time annual volume records” were also broken for oil seeds/meals and ethanol.

However, “[n]o one could have predicted the trade situation that unfolded in 2025, especially with soybeans,” noted the railroad, which transports them annually from the heart of America to Pacific Northwest (PNW) export facilities. “For five consecutive months, no soybeans were exported from the U.S. to China, the world’s largest market. That hasn’t happened in at least three decades.”

While 2025 “was another great year for soybean production,” BNSF Assistant Vice President of Ag Products Marketing Matt White said, “without demand for soybean exports out of the PNW, the market needed to pivot on where soybeans needed to be shipped.”

Soybean export demand moved to the Gulf, according to the railroad, which shifted “a significant number” of shuttle trains south to the Gulf ports in September and October.

“Shout out to our operations team for handling these additional trains,” said Angela Caddell, BNSF Group Vice President of the Agricultural and Energy Business Unit. “This is way beyond what they would typically move, but they stepped up and handled the challenge extremely well.”

According to BNSF, PNW export demand resumed in late fall, and the railroad posted the highest number of PNW export deliveries in November and December since 2020.

BNSF also reported that more than a dozen new facilities opened along its lines in 2025. Among them:

• In Hager City, Wis., “[a] former rail-loading frac sand site was transformed into a rail-loading grain terminal, offering producers year-round access to our extensive network,” the railroad reported. “Operations began last spring, enabling ALCIVIA, a member-owned agricultural and energy co-op, to move grain even during winter months when other terminals are closed.”
• “In July, Central Valley Ag opened a new facility [in Courtland, Kans.] that includes a 3.5-million-gallon fertilizer plant and a grain shuttle with direct access to our rail network,” BNSF said.
• USD Clean Fuels in San Bernardino, Calif., in January 2025 opened a facility that handles renewable diesel, biodiesel and E85.

• Delivering on Our Service Promise: 2025 One of BNSF’s Best Years
• For BNSF, a $3.6B Capital Plan

CPKC recently reported via social media that it is actively testing B20 biofuels in its locomotive operations. Ten AC4400s, powered in part by “plant-based fuel,” are running in the coal loop near Golden, B.C., it said.

“Since launching our pilot in 2023, these locomotives have completed over 2,750 fueling events and have used more than 25.5 million liters of B20,” according to CPKC.

The railroad, in early 2025, published a climate mileposts report (download below) that highlighted the British Columbia pilot, saying that it had successfully conducted “more than 1,100 fueling events” in 2024. “This initiative,” it said, “in cooperation with the broader rail industry, aims to validate the operational impacts of using advanced renewable biofuel blends.”

The report also noted that CPKC is “[m]aking significant strides with our pioneering Hydrogen Locomotive Program, which has swiftly progressed from initial movement trials to recording more than 6,000 miles in freight service testing by the end of 2024”; and is “[d]oubling the size of our hydrogen test fleet in early 2025 to include three additional locomotives and an added tender car; then adding further to this test fleet with four more locomotives planned for later in 2025.” (For more on the hydrogen program, read: CPKC Hydrogen Locomotive Program Creating Innovative GHG-Reduction Solutions.)

In January 2026, CPKC announced that having completed the purchase of 100 Wabtec Evolution Series ET44AC Tier 4 locomotives, it expects to take delivery of an additional 70 this year. The Class I also said it expects to take delivery in second-half 2026 of 30 new Progress Rail EMD® SD70ACe-T4 Tier 4 locomotives; they are part of an order for 65.

• Reaching 10% Renewable Fuel in 2024 for CN’s Locomotive Fleet
• UP: Putting Biofuels to the Test

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

Marcus “Marc” J. Molinaro, confirmed last summer as the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) 16th Administrator, is stepping down Feb. 20.

He reported his decision on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter:

After a record-breaking year working with @realDonaldTrump & @SecDuffy, my last day with the administration will be Friday, February 20th. I’m coming home to be closer to my family and get back into the fight. New York is being run into the ground. Stay tuned!

Molinaro, who previously served as U.S. Representative for New York’s 19th congressional district (2023-25), was nominated by POTUS 47 in February 2025 for the top FTA job. The U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee advanced his nomination in April for full Senate consideration. Molinaro succeeded Nuria Fernandez, who retired Feb. 24, 2024.

A member of the Republican Party, Molinaro was first elected to public office at the age of 18 in 1994, serving on the Village of Tivoli, N.Y., Board of Trustees. In 1995, he became the youngest mayor in the United States. He was re-elected as Tivoli Mayor five times. Simultaneously, he served four terms in the Dutchess County Legislature. From 2006 to 2011, Molinaro represented the 103rd District in the New York State Assembly, where he served as Assistant Minority Leader Pro Tempore. In 2011, he was elected Dutchess County Executive, a position he held for three terms. In 2023, he stepped down from this role following his election to Congress. Molinaro is a graduate of Dutchess Community College.

Now, after less than a year, he will leave the POTUS 47 Administration “to run for a backbench seat among the Republican minority in the New York State Assembly, according to four people directly familiar with his plans,” The New York Times reported Feb. 13. “The potential move from a position that oversees a staff of more than 600 to an office with about six aides is highly unusual in the world of politics, where ambition typically leads in only one direction, up.

“Prominent leaders on the right in New York said on Friday [Feb. 13] that they were baffled by the decision, which was first reported by Politico, particularly given the fact that Mr. Molinaro, 50, had graduated from the Assembly to higher office 15 years ago.”

According to the Times, Molinaro “did not directly comment on his political future, but late Friday [Feb. 13] he posted on X to say he would leave the [POTUS 47] administration next week to ‘get back into the fight.’”

The newspaper said that “[p]eople familiar with Mr. Molinaro’s thinking said that his reasons for leaving the [POTUS 47] administration were mostly personal. After a lifetime in elected office, he missed having his own constituency. They also said the commute from his home in the Hudson Valley to Washington had been difficult for his family. … They stressed that Mr. Molinaro, who had been a relative moderate during his one term in Congress, was not leaving because of disagreements with [POTUS 47] or his administration.”

The Times noted that the “people in question were not authorized to speak publicly about Mr. Molinaro’s plans because he remained a federal employee, subject to Hatch Act restrictions on partisan political activity.”

• Rail Emissions Regulation on Wrong Track

The post FTA Administrator Molinaro Stepping Down appeared first on Railway Age.

The Huckleberry Railroad in Michigan is the recipient of a $1.3 million grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation that will cover the restoration of a Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge 2-8-2 locomotive that last ran in 2019. 

Rio Grande 464 is a K-27 type locomotive built by Baldwin in 1903. It is one of only two K-27 locomotives in existence, the other being 463 at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic. The engine was retired in the 1960s and sold to Knott’s Berry Farm in California. Unfortunately, the engine was too large for the park railroad, and it was sold to the Huckleberry Railroad. The railroad is owned and operated by the local parks department. Huckleberry presently has another steam engine in service, 4-6-0 152. The restoration of that locomotive was also supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. 

—Justin Franz 

The post Rio Grande 2-8-2 to be Rebuilt in Michigan appeared first on Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

Austria – and the whole world – have been bitten by the Song Contest bug! Before Vienna transforms into the hotspot of the world's largest music competition from 11 to 16 May, the Austrian Federal Railways is sending an eye-catching advertising medium onto the rails.

Of course, ROCO is also on board and is producing a unique model of the elaborately decorated machine. Delivery will take place just in time for the ESC in May.

Please note: The number of items is strictly limited and the edition is unique – so be quick! The ESC inspires people all over the world and appeals to a wide audience far beyond the railway community.