Railway Age December 2020

DECEMBER 2020

W W W. R A I LWAYA G E .C O M

AILWAY GE S E R V I N G T H E R A I LWAY I N D U S T R Y S I N C E 1 8 5 6

2021 OUTLOOK THE SECOND GREAT

RAILROAD REVOLUTION?

SAFETY DOESN’T HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT

Identifying Overlooked System Safety Practices

PTC 2.0: NOW IS THE TIME railwayage.com

Let’s Get Moving On August 2017 // Benefits Railway Age 1 Those Business

AILWAY GE

February 2020 DECEMBER 2020

10

FEATURES

10 20 25

2021 Outlook Second Great Railroad Revolution?

System Safety, Part 3 Identifying Overlooked Practices

Smoothing the Way Grade Crossing Surfacing Solutions

30

PTC 2.0: Now Is the Time

34

Amtrak’s True Mission

Let’s Get to the Business Benefits

Not Profitability. Service Expansion

DEPARTMENTS 4 6 7 36 36 38 38 39

Industry Indicators Industry Outlook Market People Events

NEWS/COLUMNS 2 8 40

From the Editor Financial Edge ASLRRA Perspective

Professional Directory Classified Advertising Index

ON THE COVER:

Canadian Pacific

Intermodal is fueling the traffic recovery on U.S. freight railroads.

Photo: BNSF

Railway Age, USPS 449-130, is published monthly by the Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation, 88 Pine St., 23rd Fl., New York, NY 10005-1809. Tel. (212) 620-7200; FAX (212) 633-1863. Vol. 221, No. 12. Subscriptions: Railway Age is sent without obligation to professionals working in the railroad industry in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

However, the publisher reserves the right to limit the number of copies. Subscriptions should be requested on company letterhead. Subscription pricing to others for Print and/ or Digital versions: $100.00 per year/$151.00 for two years in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; $139.00 per year/$197.00 for two years, foreign. Single Copies: $36.00 per copy in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico/$128.00 foreign All subscriptions payable in advance. COPYRIGHT© 2020 Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. For reprint information contact PARS International Corp., 102 W. 38th Street, 6th floor, New York, N.Y. 10018, Tel.: 212-221-9595; Fax: 212-221-9195. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canada Post Cust.#7204564; Agreement #41094515. Bleuchip Int’l, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Address all subscriptions, change of address forms and correspondence concerning subscriptions to Subscription Dept., Railway Age, PO Box 1407 Cedar Rapids, IA. 52406-1407, Or call toll free (US Only) 1-800-553-8878 (CANADA/INTL) 1-319-364-6167. Printed at Cummings Printing, Hooksett, N.H. ISSN 0033-8826 (print); 2161-511X (digital).

railwayage.com

December 2020 // Railway Age 1

FROM THE EDITOR

AILWAY GE

‘Character is Destiny’

T

he Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who dates to about 500 B.C., is believed to have originated the quote “character is destiny.” This quote implies that destiny, or fate, is not connected to a predetermined outside force. Rather, one’s future, or destiny, is determined by one’s inner character.

The concept that character is destiny can, I believe, be applied not only to individuals, but also to local communities, nations, businesses—indeed, anyone, or anything, with a purpose. If that purpose is selfless—that is, motivated by some sort of greater purpose or benefit or goodwill; a desire to build and grow by embracing unity—it acquires a lasting legacy.

If the purpose is inherently selfish—that is, motivated by abuse of power; greed; an unhealthy need for attention or even idolatry; the desire to prop up one’s inflated ego by tearing down others, by playing the dangerous game of divide and conquer, by suppressing or distorting reality, by spouting incivility and ridicule—it also acquires a lasting legacy. But, more often than not, such legacy is ultimately defined by words and phrases like “nightmare,” “sadness,” “madness,” “dark times” or “when we lost our way, thank goodness temporarily.”

“Character is destiny; John had character,” President-elect Joe Biden said at a 2018 memorial service for the late Sen. John McCain. Biden, a Democrat, stressed that his close friendship with McCain, a Republican, transcended political differences. “John’s code was ageless, is ageless,” Biden said.

“Where he parted company with you is if you

SUBSCRIPTIONS: 800-895-4389

lacked decency, respect. He couldn’t stand the abuse of power. John was a hero, with character, courage and integrity.”

Character, courage and integrity: These traits define the railway industry, and not just in North America. They have enabled all of us to persevere through arguably the most difficult year in modern history, one defined by a global pandemic and its social, economic, political and emotional fallout.

Our industry, with a quiet singularity of purpose that isn’t widely understood and is often underappreciated, continues to do the essential job of moving goods and people in the safest, most efficient way possible. That’s something in which to take pride, to feel good about.

Indeed, our industry continues to clearly and consistently demonstrate that its character defines its destiny.

This issue of Railway Age is my 544th. I feel privileged, even blessed, to be a part of this industry, albeit as an observer/interpreter. Thank you all for your readership, your interest, your patience, your friendship, your criticism, your compliments, your participation, your contributions, and yes, your advertising and marketing dollars.

We wouldn’t be around after 164 years without all of the above.

Speaking for all of my colleagues, I wish you all good health, peace and prosperity in 2021. Deep down, I know it’s going to be a better year—far, far better than 2020, and considerably better than the madness we’ve gone through in recent times. Be safe and well. Keep those trains rolling.

WILLIAM C. VANTUONO Editor-in-Chief

Railway Age, descended from the American Rail-Road Journal (1832) and the Western Railroad Gazette (1856) and published under its present name since 1876, is indexed by the Business Periodicals Index and the Engineering Index Service. Name registered in U.S. Patent Office and Trade Mark Office in Canada. Now indexed in ABI/Inform.

Change of address should reach us six weeks in advance of next issue date. Send both old and new addresses with address label to Subscription Department, Railway Age, PO Box 1407, Cedar Rapids, IA. 52406-1407, or call toll free (US Only) 1-800-553-8878 (CANADA/ INTL) 1-319-364-6167. Post Office will not forward copies unless you provide extra postage.

Photocopy rights: Where necessary, permission is granted by the copyright owner for the libraries and others registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) to photocopy articles herein for the flat fee of $2.00 per copy of each article. Payment should be sent directly to CCC. Copying for other than personal or internal reference use without the express permission of Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp. is prohibited. Address requests for permission on bulk orders to the Circulation Director.

Railway Age welcomes the submission of unsolicited manuscripts and photographs. However, the publishers will not be responsible for safekeeping or return of such material.

Member of:

SBP 2 Railway Age // December 2020

SIMMONS-BOARDMAN PUBLISHING CORPORATION

EDITORIAL AND EXECUTIVE OFFICES Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp.

88 Pine Street, 23rd Fl. New York, NY 10005-1809 212-620-7200; Fax: 212-633-1863 Website: www.railwayage.com ARTHUR J. McGINNIS, Jr. President and Chairman JONATHAN CHALON Publisher jchalon@sbpub.com WILLIAM C. VANTUONO Editor-in-Chief wvantuono@sbpub.com MARYBETH LUCZAK Executive Editor mluczak@sbpub.com BILL WILSON Engineering Editor/Railway Track & Structures Editor-in-Chief wwilson@sbpub.com DAVID C. LESTER Managing Editor, Railway Track & Structures dlester@sbpub.com Contributing Editors: David Peter Alan, Roy Blanchard, Jim Blaze, Sonia Bot, Peter Diekmeyer, Alfred E. Fazio, Don Itzkoff, Bruce Kelly, Ron Lindsey, Ryan McWilliams, David Nahass, Jason H. Seidl, David Thomas, John Thompson, Frank N. Wilner, Tony Zenga Art Director: Nicole D’Antona Graphic Designer: Hillary Coleman Corporate Production Director: Mary Conyers Production Director: Eduardo Castaner Marketing Director: Erica Hayes Conference Director: Michelle Zolkos Circulation Director: Maureen Cooney INTERNATIONAL OFFICES 46 Killigrew Street, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 3PP, United Kingdom Telephone: 011-44-1326-313945 Fax: 011-44-1326-211576 International Editors Kevin Smith ks@railjournal.co.uk David Burroughs dburroughs@railjournal.co.uk David Briginshaw db@railjournal.co.uk CUSTOMER SERVICE: 800-895-4389 Reprints: PARS International Corp.

253 West 35th Street 7th Floor New York, NY 10001 212-221-9595; fax 212-221-9195 curt.ciesinski@parsintl.com railwayage.com

HIGH CAPACITY I PRECISION I RELIABILITY

The standard of ballast bed cleaning Saving time and resources, assuring high quality cleaning and offering flexibility in operation: that is Plasser’s philosophy for economical ballast cleaning. The most important foundation for sustainable track geometry is a faultless, straight formation. To produce this, the Plasser ballast cleaning machines for tracks and switches are equipped with an excavating chain in a transverse cutter bar - adjustable precisely to the required excavating depth and formation crosslevel.

www.plasseramerican.com “Plasser & Theurer”, “Plasser” and “P&T” are internationally registered trademarks.

Industry Indicators AAR: OCTOBER ‘BEST INTERMODAL MONTH IN HISTORY’ “Back in April 2020, when the U.S. economy was basically in a coma, U.S. intermodal originations averaged 219,085 units per week,” the Association of American Railroads noted in November. “That was the fewest for any month in more than seven years and the fewest for April in ten years. Back then, no one would have thought that six months later, in October 2020, U.S. railroads would have their best intermodal month in history. Yet that’s where we are: U.S. railroads originated an average of 292,469 containers and trailers per week in October 2020, more than ever before and up a stunning 33.5% over April 2020.”

Railroad employment, Class I linehaul carriers, OCTOBER 2020 (% change from OCTOBER 2019)

TRAFFIC ORIGINATED CARLOADS

FOUR WEEKS ENDING october 31, 2020

MAJOR U.S. RAILROADS

BY COMMODITY

OCT. ’20

OCT. ’19

% CHANGE

46,749 (-15.56%)

Grain Farm Products excl. Grain Grain Mill Products Food Products Chemicals Petroleum & Petroleum Products Coal Primary Forest Products Lumber & Wood Products Pulp & Paper Products Metallic Ores Coke Primary Metal Products Iron & Steel Scrap Motor Vehicles & Parts Crushed Stone, Sand & Gravel Nonmetallic Minerals Stone, Clay & Glass Products Waste & Nonferrous Scrap All Other Carloads

106,027 3,851 37,083 24,936 122,235 40,923 238,329 4,136 12,907 20,818 20,388 10,538 30,513 15,899 62,013 74,933 14,077 32,843 15,215 25,108

84,470 3,401 35,811 24,843 124,479 51,122 294,672 4,991 12,489 20,692 24,060 13,164 31,487 12,320 61,424 89,208 16,957 33,090 13,688 25,038

25.5% 13.2% 3.6% 0.4% -1.8% -20.0% -19.1% -17.1% 3.3% 0.6% -15.3% -19.9% -3.1% 29.1% 1.0% -16.0% -17.0% -0.7% 11.2% 0.3%

Executives, Officials and Staff Assistants

TOTAL U.S. CARLOADS

912,772

977,406

-6.6%

316,595

320,722

-1.3%

1,229,367

1,298,128

-5.3%

TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 116,804 % CHANGE FROM OCTOBER 2019: -13.21%

Transportation (train and engine)

7,328 (-4.25%)

CANADIAN RAILROADS

Professional and Administrative

TOTAL CANADIAN CARLOADS

10,359 (–5.84%)

COMBINED U.S./CANADA RR

Maintenance-of-Way and Structures

28,784 (-8.13%)

Maintenance of Equipment and Stores

18,682 (-21.44%)

Transportation (other than train & engine)

4,902 (-10.17%)

Source: Surface Transportation Board

CLASS I EMPLOYMENT SHOWS LITTLE CHANGE Figures released by the STB show Class I total railroad employment decreased just above 13% in October 2020, measured against October 2019, and is still the lowest since 2012. The double impacts of COVID-19 and a recession that actually predates the pandemic has stifled economic activity, and the impact on rail employment has been significant. Across the industry, headcount drops occurred in all employment categories, with Maintenance of Equipment and Stores dropping more than 21% and Transportation (train and engine) falling nearly 16%.

4 Railway Age // December 2020

Intermodal

FOUR WEEKS ENDING october 31, 2020

MAJOR U.S. RAILROADS

BY COMMODITY Trailers Containers TOTAL UNITS

OCT. ’20

OCT. ’19

% CHANGE

75,537

1,169,874

988,371 1,063,908

22.9% 9.0% 10.0%

1 318,365 318,366

0 279,773 279,773

— 13.8% 13.8%

92,866 1,395,374

75,537 1,268,144

22.9% 10.0%

1,488,240

1,343,681

10.8%

92,865 1,077,009

CANADIAN RAILROADS Trailers Containers TOTAL UNITS

COMBINED U.S./CANADA RR Trailers Containers

TOTAL COMBINED UNITS

Source: Rail Time Indicators, Association of American Railroads

railwayage.com

TOTAL U.S./Canadian CARLOADS, OCT. 2020 VS. OCT. 2019

1,229,367 OCTOBER 2020

AILWAY GE

1,298,128 OCTOBER 2019

Short Line And Regional Traffic Index CARLOADS

BY COMMODITY Chemicals Coal Crushed Stone, Sand & Gravel Food & Kindred Products Grain Grain Mill Products Lumber & Wood Products Metallic Ores Metals & Products Motor Vehicles & Equipment Nonmetallic Minerals Petroleum Products Pulp, Paper & Allied Products Stone, Clay & Glass Products Trailers / Containers Waste & Scrap Materials All Other Carloads

ORIGINATED OCT. ’20

ORIGINATED OCT. ’19

% CHANGE

51,126 14,528 19,942 11,260 34,859 7,668 9,417 2,717 16,064 10,422 1,649 2,152 17,083 15,657 44,159 11,030 73,622

50,847 18,829 28,627 12,177 25,740 7,578 9,436 2,632 16,911 11,284 2,712 2,345 18,972 15,356 47,640 9,935 78,143

0.5% -22.8% -30.3% -7.5% 35.4% 1.2% -0.2% 3.2% -5.0% -7.6% -39.2% -8.2% -10.0% 2.0% -7.3% 11.0% -5.8%

Copyright © 2020 All rights reserved.

TOTAL U.S. Carloads and intermodal units, 2011-2020

(in millions, year-to-date through OCTOBER 2020, SIX-WEEK MOVING AVERAGE)

ARE YOU A RAILROAD OR SUPPLIER SEARCHING FOR JOB CANDIDATES?

Visit http://bit.ly/railjobs To place a job posting, contact: Jennifer Izzo 203-604-1744 jizzo@mediapeople.com

railwayage.com

December 2020 // Railway Age 5 RA_JobBoard_1/3Vertical.indd 1

9/30/19 3:16 PM

Gardner Ascends to Amtrak Presidency Amtrak Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating and Commercial Officer Stephen Gardner was appointed President, effective Dec. 1, 2020, succeeding Bill Flynn, who will remain as CEO and continue to serve on the company’s Board of Directors.

Gardner’s appointment, Amtrak said, “is part of a broader set of actions taken under Flynn’s leadership, working with the Board of Directors, to ensure that Amtrak is wellpositioned for success in fiscal year 2021 and beyond.”

It was only a matter of time before Gardner was named President, as many industry observers had commented following Flynn’s appointment, and during the tenure of Richard Anderson, Flynn’s predecessor. Gardner, it is widely understood, has been making most of the major decisions and quietly setting policy in his role as second-in-command.

Gardner is a lifelong Democrat and skilled political operative who joined Amtrak in 2009, following a stint on Capitol Hill developing rail and transportation policy for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and for Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and others. Early in his transportation career, he held various positions with Guilford Rail System (now Pan Am Railways) and the Buckingham Branch Railroad in Virginia. He is widely recognized as the principal author of PRIIA (Passenger Rail Investment and 6 Railway Age // December 2020

Improvement Act of 2008). By 2017, he had garnered enough experience to be appointed to Amtrak’s top spot, but “there was no way he’d get the job as long as there was a Republican in the White House, and as long as Elaine Chao was Secretary of Transportation,” according to one Capitol Hill transportation insider. “When Democrat Joe Biden, a staunch Amtrak supporter and longtime Amtrak customer, became President-elect, that set the wheels in motion to give Stephen Gardner the throttle. It’s not surprising that the Amtrak Board didn’t wait until Inauguration Day.” “Since coming to Amtrak in 2009, Stephen Gardner has been responsible for efforts to expand state-supported service partnerships, advance significant equipment procurements, improve Northeast Corridor infrastructure, formulate policies to carry out Amtrak’s strategic plan, and guide general development and planning activities,” Amtrak said in announcing his appointment. “As President, he will drive the company’s effort to regain and grow customers and partners through strong delivery of Amtrak’s Annual Operating Plan and modernization of Amtrak’s products, services, infrastructure and fleet. Overseeing Marketing, Operations, Planning and Asset Development, and Government Affairs and Corporate Communications, he will lead day-to-day operations and advance Amtrak’s long-term goals.”

“We have two urgent challenges in 2021.

We need to successfully manage our business through this global pandemic, and we need to take the right steps to ensure that Amtrak is strong and viable for the next 50 years and beyond,” said CEO Bill Flynn. “[Establishing separate President and CEO positions] reflects these significant responsibilities and creates a leadership structure to address the challenges ahead.”

In testimony last month before a House Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials hearing on passenger rail, Gardner addressed the passage of two provisions in PRIIA: • Section 207, which directed Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to develop metrics and minimum standards for measuring the performance and service quality of intercity passenger train operations.

• Section 213, which set forth a new process for the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to investigate the causes of substandard on-time performance.

Section 213, Gardner explained, “provides that the STB may initiate an investigation, or ‘Amtrak, an intercity passenger rail operator, a host freight railroad over which Amtrak operates, or an entity for which Amtrak operates intercity passenger rail service’ may require the STB to initiate an investigation, when ‘the on-time performance of any intercity passenger train averages less than 80% for any two consecutive calendar quarters, or the service quality of intercity passenger train operations for which minimum standards are established under Section 207 of PRIIA fails to meet those standards for two consecutive calendar quarters…’ The STB would then determine whether the failure to achieve the minimum standards ‘are attributable to a rail carrier’s failure to provide preference to Amtrak over freight transportation’ and potentially award damages or prescribe other relief to Amtrak.”

He went on to say that after the metrics and minimum standards rule was issued in 2010, “the AAR filed suit, spending nearly a decade and millions of dollars fighting to prevent the implementation of the minimum standards. When the litigation finally concluded in 2019, Amtrak and FRA once again developed metrics and minimum standards, publishing a proposed rule in March of this year.” railwayage.com

Amtrak

Industry Outlook

Market PHL to Test Progress Rail EMD® Joule Progress Rail, a Caterpillar company, has teamed with Anacostia Rail Holdings subsidiary Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) to test its new EMD® Joule battery electric locomotive in the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, Calif., during the second half of 2021. The six-axle switcher locomotive will feature “the latest lithium-ion battery technology and battery management system, alongside a.c. traction and state-of-the-art electronics,” according to Progress Rail.

Battery capacity is said to be 2.4 megawatt hours, for a run time of up to 24 hours, depending on charging and utilization.

WORLDWIDE

Progress Rail

Egypt has launched a project to develop a National Company for Railway Industries (NERC) to localize rolling stock manufacture and renewal. The project is expected to attract up to $10 billion in investment. The industrial complex in the East Port Said industrial zone will include a factory to rehabilitate electric trains, with an estimated capacity of 125 units per year; a factory to manufacture new metro cars, with an estimated production capacity of 150 units per year; and a facility to manufacture LRVs, with an estimated capacity of 150 units per year.

railwayage.com

NORTH AMERICA The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has signed a five-year contract with Advanced Rail Management Corp. (ARM) for the San Diego Trolley Inc. (SDTI) rail maintenance program, including rail grinding on all open and embedded track sections and special trackwork. The SDTI program will cover a review of the existing wheel/rail profile compatibility; analysis of rail profile and wear conditions; and design and execution of a rail grinding program to remove defects (controlling defect development, surface fatigue, gaugecorner fatigue and corrugation), enhance vehicle steering through curves and reduce noise. ARM, a wheel/rail interface consultant, will use its optical rail measurement system to conduct a pre-grind survey; develop a five-year grinding strategy; implement and oversee the annual grinding program; and conduct an annual postgrind assessment to ensure that the grinding plan is meeting SDTI objectives, according to ARM President Gordon Bachinsky. ARM will also conduct optical rail measurement programs at the mid- and end-points of the contract to assess rail wear and surface condition trends

for long-term maintenance planning.

Additionally, along with project subcontractor National Research Council of Canada (NRC), ARM will review new and worn wheel profiles “to ensure that they are compatible with the existing rail profile design,” Bachinsky said. NRC will then develop grinding templates that “enhance steering in curves and generate multiple wheel/rail contact bands to distribute wear in tangent track.”

Beaufort, S.C.-based OptiFuel Systems is offering a new line of 1,200- to 2,400-hp, 100% natural gas-fueled freight locomotives.

Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad partnered with OptiFuel and R.J. Corman Railpower Locomotives LLC in 2017 to convert its entire locomotive fleet to CNG. OptiFuel’s new line uses a proprietary, EPA rail-certified engine (KOFSG11.9400), which is based on the Cummins ISX12N and is said to have 0.00 g-bhp/hr NOx and PM criteria emissions. The locomotives are powered by 100% RNG (renewable natural gas)/Biomethane. With multi-engine configuration and instant stop and start capability, users “can expect to reduce fuel consumption by 20% to 40%, compared to a single-engine configuration.”

December 2020 // Railway Age 7

Financial Edge Pathway to Normalcy Remains Uncertain

H

eading into the home stretch of what might be the most unusual year in the lives of most of Railway Age’s readers, 2020 remains the year of the unexpected.

While many people may have thought that a pandemic was not out of the question (in 2019, the U.S. government conducted a pandemic simulation, the “Crimson Contagion,” which predicted more than 500,000 deaths), the U.S. was unprepared for the voracity of the COVID-19 virus and the intensity of the shutdown resulting from its impacts.

Crossing into the holidays, the virus, its impacts and the future are bright, cloudy and unknown. In April, on a Railway Age podcast with Eric Starks (Chairman and CEO) and Todd Tranausky (VP Intermodal and Rail) of FTR Transportation Intelligence, the discussion of what could be expected from the rail economy in 2020 was posited by Railway Age Editorin-Chief William C. Vantuono. The panel agreed that a realistic best-case hope would be business levels returning to 80% of where they were pre-pandemic.

By the time the pandemic was moving through the U.S., freight levels were down year-over-year roughly 5% in North America. Heading into the holiday season, total freight levels (carload and intermodal) are down just over 8% vs. 2019. Think about it. In spite of the pandemic; a downturn in consumption of refined petroleum, coal and petrochemical products; and a nationwide shutdown that threw retail, consumer services and service industries (think auto, cinema, restaurants, shopping malls) into a downward spiral from which many of them may not recover, the rail economy has rebounded to a loadings level that is within 3% of where it was before the pandemic began!

Before dancing in the streets about rail’s ability to rebound (before public dancing, please don a suitable mask), remember that the pathway to normalcy remains uncertain. The likelihood of another government stimulus plan before year-end is about as high as a reversal of the Nov. 3 election results (maybe not that low). As a

8 Railway Age // December 2020

result of a failure to act, consumer spending through the crucial holiday season is expected to slow, and unemployment is expected to increase further.

Counterpoint to the doom and gloom?

Vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford) are set for approval by the FDA, with vaccine distribution to hopefully begin in mid-December. Estimates are that the first two vaccines could be in position to inoculate at least 35 million people by year-end (roughly 10% of the U.S. population). Vaccines are the sun on the horizon lighting a pathway leading to the end of the pandemic.

This brings the discussion back to the future for North American rail. The impending change in the White House signals a change in foreign and trade policy. USMCA (United States-MexicoCanada Agreement) will (and should) survive. Other parts of U.S. trade policy will likely shift dramatically. Stability toward corporate business from the White House is anticipated to be welcome. Corporations seem to be anticipating a softening trade stance, especially toward China. If the Georgia runoffs f lip the U.S. Senate to the Democratic Party, higher taxes could result in a slowdown in economic growth.

Support for globalization should ease some minds, but it raises a couple of interesting concerns: One, will the momentum behind near-shoring start to soften as tariffs are removed? Two, how will global trade routes that were adjusted to handle the tariff stance of the U.S. change as the U.S. adjusts its position on tariffs? If Mexico’s role as a business partner for U.S. corporations and manufacturing lives up to its economic promise, near-shoring and the additional value to North American rail will be a boost that could offset the losses of other commodity business.

To be frank about it, North American rail needs growth in Mexico, in addition to improvements in trade with China, to keep growing.

The resiliency of the U.S. economy offers hope for strength in 2021. As

the impending change in the white house signals a change in foreign trade and policy.

USMCA will (and should) survive.” the pandemic started, many hoped the impact of the pandemic would be a blip rather than a tidal wave with long-term consequences. It is likely to be a little bit of both. The challenges facing North American rail, car owners and commodity shippers will remain in 2021 even as the pandemic fades into the background.

PSR, over-supply of railcars, the potential for continued overbuilding, downward pressure on loadings: These ghosts from the pre-pandemic 2020 will come back to regain their footing in 2021. North American rail should prepare now, as the U.S. begins to look toward a hopeful future, to address concerns that have been marginalized more recently.

For you and your families and friends, I wish a safe and healthy holiday season and New Year.

Got questions? Set them free at dnahass@ railfin.com.

DAVID NAHASS President Railroad Financial Corp. railwayage.com

2021 OUTLOOK

THE SECOND GREAT

A

s one of the most difficult years in world history draws to a conclusion that at times felt like it would never come, the North American railway industry—battered and bruised but refusing to go down—looks to a new year with cautious optimism, and most important—hope.

How do we define hope? It has been described as “an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.” As a verb, among its definitions are “to expect with confidence” and “to cherish a desire with anticipation.” Noted Professor of Psychology Barbara Fredrickson said that hope “comes into its own when crisis looms, 10 Railway Age // December 2020

opening us to new creative possibilities. … With great need comes an unusually wide range of ideas, as well as such positive emotions as happiness and joy, courage and empowerment, drawn from four different areas of one’s self: a cognitive, psychological, social, or physical perspective.” Hopeful people are “like the little engine that could, because they keep telling themselves, ‘I think I can, I think I can.’ Such positive thinking bears fruit when based on a realistic sense of optimism, not on a naive ‘false hope.’”

Psychologist Charles R. Snyder linked hope to “the existence of a goal, combined with a determined plan for reaching that goal,” and said the difference between hope and optimism was that the former “included practical

pathways to an improved future.”

These definitions form the foundation of the railroad industry.

For this edition of our annual Outlook for the coming year, we’ve reached deep into our talent pool, drawing from Railway Age’s staff and contributing editors, from our headquarters in Lower Manhattan to Capitol Hill to Wall Street. We’ve topped off our offering with the perspective of an industry specialist who deals every day with finding and empowering the talent that is the heart and soul of this two-century-old industry we call “railroading.”

I’ve been at this for nearly 30 years, and feel humbled and privileged for the opportunity to present to you, our readers, the collective thoughts of some of the industry’s most experienced minds. I anticipate a railwayage.com

BNSF

RAILROAD REVOLUTION?

2021 OUTLOOK WASHINGTON OUTLOOK

Donald M. Itzkoff Railroads, public transportation and suppliers are zooming into an unfolding new Washington environment. President-elect Joe Biden will bring to the Oval Office a commitment to infrastructure investment, green policies, and a famous personal affection for rail from his daily Amtrak commute as a U.S. Senator to be home with his family.

The Nov. 3 election also underscored the lack of Biden coattails and the country’s deep partisan divide. Democrats only narrowly retained a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, and party control of the U.S. Senate depends on the outcome of two special Senate runoff races Jan. 5 in Georgia. For rail and transit stakeholders looking to shape federal policy and spending, some Beltway signals are shrouded.

brighter future and the end to a devastating pandemic. With a profound sense of relief, I look to a new Administration in Washington with an opportunity to set an example, reminding us that the bitter divisiveness, the refusal to deal with reality and the inability to speak the truth, all of which have permeated the national psyche, crippled our sense of national unity and provided a profoundly disturbing example of “The Illusion of Separation,” do not represent who we are as a nation.

You, our readers, represent North America’s railroad industry, which during this past year has drawn on deep reserves of strength, resilience, determination, experience, skill, concern, unity, compassion— and hope.

—William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief railwayage.com

SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE AND A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE? During the campaign, Biden promised to spark “the second great railroad revolution” and ensure that “America has the cleanest, safest, and fastest rail system in the world—for both passengers and freight.”

These commitments are part of a pledged $2 trillion investment in infrastructure, transit, power, electric vehicles and charging stations, green buildings, and more.

The goal is to “put the United States on an irreversible path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050.” Plans include working with “Amtrak and private freight rail companies to further electrify the rail system,” while a new Advanced Research Projects Agency on Climate (ARPA-C) would invest in “gamechanging” technologies such as energy storage and renewable hydrogen.

This infrastructure investment and climate agenda—not the Green New Deal but far-reaching and aggressive—may collide with a Senate wall. The election left Democrats with 48 Senate seats, Republicans with 50 seats, and two Senate races in Georgia forced into a runoff because no candidate received 50% of the vote. Democrats must win both of these special Georgia January races to achieve 50 seats and effective Senate control with Vice President -elect

Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaker. If Republicans win either Georgia Senate runoff, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will remain Senate Majority Leader when President-elect Biden takes office.

“Conventional” political analysis posits high hurdles to Democrats achieving Senate control. Even if Democrats win both Georgia Senate seats, a thin 50+1 majority falls short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Speculation before the election suggested the potential to leverage the tax-driven reconciliation process requiring only a Senate majority vote to pass infrastructure, green and other initiatives, or doing away entirely with the filibuster, but such projections are moot if the Senate continues under Republican leadership.

With divided government a real prospect, Biden and his Administration will have to work with Senate Majority Leader McConnell on all that needs Congressional approval, from nominations to legislation and spending. Though McConnell vowed a decade ago to oppose President Barack Obama’s agenda, Biden’s 36 years in the Senate enabled him as Vice President to reach bipartisan deals with McConnell that averted the worst financial cliffs of the Great Recession. Former senior McConnell aide Rohit Kumar told The Washington Post that Biden and McConnell “genuinely like each other. There was a mutual understanding there.” McConnell said in 2016, “There is a reason ‘Get Joe on the phone’ is shorthand for ‘time to get serious’ in my office.”

Yet, forging bipartisan agreement on anything near the transportation investment that the Biden campaign proposed will be a reach. Biden’s sustainable infrastructure proposal would be funded in part by increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. A Republican Senate will be disinclined to approve such a rise, and likely equally resistant to more deficit spending on infrastructure beyond COVID-19 economic recovery support. As of this writing, Senate Majority Leader McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remained at odds over the size of any COVID-19 relief legislation during the Congressional lameduck session. Beyond the pandemic’s loss and pain, even within the transport sector, a stark modal competition for relief funding has pitted airlines and airports against Amtrak and public transit agencies, to cite December 2020 // Railway Age 11

2021 OUTLOOK one fissure. The nation’s largest transit agency, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, projects budget deficits brought on by the pandemic exceeding $16 billion through 2024, and other passenger rail and transit operators across the country face their own daunting shortfalls. Rail and transit suppliers, too, see declines as customers cut or defer capex.

How then, in the face of pandemic-driven ridership collapse and deficits, to marshal political support and funding for infrastructure investments such as the Gateway rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey and other “shovelworthy” and “shovel-ready” projects? Following the election, Biden campaign advisor and former U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary John Porcari told state DOT leaders to anticipate a “high/low mix” infrastructure program including “transformative, multi-year expensive projects at the high end” enabling “long-term transformative benefits.” Will the next Congress agree and boost infrastructure spending, with or even without “pay-for” offsets?

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), a bicycle-riding staunch transportation advocate and a dean of his party’s progressive wing, presented the bullish case. “I’ve been like Charlie and the football in the past. I’m not going to try to sound Pollyanna-ish here. I know there’s a lot of hard work,” Blumenauer told Politico. But with the President-elect’s commitment, “I see pieces that can align. The forces are aligned in a way that we haven’t seen in 10 years.” Blumenauer is “buoyantly optimistic,” as Politico described it, and transportation advocates will have to drive constituent pressure for bipartisan agreement over opposing ideological and political interests.

With President-elect Biden’s campaign having placed infrastructure on the agenda, the next Congress will begin debate on the foundation of this year’s greener House-passed surface transportation reauthorization, H.R. 2 (which includes provisions railroads oppose), and the more conventional Senate bipartisan bill, S. 2302. Tens of billions of dollars for rail and public transportation ride on what legislators—and especially Senate Majority Leader McConnell—decide.

ACCELERATING ACTION The Biden Administration plans sweeping policy shifts through executive order and 12 Railway Age // December 2020

regulatory process, distinct from Congressional involvement. To achieve deep cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, action on climate change will be central to agency missions across government. Biden campaign Policy Director Stef Feldman drew the direct link to infrastructure in an interview with The Washington Post.

“From the very beginning, when he [Biden] talked about infrastructure, he talked about making sure that it built in climate change, that we are making our communities more resilient to the effects of climate change.”

The Biden transition team is leveraging recommendations in the Climate 21 Project, a 300-page blueprint (https://climate21.org/) for rapid Executive Branch mobilization.

Plans encompass intra-departmental climate councils including at USDOT and a “climate in all policies” approach. The report states that electrification of vehicles—“including passenger vehicles, local freight delivery vehicles, buses, port equipment, and more … presents a major opportunity for emissions reduction and could be a cornerstone of efforts to reinvigorate the U.S. economy.”

While this report doesn’t call to electrify freight rail, the concept may gain currency. Freight railroads may also potentially have to address the impact of billions of new federal funds flowing to electrified competing modes. Rail makes up a fraction of total GHG transport emissions, but regulatory discussions could still include GHG mandates on rail. GHG impact review may even extend to trucking automation.

The Climate 21 authors urge that the “new Administration should consider climate change implications … when developing updated guidance or regulations related to automated and connected vehicles.” Will this mean that regulatory approval of truck platooning technologies will include a GHG assessment, and thus more swiftly encourage competitor automation?

Other regulatory pressures in a Biden Administration informed through fuller labor perspectives will frame USDOT’s primary safety focus. Beltway trade press has already seized on possible reexamination of federal requirements on train crew size. Such a rule would thwart the benefits of accelerating new automation technology and expanding on the Positive Train Control backbone that cost billions in private freight railroad investment and taxpayer funds for

Amtrak and commuter railroads, and is now on the brink of the Dec. 31, 2020 deadline for nationwide deployment. Next-generation PTC 2.0 (p. 30) presents much promise, but aviation’s oversight failure to understand the Boeing MCAS programming that caused the 737 MAX tragedies may influence regulation of vital software across all modes. At the same time, advanced sensors and Big Data analytics offer the prospect of evolved performance-based rules utilizing asset health to predict safety performance, enabling more-streamlined and equally effective rail safety inspection regimens.

Changing views on economic regulatory oversight based on leadership shifts at the Surface Transportation Board may portend regulatory trials for railroads. For the rail supply industry, Buy America emphasis will escalate, though how best to address unfair state-owned Chinese competition in U.S. rail and transit markets remains a question. From climate to safety, and across labor, health and other matters, regulatory advocacy and engagement will be at least as important as influencing visible legislation. Given the scale of the incoming Biden Administration’s policy agenda, rail and transit interests will want to elevate attention to shaping the contours of impending regulatory terrain affecting transport network safety, viability, jobs and lives.

NEW APPROACHES AND LEADERS With every incoming Presidential Administration, Washington consumes itself with who will run the federal government, down to the most junior political Schedule C staffers. This virtually turbocharged parlor conversation may distract and exhaust, but the leadership and management skills of the incoming Secretary of Transportation, USDOT modal teams and other White House and government appointees whose portfolios include mobility and climate change will determine what happens to agency visions and execution.

While the rail community awaits appointments for USDOT and the Federal Railroad Administration, outgoing FRA Administrator Ron Batory’s reorganization of the agency’s safety oversight structure deserves staying power. FRA’s updated organization realigns the former regions with a footprint tailored to current Class I, short line and passenger rail networks. This restructuring railwayage.com

2021 OUTLOOK also ties FRA field inspectors more directly to their Operating Practices, Motive Power and Equipment, and other discipline headquarters chiefs to end past conflicting regional interpretations that sometimes affected the same railroad. Batory also named new executives to the most senior FRA Office of Safety career civil service positions, providing the foundation and expertise for the next tests.

A new generation of leaders has similarly assumed command within the past several years of core surface transportation trade associations, including the Association of American Railroads, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, the American Public Transportation Association, the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association, the Railway Supply Institute, the OneRail Coalition, and others. This talent has arrived at an opportune time, and well-positions railroads, public transportation operators and suppliers to achieve meaningful solutions in a dynamic policy environment fast on the way.

Contributing Editor Don Itzkoff is a former Federal Railroad Administration Deputy Administrator. He is the founder of Transport Strategies LLC in Washington, D.C.

WALL STREET OUTLOOK Jason Seidl

Everyone is looking forward to putting 2020 in the proverbial rearview mirror, and the railroad industry is no different.

The terrible impact on lives lost and the social impact of distancing oneself from friends and family aside, railroad finances took a hit.

Indeed, Class I earnings were down on average roughly 8% through the first nine months of the year, troughing out in second-quarter 2020 with heavy double-digit declines.

Overall volumes remained down nearly 9% on the year. The outlook for 4Q20 and 2021, however, remains far better in our view.

Not only have volumes started recovering, but intermodal volumes have snapped back with a vengeance the likes of which would make Tony Stark proud. Thirdquarter intermodal volumes spiked, and the strength has continued into 4Q20.

Thus far in 4Q20, overall North American rail volumes are up 1.8% with agricultural products and intermodal leading the way 14 Railway Age // December 2020

with 15.4% and 10% jumps, respectively.

This has helped offset continued declines in coal (down nearly 20%) and chemicals (down nearly 10%).

The rebound in demand has been felt all over the supply chain, but nowhere was it more prominent than out West. Indeed, the Port of Los Angeles announced that October volumes were the highest monthly levels in its 114-year history. What is behind this surge in volume, you might ask? Most of our industry contacts tell us it is a combination of inventory restocking, e-commerce growth, increasing truckload pricing and consumers having more money to spend due to a lack of travel. The West Coast has seen an outsized benefit due to the speed to market some retailers need in the restocking process.

Based on what we are hearing from those in the industry, we believe that volume growth should continue well into next year.

The recent volume growth is encouraging for sure, but it has brought operational strain to the rail network. Railroads have seen congestion from this surge in business, and it has reverberated throughout the supply chain.

Many intermodal gates are turning down trucks that are coming in with containers, and certain locations (especially inland) lack equipment. Ports, railroads, drayage operators and shipping lines are working together to try to alleviate pinch points.

The Port of LA has focused on using technology to improve operations and recently launched a free platform to assist the trucking community in returning empty containers. Dubbed the Return Signal, this new platform is hoped to be part of a multitechnology solution (other port technology platforms include Port Optimizer and The Signal) that should help alleviate the current congestion and get the port back to a state of greater fluidity. This along with numerous efforts across the intermodal supply chain should help, but we do not expect a quick fix, given that hardly anyone seemed to have been ready for this type of demand. Unfortunately, shippers and intermodal intermediaries are the ones who will have to suffer the most in the interim with delays and increased costs to their supply chains.

The bulk of the pricing for the intermodal product is normally settled prior to the traditional fall peak season. Hence, given the recent strong run-up in TL pricing, it may take some time for the rails to pull their

pricing lever fully. That said, the rails may make some upward pricing adjustments as early as December, according to our contacts within the industry. Given how far truck pricing has run, we envision high single-digit pricing for intermodal in 2021.

We continue to view the rail group in a positive light for investors. Not only should they benefit from a volume recovery, but operational fluidity should improve as we get into 2021. An intermodal pricing recovery is expected to bolster the back half of 2021, which should help offset more difficult year-over-year volume comparisons. 2021 should also see an uptick in share repurchases as companies feel more comfortable that we are on our way out of the pandemic, given the recent success with three COVID19 vaccines. In sum, 2021 should look far better than 2020, thank goodness.

Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl is Managing Director of Cowen and Company.

SUPPLIER OUTLOOK Nicole Brewin

If there ever was a question about the essential role that America’s freight rail industry plays in Americans’ everyday lives, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted it. In the pandemic’s earliest weeks and months, maintaining robust supply chains on everything from medical gear to agricultural products became the difference between life and death.

Now, as we face an ongoing recovery from the pandemic itself and the related economic fallout, a bipartisan call to invest in our nation’s critical infrastructure is growing louder. That’s exactly the right call.

Fortunately, a group of bipartisan members of Congress has already introduced a forward-looking bill that prioritizes sound investment in our nation’s freight railcar manufacturing industry.

The Freight Rail Assistance and Investment to Launch Coronavirus-era Activity and Recovery (Freight RAILCAR) Act, H.R. 8082, addresses everything from industry sustainability and environmental efficiency to bolstering U.S. manufacturing and saving railway supply jobs—all 65,000 of them.

H.R. 8082 incentivizes investment in railwayage.com

2021 OUTLOOK freight railcars that use advanced technologies, materials and designs. It encourages the recycling of steel from scrapped railcars into new steel. And it provides these incentives at a time when our nation’s freight railcar owners may sooner hold back investments in the hope of riding out the current economic storm.

The credits within the bill will incentivize new freight railcar orders and will in turn help stabilize the freight railcar manufacturing industry through the pandemic and beyond. By modernizing the North American freight railcar fleet, there would be increased railcar capacity, reduced shipping costs and more long-haul freight moved by rail, reducing greenhouse gases to the tune of 23.3 million tons of CO2 saved over 20 years.

This bill offers the kind of incentives that will ensure America’s freight railcar industry builds on the future rather than the past and is greener and more efficient as a result.

Introduced this summer by U.S. Reps.

Brad Schneider (D-Ill.-10) and Darin LaHood (R-Ill.-18) and joined by four original co-sponsors from the House Ways and Means Committee and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Freight RAILCAR Act is the legislation needed now to reinvigorate the industry. It’s bolstered by backing from several dozen lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

The Freight RAILCAR Act also supports more than $6.5 billion in GDP and tens of thousands of family wage jobs in all 50 states—including Arkansas, Oregon, Illinois, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Texas, where some of the nation’s leading freight railcar manufacturers and suppliers are struggling to maintain workforces that have already been reduced by as much as 50%. The bill also invests in our nation’s steel manufacturers, foundries and factory equipment suppliers.

It also ensures that any foreign, state-owned railcar builders—including CRRC, which has deep ties to China’s military—could not take advantage of this tax-credit program. We’ve seen how China is trying to use a COVID19-weakened U.S. and global economy to increase an already alarming market share in key industries like railcar manufacturing.

That’s why H.R. 8082 safeguards where new cars are refurbished or built, ensuring the jobs modernizing the North American freight railcar fleet remain at North American facilities that are not state-owned.

16 Railway Age // December 2020

Adding to the collective support behind the Freight RAILCAR Act are groups that represent more than 1,400 manufacturing and railway supply companies in the U.S. In a recent letter to Reps. Schneider and LaHood, these domestic freight rail manufacturing and supply groups sent a clear message: The Freight RAILCAR Act is the right bill at the right time. It moves America forward on jobs, sustainability, efficiency and security in our nation’s freight railcar industry. Without the Freight RAILCAR Act, there’s just too much to lose.

Nicole Brewin is Vice President of Government and Public Affairs at the Railway Supply Institute.

VISIONARY LEADERSHIP Merritt Canfield

If you have heard me speak at an industry conference during the past few years, the focus was “The Talent War,” the lowest unemployment in 50 years affecting businesses of all sizes and recruiting, hiring and retaining talent in a competitive market. As we look toward 2021, organizations of all sizes now must ensure they have the right strategic, visionary leaders for three critical stages of today’s business environment: pandemic recovery planning, recovery and growth. What has not changed is that there is still a high degree of competition, a talent war for these high-impact leaders and impact players who can guide organizations through these stages.

Strategic, visionary leaders are looking at how their organizations can emerge more robust. They look at the business before the pandemic, what their workforce has faced in 2020, and the focus on short- and long-term planning in every area of their organization. These leaders must lead with empathy, kindness, courage and charisma, not knowing all of what their workforce has personally faced this year but appreciating that there have been significant struggles.

More than ever, listening is vital, given the shift to a remote employee workforce or a combination “hybrid” approach with an onsite and remote workforce. These leaders are challenged to build efficiency and effectiveness in what a new normal will look like for their organization, to focus on

workforce safety in even more ways than the industry has faced, and to evaluate what is now working and what will work in the future, while motivating, driving change, communicating and being an inspiration to every level in the organization.

In October, we all watched as Microsoft, followed by many other tech companies, announced permanently allowing their workforce to work from home. This will not be feasible for most in the rail industry. Still, there will have to be a concentration in all of these stages on technologies essential for the current and future workplaces. Transparency will be critical for these leaders, no matter where their workforce will be operating.

Adaptability to drive and deliver necessary pivots to keep progressing an organization in all of these stages will be essential.

Strategic, visionary leaders are confident in the impact they have made in organizations throughout their careers. They reflect on who set examples for them, who became their most incredible mentors, and who developed their talent and why. They can undoubtedly state their measurable accomplishments at every point in their careers. They exhibit an exceptional work ethic that defines where they will continue to grow their careers.

Have you ever stopped to think about every strategic, visionary leader you have worked for in your career? In conversations, I often hear these leaders name every leader who mentored, impacted and advanced their careers. Visionary leaders in passenger and freight organizations will be thinking about pulling in new talent beginning their careers and educating them on what the industry offers, with succession planning as an essential part of these stages. Some leaders will still be able to grow their careers faster than in other industries due to retirements that will take place and the industry’s size.

The critical focus on people in an organization will be vital in the next few years. As we know, they are the biggest asset to any organization. For years, many C-suite and executive teams have faced challenges with their internal talent acquisition, recruiting, and hiring of impact players and the exceptionally talented at every level in their organizations. A global study published by McKinsey & Company focused on Fortune 500 executives and found that 82% felt they were not recruiting highly talented people. This must change in 2021 for organizations to compete and progress. railwayage.com

2021 OUTLOOK Talent acquisition efforts will be evaluated in all three stages, but the planning stage is a time to assess your processes and make sure that changes in hiring practices are concrete. Having a process in place ensures that a new hire at any level of the organization is educated in onboarding, and understands policies, procedures and expectations. Stop and think about what a new employee goes through day one, week one, month one, year one with a mixture of employees working remotely and onsite.

High impact leaders focus on the talent acquisition process and drive an exceptional onboarding experience, keeping in mind the competition for top talent and the high cost to replace talent.

Does your organization provide an exceptional talent acquisition experience? Daily, I listen to candidates talk about their talent acquisition experiences with organizations leading through global challenges. Their stories are not always positive. No matter the size of your organization, high-impact leaders concentrate on people and, ultimately, their experiences from the beginning as a new applicant to a tenured employee. Making the right hire is extremely important. The right hire will help drive innovation, ultimately delivering results and perhaps the competitive advantage needed during these times.

I believe the talent acquisition experience is crucial to an organization’s success.

It is every detail that makes a difference in

railwayage.com

that experience and often where the experience lacks. Several years ago, I worked with a client who hired multiple C-suite executives and director-level leaders. As a partner to them, I stressed that it was incredibly important to go through the candidate experience. I assisted in creating a complete interview process, including the airport, hotel, corporate headquarters interviews, locations where they would be working, nearby restaurants, and more. Each candidate knew every detail from leaving the airport, their plane touching down, to returning to airport and everything in between. The feedback was that no detail was unturned, and many I am still in touch with refer to it as a “fantastic” experience.

Years ago, in the rail industry, I had a client interviewing several candidates at their corporate headquarters. When each candidate arrived, an individual from reception greeted them, providing a great experience until the interview team was ready. These candidates had all flown in, had rented cars and had driven more than an hour from the airport.

After they interviewed, each candidate spoke to me about the incredible experience with the individual who greeted them and guided them through their interviews. After all the candidate feedback, I contacted the executive team to let them know the exceptional experience the candidates were receiving and the person responsible for it. Later, the individual got word of all the praise, contacted me to thank me, and was also ultimately promoted.

Many years later, I had the pleasure at an industry conference of meeting this charismatic individual whose career had continued to grow within the company.

My point: By providing an incredible candidate experience, you will attract and hire the right talent, start them off with a positive experience, and position them to have a long tenure in your organization. The talent acquisition process will be more cost-effective.

Developing the most robust talent acquisition and onboarding experience with five working generations, four being the majority today, will be a priority and critical to every organization. Impact leaders look closely at managing the generations, their company’s culture, and the critical things that need to happen for ultimate results. For an organization to flourish, these leaders focus on the commonalities being more important than the differences.

As Generation Z has entered the workforce, stop and consider that they have never known a life without devices, making them tech-savvy, fast learners and independent. Many need to work hard to further their compensation since many are faced with high student debt.

Next, millennials have been a big subject since they entered the workforce. They are focused on “new” ideas, social media, different ways to accomplish things, results, and career growth. They might be the best at working remotely and their constant focus on ideas may be strengths for recovery planning and recovery efforts.

December 2020 // Railway Age 17

2021 OUTLOOK Generation X is the smallest set between millennials and baby boomers, but do not forget their contributions. They are creative, shaped by technology, hardworking, independent, flexible, and communicate well, with a strong work ethic. This generation’s independence helps organizations experience less disruption, and their flexibility will help during all stages. The baby boomers did not grow up with technology but have had to learn. They are hardworking and value developing relationships and doing business face-to-face. Recognition is essential to this group. Their ability to mentor and develop other generations is vital for all organizations, given the rail industry is one of the most tenured.

The generations’ similarities are hard work, commitment and communication styles. The passion you find from workforces in the rail industry has always been strong. That passion, combined with these similarities, will be an asset in the next few years. I became an executive recruiter right out of college. I have never seen so much passion as in the rail industry.

Finding creative ways to keep that passion strong is the strength of a strategic, visionary leader during these times.

Think about forging an internal group within your organization in which every generation is represented. Walk through how a new applicant is engaged in your organization, recruited, hired, and onboarded, first month, first quarter, first year, and how they gain knowledge to help provide the best experience. This process also allows you to gain invaluable feedback about your organization’s corporate culture and market presence.

An essential fundamental step will be interviewing everyone involved in the hiring process to ensure they are on the same page and providing the same experience. Now is the time for this; it will make a difference in late recovery and growth. The remote interview challenges and the need to still see most of the final candidates in person will not change, but the above will help these leaders and your organization map a robust process. If you choose an external search firm, make sure they are a true partner to your

organization, are always providing an exceptional customer and candidate experience, are communicating with your team, are an extension of your business, and advise you in every detail throughout the process and stages.

Leading through challenge starts with talent. Strategic, visionary leaders do not only look at their experience of how they were recruited, hired, onboarded, mentored, and developed and succession-planned, but also look more broadly and closely at the process and experience a new applicant/prospective employee/candidate receives. Creating a unique, positive new employee experience can be a competitive advantage in today’s marketplace. Many organizations have challenges ahead, so it’s important to ensure that the right strategic, visionary leaders are in place. In doing so, these organizations will have a better outlook for 2021, greater ease, stronger morale and clearer vision.

Wishing you a safe and prosperous 2021.

Merritt Canfield is an Executive Search Consultant and Managing Director of 20/20 Foresight Executive Search.

STABILITY The right rail assets are critical to your company’s success As you look to grow your business, give us a chance to earn your business.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss your railcar needs.

SMBC ©2014

smbcrail.com | sales@smbcrail.com

18 Railway Age // December 2020 956626_SMBC.indd 1

railwayage.com 3/14/19 4:50 PM

We’re current, are you? FRA Regulations Mechanical Department Regulations

Now Include Part 22 s 4

A combined reprint of the Federal Regulations that apply specifically to the Mechanical Department. Spiral bound.

Part Title 210 Railroad Noise Emission Compliance Regulations Updated 4-15-19.

215 Freight Car Safety Standards Updated 7-31-19.

216 Emergency Order Procedures: Railroad Track, Locomotive and Equipment Updated 7-31-19.

217 Railroad Operating Rules Updated 7-31-19.

218 Railroad Operating Practices - Blue Flag Rule Updated 7-31-19.

221 Rear End Marking Device-passenger, commuter/freight trains Updated 7-31-19.

223 Safety Glazing Standards Updated 7-31-19.

224 Reflectorization of Rail Freight Rolling Stock Updated 7-31-19.

225 Railroad Accidents/Incidents Updated 7-31-19.

229 Locomotive Safety Standards Updated 7-31-19.

231 Safety Appliance Standards Updated 7-31-19.

232 Brake System Safety Standards Updated 7-31-19.

Part 228: Passenger Train Employee Hours of Service; Recordkeeping and Reporting; Sleeping Quarters 49 CFR 228 for records, recordkeeping, and reporting of hours of duty of a railroad employee. Also covers the construction of employee sleeping quarters and health requirements for camp cars. Softcover. Spiral bound. Updated 7-31-19

BKHS

Part 242: Conductor Certification

Order 25 or more and pay only $29.50 each

Current FRA Regulations Item Code

FRA Part #

Update effective

209 211 BKTSSAF 213 BKTSSG 213 BKWRK 214 BKFSS 215 BKROR 217 218 BKRRC 220 BKEND 221

7-31-19 7-20-09 10-7-20 10-7-20 7-31-19 7-31-19 7-31-19 7-31-19 7-31-19 7-31-19

222 228 229 230 231 237 240

7-31-19 7-31-19 7-31-19 7-31-19 7-31-19 7-31-19 7-31-19

BKSEP

BKHORN BKHS BKLSS BKSLI BKSAS BKBRIDGE BKLER

BKCONDC 242 7-31-19

BKBSS

50 or more

Each

RR Safety Enforcement Procedures & Rules of Practice Track Safety Standards (Subpart A-F) Track Safety Standards (Subpart G) RR Workplace Safety RR Freight Car Safety Standards RR Operating Rules and Practices RR Communications Rear End Marking Device, Passenger, Commuter & Freight Trains Use of Locomotive Horns Hours of Service Locomotive Safety Standards Steam Locomotive Inspection RR Safety Appliance Standards Bridge Safety Standards Qualification and Certification of Locomotive Engineers Conductor Certification

232 7-31-19 Brake System Safety Standards

30.50

27.45

10.95 10.00 10.50 8.50 10.50

9.86 9.00 9.45 7.65 9.45

6.75 6.25

6.10 5.60

14.75 12.50 12.50 25.95 10.50 7.95 14.25

13.25 11.25 11.25 23.35 9.45 7.15 12.85

12.50

11.25

Each

25 or more

16.50

14.85

FRA Part #

Update effective

Each

25 or more

BKCAD

40 219

4-23-19 Drug and Alcohol Regulations in 7-31-19 the Workplace

38.95

35.00

BKSTC

233 234 235 236 238 239

7-31-19 Signal and Train Control Systems 7-31-19 7-31-19 7-31-19 7-31-19 Passenger Safety Standards 7-31-19

21.50

19.35

25.50

22.95

Compliance Manuals BKINFRA18 BKTM

Track and Rail and Infrastructure Integrity Compliance Manual - Volume II, Track Safety Standards - Part 213 Technical Manual for Signal and Train Control Rules. - Includes Part 233, 234, 235, 236

The Conductor Certification rule (49 CFR 242) outlines details for implementing a Conductor Certification Program. The FRA implemented this rule in an effort to ensure that only those persons who meet minimum Federal safety standards serve as conductors. Softcover.

Spiral bound. Updated 7-31-19

BKCONDC

38.00

34.00

49.95

44.95

Updates from the Federal Register may be supplied in supplement form.

$12.50

Conductor Certification Order 50 or more and pay only $11.25 each

Railroad Operating Rules & Practices 49 CFR 217 to 218. Part 217: Purpose, Application, Definitions, Penalty, Operating Rules, Program of Operation Tests and Inspections; Program of Instruction on Operating Rules, Information Collection. Part 218: General Blue Signal Collection of Workers Protection of Trains and Locomotives, Prohibition against tampering with safety services, Protection of occupied camp cars. Softcover.

Spiral bound. Updated 7-31-19

BKROR

Railroad Operating Rules & Practices

$10.50

Order 50 or more and pay only $9.45 each

Part 222: Use of Locomotive Horns at Public Highway-Rail Grade Crossings 49 CFR 222. This regulation provides for safety at public highwayrail grade crossings by requiring locomotive horn use at public highway-rail grade crossings except in quiet zones established and maintained in accordance with this part. Spiral bound. Updated 7-31-19

BKHORN

Combined FRA Regulations

BKPSS

$12.50

Hours of Service of RR Employees Order 50 or more and pay only $11.25 each

$32.95

Mech. Dept. Regs.

BKMFR

FRA News: There are no new proposals or final rules to report for this issue. Be sure to check back next month to see if there are any changes to FRA regulations.

Use of Locomotive Horns Order 50 or more and pay only $13.25 each

$14.75

800-228-9670 www.transalert.com

The Railway Educational Bureau 1809 Capitol Ave., Omaha NE, 68102 I (800) 228-9670 I (402) 346-4300 www.RailwayEducationalBureau.com Add Shipping & Handling if your merchandise subtotal is: U.S.A. CAN U.S.A. CAN Orders over UP TO $10.00 $4.50 $8.75 25.01 - 50.00 11.43 18.14 $75, call for shipping 10.01 - 25.00 8.40 13.66 50.01 - 75.00 12.71 22.90 *Prices subject to change. Revision dates subject to change in accordance with laws published by the FRA. 12/20

System Safety

I

ndustry 4.0 (also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution) is a reality.

Railroads, including their partners in the transportation supply chain, are at the beginning of their journey to establishing true end-to-end digital continuity. For example: Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT); Positive Train Control (PTC) and Enhanced Train Control (ETC); and AI (artificial intelligence)-based automation such as expanding autonomous inspection to include predictive analytics for track data. How do we know that these solutions and systems are safe and that there are no lurking issues? How do we know that the integration of multiple components from vendors, partners, and even from within meet safety objectives? How do we know if safety integrity is preserved after a change is made? How do we shift the paradigm where safety moves from a cost center to a valueadded business driver?

In Part 1 (October 2020), we made the case for system safety as the necessary discipline for railroads to embed as they move forward in innovating and advancing in the 21st century.

In Part 2 (November 2020), we stepped through proven guiding principles, how they can be applied to embedding system safety, and resulting paradigm shifts; all with the goal of improving safety performance and opening up new opportunities for revenue streams.

In Part 3, we draw attention to three often neglected or not fully understood aspects of system safety practices. They are integration into the systems engineering lifecycle, designing for safety, and process-based safety performance management. By having these technical aspects in place, a system safety practice can effectively achieve its potential and influence the maturation of the organization’s safety culture.

INTEGRATING SYSTEM SAFETY INTO THE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING LIFECYCLE System Safety Engineering is the processes used to prevent accidents by identifying and eliminating or controlling hazards.

Hazards are system states or conditions that, together with a particular set of worstcase environment conditions, will lead to unsafe circumstances.

We often find that system safety is 20 Railway Age // December 2020

not connected or is in isolation from the systems engineering lifecycle. Safety ends up being handled as postmortem or backward-looking assurance activity.

The domino effect kicks-in. Safety-related design flaws are found late and are awfully expensive to fix. Arguments arise on the validity of the design flaws—trying to show they don’t need fixing. When these arguments fall apart, the efforts to deal with safety design flaws are often expensive and the solutions are not highly effective.

Redundancy (through processes, materials and software apps) is bolted on, where an optimized design would not have required this. Nowhere near ideal procedural mitigations are imposed on the operators, with the hope of better safety if they are followed.

By integrating system safety practices into the systems engineering lifecycle, costs of engineering for safety are considerably reduced, while increasing safety effectiveness and outcomes. Naturally, re-work (a form of waste) is decreased, which in turn compresses project schedules, lowers costs and lowers risks.

Figure 1 (p. 22) shows where key system safety elements fit within the systems engineering lifecycle. These elements address the various levels of safety: component failures, subsystem hazards, functional hazards, operating- and support-related hazards, software anomalies, system safety, and system of systems safety. The lifecycle is driven and monitored by business and safety objectives.

The system safety practices and deliverables elegantly fit into system development and integration lifecycles (for example, V-model, Disciplined Agile, Dev-Ops).

Preparation and approval of a system safety program plan is done at the start of a system safety program and is monitored and managed throughout the life of the program. It is a management document that describes the system safety objectives and program requirements. It provides regulators and managing or contracting agencies a basis of understanding on how the safety hazard management efforts will be integrated into the systems development or system integration process. There are seven components: 1. An Operating and Support Hazard Analysis is performed to identify hazards that may arise during operations of a system and to recommend risk

reduction alternatives or constraints during all phases of tasks or operations to ensure safety-related risks are controlled or eliminated.

2. A Subsystem Hazard Analysis is used to identify design hazards in subsystems of a larger major system. The analysis evaluates functional failures or hazardous functions of the subsystem that may result in accidental loss.

3. A System Hazard Analysis examines the entire system for its state of safety. railwayage.com

System Safety

SAFETY DOESN’T HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT

SYSTEM SAFETY PART 3: IDENTIFYING OVERLOOKED PRACTICES

Harsco Rail

BY SONIA BOT AND TONY ZENGA

It integrates the essential output of the subsystem hazard analysis to identify safety weaknesses in the total system design by analyzing the system interfaces, including safety-critical human activities or omissions. Similarly, the system of systems hazard analysis examines the entire system of systems for its state of safety.

4. A Component Level Analysis is done to provide a systematic evaluation of the components based on their railwayage.com

failure mode and effects they have at the component (local effect), subsystem (next higher), or system level (for example, train level). Each failure mode is categorized in terms of safety or service affecting severity criticality on the system being evaluated.

5. A Functional Hazard Analysis examines the system functions to identify potential functional failures or functional behavior, and classifies the hazards associated with specific

functional outcomes of failure conditions. The Functional Hazard Analysis is developed early in the development process and is updated as new functions or failure conditions are identified.

The Functional Hazard Analysis is an ongoing activity throughout the design development cycle.

6. Safety Verification provides the necessary evidence and results that hardware, software and procedures verify compliance with the safety December 2020 // Railway Age 21

System Safety

Figure 1: System safety is present at every stage of the systems engineering lifecycle.

requirements. As a closed-loop activity, the safety verification is performed by means of analyses, tests and demonstrations. When the safety test results show that the system behaves as specified, then it can be permitted to enter revenue service and monitored as changes take effect during the system lifecycle operation.

7. The Safety Case is a written demonstration of evidence and due diligence provided by an organization, such as a railroad, to demonstrate that it can operate within the risk safety margins defined in the system safety program plan.

Table 1 (p. 24) provides some examples of common gaps in the execution of system safety programs with consequences that lead to hazards and mishaps occurring.

Intrinsically, these gaps also lead to system safety projects failing or requiring unsustainable overwork. By integrating system safety into the systems engineering lifecycle, these issues are mitigated.

22 Railway Age // December 2020

SAFETY BY DESIGN System safety is well poised to deliver superior safety solutions because of its risk-based strategy and systems engineering approach.

By having a framework outlining the design order of precedence, as shown in Figure 2 (p. 23), more intentional safety solution design strategies are possible. Those tasked with implementing solutions for controlling and minimizing identified hazards work through each of the levels, with the most effective control measure at the top and least effective at the bottom.

Stepping through the levels of the control approaches, the best control possible is to eliminate the hazard completely.

Here the hazard will no longer exist and cannot cause any harm. The second-best option is to reduce the risk by altering the design, such as substituting the hazard with a different one that does not include the risk or as much risk. The next option is to isolate the hazard, by incorporating engineered features or devices, so that it is separated from people and resources

that it can harm or damage. This option is followed by the option to engineer controls such as making engineering changes to the hazardous situation to safeguard against the hazard, namely providing warning mechanisms. The lowest and least effective level of hazard control deals with incorporating signage, procedures, training and personal protective equipment (PPE).

This should be the defense of last resort; however, many see and use this as the first line of hazard mitigation.

For example, let’s look at the hazard where train overspeed results in a derailment. At the lowest level of protection, track signage and speed-related bulletins and procedures are provided for the train crew.

However, these are highly prone to human error. The introduction of PTC raises the safety protection by providing speed warnings and other engineered features such as stopping the train if the speed warnings are not properly addressed. As much as PTC reduces the overspeed derailment risk, it does not fully eliminate the overspeed derailment hazard. Imagine the full elimination of this hazard, with a solution that prevents trains from overspeeding in the first place; and trains programmed in real time to travel at the specified speeds according to track, weather, consist and other relevant conditions.

Another example deals with electric trains docked at their maintenance shop where they are powered through a 750 VDC facility connector. The hazard is that the train can move unintentionally. One consequence is that it collides with personnel, causing bodily harm or fatalities. Providing signage, floor markings, procedures and training for personnel to stay out of the way of potential unintended train movement is the lowest level of protection. The next level of protection would include a dual visualauditory warning whenever personnel cross hazardous boundaries. Higher levels of protection address the hazard at the source, such as tethering the train to prevent it from moving or reducing the power through electromechanical interlocks to safer levels to disable train propulsion.

The train overspeed derailment example shows a multi-generational and high investment approach to mitigating the hazard.

Meanwhile, the electric train example is one that adds no cost to a program when railwayage.com

System Safety addressed upfront in the assessment and definition stages of the systems engineering lifecycle; however, it becomes very costly if addressed later in the lifecycle.

A typical mistake that organizations make is in choosing a control method because its implementation is fast and easy, regardless of its required effectiveness.

Rather, each layer of the hierarchy must be assessed on its own merit from broader business feasibility criteria. Sometimes controls need to be introduced in stages, such as in a dire emergency, adopting PPE and administrative procedural controls until a more permanent and safer solution is in place.

While the best approach to every hazard is to eliminate it completely, this may not always be possible or easy to do. Tradeoffs may be required. Tradeoffs should be selected by conscientious and systematic design. Regardless of tradeoffs, the hierarchy of hazard controls still lays out where the hazard control and its associated risk reside, so that organizations and the collective partners of the ecosystem are aware of where they truly stand.

PROCESS-BASED SAFETY PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Organizations often overcomplicate performance measurement, monitoring and control, even when it comes to safety.

Often, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), measures and metrics are confounded, and data collection is haphazard. More effort and resources are spent unnecessarily. Risks of making mistakes with understanding the messages in the data, gaming the system for vanity, and ultimately misleading the business are heightened. A process-based approach alleviates these issues.

KPIs must be defined top-down with traceability from one process level to the next through a KPI tree. The KPIs must be explicitly attached to a process step, where it is clear-cut for “where and when� to take measurements, providing a clear starting point for working through investigations and interventions. See Figure 3 (p. 24).

KPIs are specifically designed to flag performance issues so that direct action can be taken. Measures and metrics do not have this feature. Instead, they are useful for investigative purposes after an issue is flagged by the KPI. KPIs, measures and railwayage.com

Figure 2: System Safety Design Order of Precedence.

metrics should be restricted to the vital few.

If you have more than a handful for a process area or level, then it’s time to simplify.

KPIs are designed to specific financial, customer and safety quality requirements. After all, a company must be good at making money top-line and bottom-line (financial KPI), attracting and retaining customers (customer KPI), and operating safely (safety KPI).

To define effective KPIs, a process architecture must be in place. Often, the process architecture definition is missing, and the various levels of process are heaped together.

This results in processes that are misaligned and poorly adaptable. Digitizing processes that are not properly designed is an exercise in futility. Instead, process areas, processes, sub processes, and detailed process flows must all be tied together in a process hierarchy. Any supporting technology solution and system must also be systematically tied into the process, as well as the data flow. As such, the traceable KPI tree can be readily put in place from the top level through to the

lower levels of the enterprise.

Many organizations only define outcome KPIs, where one needs to wait for the unfavorable outcome to occur before taking corrective action, thereby making the response a reactive one. The proactive and more effective and lower risk approach is to couple the outcome indicators with predictive ones, so that any corrective action can take place well in advance and thwart the occurrence of the unfavorable outcome. It is imperative that the predictive indicators are statistically correlated with their respective outcome indicator; otherwise there is no proof that they are true and reliable predictive indicators.

SYSTEM SAFETY IS INTEGRAL TO INDUSTRY 4.0 Railroads are committed to the opportunities fueled by Industry 4.0 and are in the early stages of transformation. Industry 4.0 requires system safety; this is not an option.

Safety is embedded in every aspect and function of the railroad.

December 2020 // Railway Age 23

System Safety

Figure 3: Relationship between Process Levels and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

was instrumental in PTC implementation on CN’s U.S. lines. Her approaches on the evolution of railroading and transportation are game changers that drive innovation and competitive advantage for adopters in a changing industry. Sonia can be reached at sdbot@botgroupinc.com.

Table 1: Examples of system safety program gaps that can serve as early indicators for hazards and mishaps to occur.

By embracing a holistic system safety program, railroads can shift safety from a business cost center to a value-added business driver. A place to start is by focusing on often overlooked or poorly understood key practices such as integration into the systems engineering lifecycle, designing for safety, and processbased safety performance management.

Guiding principles that focus on rewarding an entrepreneurial culture, exercising business rigor and relevancy, forging productive partnerships, safeguarding end-to-end flow, and fostering a learning organization well position system safety as a mechanism for railroads to leap ahead. Railroads must move quickly, though, or they risk being left behind.

Listen to the Rail Group On Air Podcast: Interview with Sonia Bot and Tony Zenga on Safety Doesn’t Happen by Accident – System Safety Coming of Age, Part 3: Identifying Overlooked Practices.

This article is based on the novella-sized white paper, “System Safety as a Value-Added 24 Railway Age // December 2020

Business Driver: The Evolution of Railroading in the Eras of Technology and Innovation.” (Bot & Zenga, July 2020).

Sonia Bot, chief executive of The BOT Consulting Group Inc., has played key roles in the inception and delivery of several strategic businesses and Sonia Bot transformations in technology, media and telecommunications companies worldwide. By utilizing methodologies in entrepreneurship, business precision, Lean Six Sigma, systems and process engineering, and organizational behavior, she’s enabled organizations to deliver breakthrough results along with providing them a foundation to continue to excel. She

Tony Zenga, owner of CMTIGroup Inc., is an accomplished specialty engineering consultant with international experience in Tony Zenga operational reliability and safety for mission critical systems. He has played key roles in the implementation of System Safety engineering programs for aerospace, defense, high tech, mass transit and rail infrastructure projects worldwide.

By leveraging his design and development experience of large-scale safetycritical systems, combined with his systems engineering knowledge, he enables organizations to deploy their systems safely into field operation. As advisor to CN, he was instrumental in the development of the PTC system safety engineering safety case and the creation of the system safety engineering discipline. Tony can be reached at tzenga@cmtigroup.com. railwayage.com

TECH FOCUS – M/W

SMOOTHING

THE WAY

Suppliers are providing freight and passenger railroads highway/ rail grade crossing surface technology that stands up to heavy traffic, in both weight and volume.

Oldcastle Infrastructure

T

BY MARYBETH LUCZAK, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

oday’s highway/rail grade crossing surfaces not only ensure motor vehicle safety and a smooth, jolt-free ride, but also offer longevity and the ability to withstand long-term freight and passenger rail traffic. Concrete, rubber, composite and timber are among the tough, resilient options available.

While railroads are looking even more closely at budgets because of the pandemic, grade crossing projects continue for many.

Chicago’s Metra commuter rail agency, for

railwayage.com

example, renews 12-15 crossings per year on the lines it controls, with both concrete and rubberized panels.

For about three years, concrete has been used for most resurfacing projects due to performance and longevity, according to the agency. It has also been using 10-foot, rather than 9-foot, ties under crossings, and securing the rail to the ties with Pandrol clips, instead of spikes and tie plates. The recent moves improve crossing stability “by distributing the load more evenly, which helps extend the life of the crossing,” Metra says.

Rubberized crossing panels are installed along the Metra Electric District branch lines “due to stray electrical current that causes accelerated wear on concrete.”

A focus for Metra is improving proactive monitoring of crossing gate and signal performance. Crossings are equipped with event recorders, but maintainers only download the collected information after a reported incident or as part of regular inspection and maintenance.

“The goal is to be able to use the railroad’s communications infrastructure to remotely December 2020 // Railway Age 25

TECH FOCUS – M/W

HiRAIL’s new single tongue and groove interlocking system is more “durable and robust.”

By the end of 2021, Metra hopes to have the hardware and software in place to test realtime monitoring at 14 crossings along the South Chicago branch of the Electric Line.

Railway Age contacted a variety of suppliers to discuss what’s new in surface technology for agencies like Metra and freight railroads, and how the pandemic is affecting business.

HIRAIL CORP. Manufactured from recycled rubber, HiRAIL Corp.’s crossing surfaces are designed for freight rail and transit customers. They not

HiRAIL Corp.

access the event recorders and monitor crossing gate and signal performance in real time,” Metra says. “We would be able to dispatch maintainers more quickly when power failures or other issues occur, and proactively monitor performance to identify any degradations, and therefore make repairs before a failure occurs.”

AMERICAN CONCRETE PRODUCTS American Concrete Products manufactures precast crossing panels and signal foundations. “Whether it’s different rail weights, tie materials, tie widths, curved, turn outs, private or public, we can create a quality crossing to meet the demand,” the company says.

Market conditions for both freight rail and transit “remain steady at best,” Railroad Sales & Services Manager Buz Hutchinson reports. “Our long-term outlook is cautious, but optimistic.” Intermodal yard activity, in particular, remains strong, while “a few transit projects are in progress or being quoted.”

ADA-compliant flangeways are now in development because transit projects will requirement them, Hutchinson adds. On the R&D side, the company is looking at “higherstrength, more-durable concrete to improve the lifetime of the crossing panels,” he says.

26 Railway Age // December 2020

railwayage.com

TECH FOCUS – M/W only move water away and improve grip, but also can be removed and reinstalled for track and trackbed maintenance.

With new fastening systems, crossties, tie plates and other track components coming into the market each year, HiRAIL ensures that its crossing surfaces can accommodate them, according to Director of Sales and Marketing Jim Overfelt. What’s new? After several years of development, the company introduced this spring a single, thicker tongue and groove interlocking system—an improvement over the traditional double tongue and groove product. It is “durable and robust for railroad crews to install,” Overfelt says, noting that customer feedback prompted the change.

As for business this year, Class I railroads have been “very good, transits are down, and contracting is steady,” Overfelt sums up.

L.B. FOSTER L.B. Foster began offering its Anti-Trespass Panel (ATP) for transit and freight rail in 2017 by partnering with Rosehill Rail as their North American distributor; it is also Rosehill’s

distributor of grade crossing panels. The products are made from 100% recycled rubber.

“While we continue to make inroads into the North American market for both products, we have seen much broader interest right now in the ATP,” General Manager, Transit Products Sarah McBrayer says. The ATP is a passive deterrent to pedestrian foot traffic, and can be used for highway/rail grade crossings, platforms, right-of-ways and yard entrances.

“Like our customizable grade crossing panel solutions, ATPs are available in several different styles to accommodate our customers’ specific site requirements,” McBrayer says. “Recently redesigned, the ATPs’ unique cone profile provides an uneven surface that discourages trespassers.” The Federal Railroad Administration published a study last year evaluating the effectiveness of the ATPs on pedestrian behavior, indicating there was a 38% reduction in trespassing incidents over a 60-day period, McBrayer says. Several large transit agencies are installing ATPs with the intent to implement system-wide, while others are testing them; freight railroads have also shown interest.

RAIL NEWS DELIVERED TO YOU AT HIGH SPEED

LT RESOURCES, INC. Market conditions for LT Resources’ ENDURANCE®-XL Highway-Rail Grade Crossings have “remained fairly stable during 2020, with increased demand expected for 2021,” says President Linda Thomas. “The COVID-19 crisis has been somewhat challenging as funds and resources have been redirected to areas most in need, with a number of projects originally scheduled for 2020 being delayed until 2021.”

Railroads continue to look for cost-saving options, she says, as well as products with long-term performance and reduced maintenance and replacement costs. Most often requested: the ENDURANCE®-XL HighwayRail Composite Grade Crossings, which use durable, recycled polymer materials for installation in all types of applications. The 8-foot, 1-1/2-inch panels are manufactured in 6-inch, 7-1/2-inch and 8-1/4-inch heights for use with most rail sizes and fastening systems, Thomas says. They are lagged down to 8-foot, 6-inch or 10-foot timber or composite crossties on 19-1/2-inch centers.

T tal Track Management

Anti-Trespass Panels An essential safety solution that deters pedestrian traffic in rail grade crossings

A recent FRA study indicates a 38% reduction in pedestrian trespassing incidents when using our Anti-Trespass Panels.

RAIL From Railway Age, RT&S and IRJ GROUP http://bit.ly/rail_news NEWS

ROUND-UP of NEWS STORIES FROM:

CONTACT: RAILWAY AGE, RT&S Jennifer and IRJ Rohr jrohr@lbfoster.com 412.295.2132

lbfoster.com

December 2020 // Railway Age 27

railwayage.com QtrPage_ATP_Ad.indd 1

5/19/2020 9:14:23 AM

TECH FOCUS – M/W

The latest cement technology, fiber reinforcement, admixtures and sealers are boosting Omega’s concrete crossing panel longevity, according to the company.

“Our ‘complete’ grade crossing system, including TIETEK® composite ties for use under ENDURANCE-XL composite panels, not only extends the life of the crossing, but also addresses our customers’ corporate sustainability goals and their desire to utilize

durable ‘green’ products with improved performance features,” she says. Both panels and ties can be recycled.

LT Resources plans to introduce several new products and services next year, Thomas adds.

OLDCASTLE INFRASTRUCTURE “We came into 2020 with a significant backlog for crossings in both transit and freight rail,” reports Wayne Wendel, company Account Manager-StarTrack Rail Products. “Current market conditions are good for grade crossing products. The longer-term outlook is positive.”

Oldcastle Infrastructure is delivering StarTrack grade crossing modules for the Minneapolis Southwest LRT project, which is extending the Green Line 14.5 miles, and for the Tacoma Way project in Washington state.

In addition, the company will provide modules for the Houston, Texas, ROC (Rail Operations Center) Tie project. On the freight rail side, it is supplying modules for BNSF, Kansas City Southern and Union Pacific projects.

As for new products, “Oldcastle has brought the Cubis MultiDuct product line to the U.S. and Canada to be incorporated into grade crossing projects,” Wendel says. “We are currently involved with several industry partners to develop new products specific to the rail sector.”

www.amconco.com

RAIL

From Railway Age, GROUP RT&S and IRJ NEWS

Omega Industries

STAY IN GEAR WITH RAIL GROUP NEWS

ROUND-UP of NEWS STORIE

RAILWAY AGE

http://bit.ly/rail_news

28 Railway Age // December 2020

railwayage.com RA_RailGroupNews_1-6Vertical_InGear_2019.indd 1

3/4/19 1:15 PM

TECH FOCUS – M/W OMEGA INDUSTRIES “The crossing industry appears to be immune from the current COVID19 virus,” says Mark Mottola, National Sales Manager for Omega Industries, which offers a line of crossing panels. “In fact, it may be part of the reason demand was so high the first quarter of this year. Railroads, states and cities took advantage of workers staying home and lower vehicle traffic counts to complete long-overdue crossing rehabilitation projects.”

Mottola reports that many of Omega’s transit projects requiring grade crossings continue to move forward with new safety protocols in place to protect workers. The company is supplying crossing panels for projects in Seattle, Wash.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Dallas, Texas; New Jersey; and San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles, Calif.

Orders for main line and short line rail crossings “have been very good,” he says, “and all indications are that they will remain high into the new year.” These customers are requesting precast concrete panels “due to their durability and long service life,” he adds.

As concrete technology continues to evolve, “we make sure we are using the latest cement technology, fiber reinforcement, admixtures and sealers to increase concrete crossing panel life,” Mottola says. In addition, because building steel-clad concrete crossing panels can be “very labor intensive,” Omega is “exploring ways to further streamline and automate our manufacturing process,” he says.

OMNI PRODUCTS, INC. Market conditions have been favorable for OMNI Products, as well.

“Because of continuous design improvements and overall quality of all of our many grade crossing options, whether it be concrete, or our selection of solid virgin rubber crossings, or our tub-style designs, customers are keeping us busy well into 2021 and beyond,” says OMNI’s Rob Greenside, who has worked for grade crossing manufacturers for 25 years.

The company has been producing and supplying its solid virgin rubber, heavy-duty crossing panels for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and will be delivering its latest concrete tub-style design, TraCast 2, to Alaska in spring 2021. In addition, OMNI is supplying concrete panels for Florida’s Brightline intercity rail system.

The company continues to make product line improvements. Its concrete module panels now include a “bolt-down, solid heavy-duty rubber seal,” Greenside says. “This design is ideal for highway, industrial, port and transit.” He reports that another concrete grade crossing product is the IC/IC (improved concrete) design using OMNI’s solid heavy-duty rubber on both the gauge and field sides. It can handle heavy highway traffic, along with heavier axle weight. “We designed this solidmolded (not hollow-extruded) rubber to absorb all of the shock and stresses encountered with wheel traffic instead of the head of the rail being the target of these forces,” Greenside says.

STELLA-JONES A supplier of pressure-treated wood products in a variety of select wood species, Stella-Jones produces crossing panels with “timbers that are dowel-laminated side-by-side to make a panel set that will lay adjacent to steel rails on top of ties. The timber depth is manufactured to closely match the rail height, allowing for vehicles to cross railroad tracks at a relatively smooth transition without damage to the railroad.” Current and longer-term market conditions are stable, reports Director of Bridge & Special Projects Michael Collins, and customers are asking for “a continuation of consistent supply of quality products.” railwayage.com

December 2020 // Railway Age 29

PTC 2.0

Let’s get moving planning and implementing the technology to achieve the business benefits envisioned when the first PTC systems were being developed.

BY EILEEN REILLY, CEO, GLOBAL TRAIN SERVICES LLC

30 Railway Age // December 2020

railwayage.com

Global Train Services LLC

T

railwayage.com

he National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made its first recommendation calling for automatic train control in 1970; 20 years later in 1990, the need for a safety redundancy system on railroads still existed. Positive Train Separation (which was renamed Positive Train Control in 2001) was first placed on the NTSB Most Wanted List that year, and continues with the 2019-2020 Most Wanted List, as number four: “Fully Implement PTC.” To set the stage, here is some background on PTC: In 2008, Congress passed and the President signed the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 requiring PTC systems to be fully implemented

by Dec. 31, 2015, on freight railroad lines with hazmat traffic and/or with regularly scheduled intercity or commuter rail passenger service. The federally mandated PTC systems use communication-based and processor-based train control technology to reliably and functionally prevent train-to-train collisions, overspeed derailments, incursions into established work zone limits, and movements of trains through switches in the wrong position. In October 2015, Congress extended the deadline for full implementation until Dec. 31, 2020, with a Dec. 31, 2018 interim deadline that required the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to approve any railroad’s request for an “alternative schedule and sequence” by the final deadline.

The final deadline is close. In the Nov. 18, 2020 on line article “PTC: 0.4% To Go (!),” Railway Age reported that the railroads continue to make progress toward the Dec. 31, 2020 deadline. “Full implementation of PTC is in sight, owing to everyone’s unparalleled cooperation and determination,” said FRA Administrator Ronald L. Batory. “I’m incredibly proud of the intensive collaborations we have forged. Once complete, railroads, rail workers and rail passengers will all benefit from this transformational accomplishment in railroad safety.”

Now is the time to start planning and implementing what is next: PTC 2.0. As said by Frank D. Roskind (Positive Train Control Systems Economic Analysis,

PTC 2.0 FRA-2006-0132, Notice No. 1, July 10, 2009, pp. 140-144.), “Some of the costs of PTC implementation, operation and maintenance may be offset by business benefits, especially in the long run, although there is uncertainty regarding the timing and level of those benefits.

Economic and technical feasibility of the necessary system refinements and modifications to yield the potential business benefits has not yet been demonstrated.”

It is time to achieve those potential business benefits that Roskind documented in his economic analysis and help pay the maintenance costs needed to ensure that PTC systems remain in a state of good repair to provide the safety needed and provide the economic benefits that railroads need to stay competitive in the transportation arena.

PTC systems as implemented have provided most of the safety benefits that were promised, but at a high economic cost and reduction in the train velocity of the U.S. rail network. Further safety improvements need to be implemented, as well as the economic benefits that have been anticipated.

The following description of a PTC system was posted on FRA’s website from 2002 through 2012: “PTC systems are comprised of digital data link communications networks, continuous and accurate positioning systems such as GPS, on-board computers with digitized maps on locomotives and maintenanceof-way equipment, in-cab displays, throttle/brake interfaces on locomotives, wayside interface units at switches and wayside detectors, and control center computers and displays. PTC systems may also interface with tactical and strategic traffic planners, work order reporting systems, and locomotive health reporting systems. PTC systems issue movement authorities to train and maintenance-of-way crews, track the location of the trains and maintenanceof-way vehicles, have the ability to automatically enforce movement authorities, and continually update operating data systems with information on the location of trains, locomotives, cars, and crews. PTC’s remote intervention capability permits the control center to stop a train should the locomotive crew December 2020 // Railway Age 31

PTC 2.0 be incapacitated. In addition to providing a greater level of safety and security, PTC systems also enable a railroad to run scheduled operations and provide improved running time, greater running time reliability, higher asset utilization, and greater track capacity. They will assist railroads in measuring and managing costs and in improving energy efficiency.”

It is time to realize the FRA’s vision for PTC and integrate new and existing technologies to move to PTC 2.0. The integration with tactical and strategic traffic planners is already under way with some of the Class I railroads, but is still out of reach for many short line and regional railroads. For those railroads that are implementing Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), PTC is an enabling technology for PSR that provides an origin-to-destination management view through accurate train locations and speed.

Many Class I locomotives are equipped with throttle adjustment recommendations for the crew to manually implement, and others can be controlled by the locomotive automatic throttle control that will adjust the train speed based on the schedule to which the train is to adhere. Trains that are moving at schedule speed use less fuel, and don’t arrive earlier than scheduled, where there is no available arrival track or yard crew to take over the train.

Just as important for the train to arrive when it is scheduled are locomotives positioned properly to go on the next scheduled run, improving asset utilization, and cars are delivered to their customer on-time, to be unloaded/loaded when the customer has a crew available, increasing the car utilization. The PTC communications network including Interoperable Train Control Messaging (ITCM), allows for locomotive health status messages from PTC or other sensors to be sent to the owning railroad on a regular basis, no matter where the PTC train is or what railroad it is operating on.

If a train breaks down, the exact location of the train is known so that a maintenance crew can be dispatched to the correct location to remove the train from the main line quickly and reduce the amount of train traffic that needs to be diverted, if possible, impacting train velocity and requiring crews that “go dead on the law” to picked up and replaced at a location other than a scheduled crew-change point.

32 Railway Age // December 2020

One technology that needs to be considered is the use of additional satellite arrays and frequency bands provided by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

While the U.S. GPS system is the most prevalent GNSS, Galileo is a global GNSS owned and operated by the European Union and approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to be used for critical infrastructure to provide PVT (position, velocity and time). This includes U.S. railroads.

The U.S. began a GPS modernization program, and in 2005, GPS L2C became available. It enabled development of dual- and multi-frequency GNSS receivers to correct for ionospheric group delay, and provide for faster signal acquisition,

“it is time to realize the FRA’s vision and integrate new and existing technologies to move to PTC 2.0” enhanced reliability and greater operating range with higher effective power than the legacy L1 C/A signal, making it easier to receive a signal under trees and even indoors. The L2C full availability capacity is managed with 24 satellites.

On July 30, 2010, the U.S. government and European Union (EU) and its member states announced the conclusion, after an initial phase of consultations, affirming user interoperability and enhanced performance of combined GPS and Galileo receivers. Galileo reached its full operation capability in 2019. With two GPS bands and Galileo operational, GNSS receivers became multi-constellation, multi-band technology, with advanced interference mitigation. Augmentation options including the highest accuracy option of Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) corrections sent from fixed base station receivers 25 to 40 miles apart

reduce the error for roving receivers by eliminating satellite and atmospheric error and providing centimeter accuracy.

The addition of a third satellite constellation would provide additional improvement in availability and reliability over using GPS alone, or GPS and Galileo, with more satellites at a higher latitude orbit for the GNSS receiver to use. Efforts are under way to seek approval for the use of the Russian GLONASS System as part of the PVT solution for PTC. GLONASS will increase availability and reliability if GPS and/or Galileo are down or if there is radio frequency (RF) interference, since it is in a different RF band. GLONASS offers increased accuracy at higher latitudes, in urban canyons or terrain that blocks the open sky, or in tree foliage that obscures the open sky. Security needs to be proven, and methods to monitor and remove, if needed, GLONASS constellation signals from a PVT solution before approval will be granted, and work is under way. Inertial measurement units are integrated with GNSS receivers using Kalman filtering that further provides a high degree of confidence in PVT accuracy that allows for distinguishing between parallel tracks.

Train location is critical to keep trains moving, and increased availability will keep trains from stopping when an invalid GNSS message is received. Safety is increased for trains when a train’s initial location can be established without human input that can be in error, with the potential that a train enters PTC controlled track where it has no movement authority but another train does.

Highly accurate train location and GNSS equipment integrated with an end-of-train (EOT) device allows reverse or backup moves to be protected from train-to-train collisions. The technology can be used to detect if the train in a siding has part of its consist fouling the main line, or if a pullapart (coupler failure) has occurred, so that actions can be taken for other trains that are going to use the same track segment. The increased location accuracy will allow an overly conservative brake enforcement algorithm to reduce the minimum safety buffer, improving capacity, since the position of an entire consist is now highly accurate.

Once an accurate location is known for a train, the need to use track circuits to determine the block(s) a train is occupying is railwayage.com

PTC 2.0 removed. Track circuits can still be used to determine if a broken rail exists on higher speed lines, or newer acoustical broken rail technology can be deployed, since track circuits will not be used to establish train location. Track circuits may still be used at turnouts to provide for point locking, but the number of track circuits can be dramatically reduced, thus reducing fixedasset maintenance cost. In “dark territory” where wayside signals are absent and formbased authorities such as track warrants are used to control trains, PTC has been very effective in reducing mistakes caused by the verbal read and repeat cycle, and warns or stops the train as it approaches the end of its movement authority.

Wireless grade crossings with highly accurate, reliable GNSS train location messages will ensure that the time the crossing gates are down directly correlates to train speed, instead of a fixed time based on the worst-case time for a train to approach the crossing. Highway users are less likely to try to “beat” the train, and traffic can continue to move at busy intersections for a longer period of time.

As signaling equipment has developed, there have been many refinements to the fixed-block system. However, by removing fixed blocks and enabling moving-block train control, the distance between trains can vary according to their speed in relation to each other. Each train transmits its identity, location, direction and speed to a safety server that makes the calculations for safe train separation and transmits this to the following train. The communication from the train is continuously updating its location to the safety server and transmits to the following train the locations of the train in front so that braking distance is calculated by the following train and can follow at the appropriate, safe maximum operating speed, with enforced braking curves.

Moving-block benefits include increasing the rail line capacity, reducing headways between trains, and reducing wayside signal equipment, which is very expensive to maintain since it is widely distributed along the railroad right-of-way; exposed to variable climate conditions, vandalism and theft; and difficult to troubleshoot on busy track segments where time to get to the trouble spot may be difficult. The need to install new wayside equipment will be railwayage.com

reduced and possibly eliminated.

For roadway workers, the FRA vision for PTC has not been achieved yet. The requirement of PTC to reliably and functionally prevent incursions into established work zones without receiving appropriate authority and verification from the dispatcher or roadway worker in charge is still handled by roadway workers giving verbal permission, followed by the train crew acknowledging permission on a cab display screen.

After such manual acknowledgement, the train’s display shows maximum authorized speed, even if the speed was reduced due to track work. The process is still prone to human error that should be reduced. Technology needs to be implemented to allow roadway workers to electronically communicate train speed movement authority. If communication is not available between the train and the roadway worker, messages can be relayed through the dispatcher, where an electronic message can be sent that provides speed and authorization to move.

Roadway workers, both inexperienced and seasoned veterans, have deployed on-track equipment on unauthorized tracks, with catastrophic consequences.

With advances in PTC, it is now possible with highly accurate GNSS receivers and RTK corrections to ensure that on-track equipment is deployed in the correct location, with alerts and warnings if the wrong location is detected. This same technology can be used to show where trains and other roadway workers are located in their on-track equipment display. All roadway workers and on-track equipment in a shared authority should be protected from exceeding their authority, but also be warned, based on their proximity to each other and to moving trains, that they are too close.

The technology exists. It is time to begin implementing this safety-critical function.

Finally, by using highly accurate GNSS devices installed in on-track equipment or hand-held devices to mark the locations of temporary speed restriction boundaries and work zones, electronically transmitting their location to the dispatcher, temporary speed restrictions and work zones issued to the train will be highly accurate, since they would be calculated from the same track database and GNSS receivers used on board.

This will allow a train to reduce speed prior to entering a work zone, rather than

reducing it within a work zone, or worse, passing the speed restriction location, which can cause a serious incident. This same GNSS receiver and equipment can be used to mark the exact location of any critical features that have been relocated or replaced, following maintenance. Safety is improved for track workers and train crews when the track database remains accurate through the life of the PTC system.

These are only some of the improvements to railroad as well as public safety.

The economic benefits can help defray the on-going maintenance of PTC. The railroad industry has done an excellent job completing this first phase of complex and expensive PTC. Now is the time to plan and then implement technology to achieve the business benefits envisioned when the first PTC systems were being developed.

Eileen Reilly is CEO of Global Train Services (GTS), which she founded in 2018 in response to the growing need for technology experts in the Eileen Reilly railroad industry.

Advanced train control technology is GTS’s specialty, creating software tools to further railroad safety and generate operational efficiencies by leveraging data derived from existing railroad systems. GTS can also provide compliance consultation to railroads working toward meeting full implementation of PTC. GTS is a member of ASLRRA’s Preferred Provider Program, offering PTC implementation, support and grant writing services at a discounted rate through ASLRRA’s Member Discount Program.

Reilly was formerly Vice President of Advanced Train Controls at the Alaska Railroad. She has successfully developed, implemented and lobbied for advanced rail safety systems since 1993, with a specific focus on PTC for the past 22 years, while participating as a member of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) to develop new regulatory standards for the Federal Railroad Administration.

December 2020 // Railway Age 33

AMTRAK’S FASTENERSFUTURE

Amtrak’s goal isn’t profitability. It’s expanding service to millions of Americans who are underserved.

DEFINING AMTRAK’S

I

t has been an honor to serve on the Amtrak Board for the past decade. I am extremely proud of the hardworking employees at Amtrak who keep America moving. Our current circumstances remind us of just how fortunate we are to have their commitment and dedication. It is because of their efforts that Amtrak began 2020 in the strongest position since we were created nearly 50 years ago. Ridership, revenue and financial performance were at record levels. With the support of our state partners, Amtrak was on track to generate revenues exceeding operating expenses for the first time ever. The company began preparing for nextgeneration Acela trains, and had a bold vision of expanding train service in new and existing corridors across the country.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the nation in March, Amtrak quickly reacted to protect the health and safety of our customers and employees and maintain services for essential travelers and trips. We, like all transportation providers, were hit especially hard by

34 Railway Age // December 2020

the pandemic, with ridership plummeting by 97% in only a matter of weeks. We took immediate actions to stabilize the company and reduced capacity across the network in order to conserve resources for the uncertain future ahead. Emergency funding from Congress helped us survive this initial shock, but the continued 80% reduction in our ridership and the lack of any additional federal support so far has required us to make very painful decisions to temporarily reduce our workforce and longdistance train frequencies.

These furloughs and service reductions represent the single-most difficult decision we have made as a company in the past decade. I know that our Board and management are fully committed to recalling employees and restoring service levels as soon as we can. We are hopeful that our federal stakeholders will recognize Amtrak’s importance to communities across the nation and promptly provide the support we need to restore and recover.

In this context, I would like to provide

some perspective on the Board’s view regarding the future of Amtrak, and address suggestions that Amtrak’s focus is on “profitability” and concerns about the future of long-distance service.

Let me start with the notion of making Amtrak “profitable.” Profitability is not Amtrak’s mission. Our mission, as defined by Congress, is “to provide efficient and effective intercity passenger rail mobility consisting of high-quality service that is trip-time competitive with other intercity travel options.” As our governing statute has recognized since the 1970s, Amtrak will never generate enough revenue to be profitable from an accounting perspective, i.e., to fully fund its operating and capital needs.

Mobility is not a moneymaker if you have to pay for 100% of the cost of getting from point A to point B. No mode of passenger transportation fully pays for itself. Airline tickets, the cost of driving, and commuter train and bus fares would all be prohibitively expensive if users had to fund all railwayage.com

William C. Vantuono

TRUE MISSION

BY TONY COSCIA, CHAIRMAN, AMTRAK BOARD OF DIRECTORS

AMTRAK’S FUTURE costs associated with them. Even our roads and interstates, which road advocates used to love saying were “user funded,” require billions in subsidies each year, with the feds now providing more than $157 billion in general revenue subsidies for the insolvent Highway Trust Fund since 2008. And, of course, airlines don’t build airports, and government at various levels provides substantial subsidies to transit systems. The costs of intercity passenger rail just happen to mostly run through Amtrak, and as a result the full expense of our mode is easier to see. Given this, Amtrak funding has always been a target by critics and competitors that like to forget the subsidization that occurs across all modes.

Facing such an environment, Amtrak has had to try to make the best possible use of its limited resources in order to advance vital capital projects and make a case for greater investment to support our mission. As longterm observers of our business, many of you know that Amtrak has never been provided the necessary public investments we’ve needed to truly serve our nation and thrive.

We’ve always been forced to prioritize keeping the railroad running over making improvements, expanding the network and modernizing our services. When you hear us talk about improving the economics of our services and our company, it is not because we are trying to “turn a profit,” but rather because we must try to stretch our woefully limited funding further, so we can keep our trains running

safely and address urgent investment needs.

Additionally, when we demonstrate good efficiency and the ability to be effective financial stewards, we create a stronger company that more easily attracts public investment. It is too easy for detractors to point to examples of inefficiency as a reason to not invest in the future of Amtrak, and we need to take away that argument every day. By virtually eliminating operating losses prior to the pandemic, we have been able to use federal dollars for record amounts of capital investments in new rolling stock and critical improvements instead of operating losses, as we had to in the past.

Amtrak’s goal isn’t to declare dividends, but to expand service to the millions of Americans who are underserved today across our nation.

There are many communities that have no Amtrak service at all, including major cities like Phoenix, Columbus and Nashville. This is just plain wrong. These cities and their residents produce substantial tax revenues for the federal government, but they get none of that back in the form of Amtrak service, despite having the population and other conditions to warrant it. Our plan to expand the system is not a substitute for long-distance service, but a desire for our national network to become more viable and more meaningful to the whole nation.

We recognize the critical role that longdistance routes already play in communities across America. These trains provide essential transportation and contribute to both economic opportunity and quality of life in

places that have long ago been abandoned by the airlines and bus carriers. By creating corridors around the nation that are interconnected by current long-distance routes, we can enhance the viability of long-distance service and make the national network more essential, not less.

It is important that we all work together to make sure this happens. We can’t let protectors of rural services provided by our long-distance network be indifferent to the many cities we fail to serve today. And, our Northeast Corridor can only achieve the stable investment levels it needs if leaders from that region find a way to replicate its success in other growing corridors in the nation.

We need all stakeholders to both protect our existing routes and provide the capital for expansion. We need additional federal funding to cover the Tony Coscia massive revenue losses that Amtrak and our state partners are experiencing due to COVID-19. We need investment in stations, infrastructure, and a modern fleet to replace equipment that Amtrak received when I was in high school. These are Amtrak’s priorities in the years to come. Our hope is that government stakeholders, our host railroads and the public can share these commitments, and we can see a new era of passenger rail unfold in the United States.

Partnering for success LTK is proud to join the Hatch team.

Together we can solve your toughest challenges with expanded and innovative services.

Contact us at www.ltk.com

railwayage.com

December 2020 // Railway Age 35

People / Events MICHAEL CARTER Amsted Rail

HIGH PROFILE: Chicago-based Amsted Rail has appointed Michael Carter President, succeeding John Wories. Carter has spent 30 years working for divisions of parent company Amsted Industries, including as CFO of Amsted Rail, a truck assembly and end-of-car component supplier for the freight and passenger rail markets. He served most recently as President of Amsted Seals. Carter also held positions at the divisions of Griffin Pipe Products and Griffin Wheel (in finance and information technology) and Burgess Norton (as VP Finance). “Michael has a passion for results, leadership skills and understanding of Amsted Rail’s culture, customers, strategy, people and products,” Amsted Industries Chairman and CEO Stephen Smith said. “I’m confident he will lead Amsted Rail as its core business continues to provide premier value to our customers while maximizing operational efficiency and cash flow. Michael’s leadership will also bring perspective to the digital and adjacent growth opportunities that Amsted Rail is pursuing.” Wories is stepping down from his leadership role after a 50-year career. While serving as President, he led the “largest Amsted business, year-overyear delivering stellar performance,” according to the company. “John’s leadership, values and relentless demand for exceptional results will be greatly missed, though I am pleased that John will remain available for consultation in the role of senior advisor,” Smith said. “I expect John to continue to make a valuable contribution to the company moving forward.”

N

orfolk Southern named John Hatfield Vice President Corporate Communications and promoted Kathleen Smith to Vice President Business Development and Real Estate, succeeding Robert Martínez, who retired Dec. 1. Hatfield has more than 30 years of public and community relations experience, and served most recently as Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs for energy provider Arizona Public Service. Effective Jan. 1, he will assume his new role at NS, which includes overseeing the Norfolk Southern Foundation. Smith joined NS in 1995 as a management trainee, and has held roles of increasing responsibility in the railroad’s Marketing Division, where she focused on research, market planning and analysis. Prior to serving as Group Vice President Chemicals in the Industrial Products Group, she was Group Vice President Automotive in the Intermodal/Automotive Group. “During more than 23 years with Norfolk Southern, Rob Martínez played an integral role in some of the company’s largest and most strategic business initiatives,” said chief executive Jim Squires. “Rob is recognized across the industry for his integrity and diplomacy. We are a stronger and more competitive railroad through his efforts, and he will be missed.”

36 Railway Age // December 2020

december 16, 2020

2020 BIG DATA IN RAILROAD MAINTENANCE PLANNING VIRTUAL CONFERENCE Presented by the University of Delaware Newark Campus, the 2020 Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference is intended to expand on previous years’ conferences and introduce new and emerging analysis techniques, and to show how they can be applied to the large volume of inspection data collected by railways to improve their planning of the critical capital and maintenance programs. But due to the ongoing coronavirus issues, the 2020 Conference will be held virtually.

This was not an easy decision, but the University of Delaware has cancelled all on-campus conferences and meetings in the interest of health and safety. The conference organizers and

John W. “Jack” Barriger IV, eldest son of legendary railroad executive and promoter John Barriger III, died Nov. 20 at his home in Kenilworth, Ill. He was 93. Barriger was a career railroader, beginning with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, where he spent 36 years. He worked his way through the operating ranks, to Vice President and Assistant to the President. He later served as a Vice President of the Chicago, Missouri & Western Railroad. After his retirement from the carriers, Barriger stayed active as a consultant, serving R. L. Banks & Associates, as well as becoming a Senior Advisor to PTSI Transportation. The majority of Barriger’s post-retirement years were spent working on the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, which he co-founded with his brother, Stanley H. Barriger (who also spent his career in the rail industry), in 1984. The Library is part of the St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. John Barriger III, Jack’s father, traveled throughout the nation photographing and documenting railroads.

The Library houses his photographs, along with his collection of more than 15,000 books on railroads. John Barriger III was the author of the noted book, published by SimmonsBoardman, Super-Railroads for a Dynamic American Economy.

sponsors hope that you will join us in the virtual mode. Contact Dr. Allan Zarembski (dramz@udel.edu) for more information.

January 5-29, 2021

TRB ANNUAL MEETING, A VIRTUAL EVENT The meeting program will cover all transportation modes, addressing topics of interest to policymakers; administrators; practitioners; researchers; and representatives of government, industry and academic institutions. A number of sessions and workshops will focus on the spotlight theme: Launching a New Century of Mobility and Quality of Life. This meeting will also feature dozens of sessions on how COVID-19 has impacted transportation and how professionals and researchers are responding. Committee Meetings: January 5–8 and 11–15.

Sessions & Exhibits: January 21–22 and 25–29. http://www.trb.org/ AnnualMeeting/AnnualMeeting.aspx. railwayage.com

The Railway Educational Bureau BOOKS - Railroad Resources New Childre n Book s

Single Car Air Brake Test Procedures Manual Updated 2018. Everyone using the Single Car Test Device to check their air brake system will benefit from this manual. Compliant with the latest Code of Air Brake System Tests for Freight Equipment: AAR Standard S-486.

The book is divided into two sections: Test Procedure Flowcharts and Job Aids. The Test Procedures Flowchart section is derived from the current code. The Job Aid section contains inspection, adjustment and testing information for the components found on a freight car. It was derived from procedures supplied by product manufacturers. Softcover, spiral bound. 172 pages.

BKSCTD

$36.95

Public Transportation:

New Edition!

2020 Emergency Response Guidebook

From the Tom Thumb Railroad to Hyperloop and Beyond

by Paul Comfort Beautifully illustrated pictures and fun facts will enthrall kids ages 5-15. Each page brings children to a different era and type of public mobility from horse drawn carriages to the first subways, buses, light rail vehicles and maglev trains. Along the way they can picture themselves riding these fun vehicles and traveling to their destinations. Then children see how the future will be amazing with autonomous vehicles, Hyperloop and Vertical Take Off and Landing Aircraft (VTOL) shuttling them to a new era of public transportation. Softcover, 31 pages.

BKPUBLICTR

$9.95

2020 Edition. A guide to aid first responders in quickly identifying the specific or generic hazards of the material(s) involved in the incident, and protecting themselves and the general public during the initial response phase of the incident. Items in the book include: Safety precautions * Who to call for assistance in United States, Canada and Mexico. * How to use the Guidebook during an incident involving dangerous goods. * Hazardous Classification System. Soft cover, 400 pages.

BKERG

$8.95

General

Freight Car

Track

Railroader: The Unfiltered Genius and Controversy of Four-Time CEO Hunter Harrison • BKHUNTER • $27.99*

The Double Stack Container Car Manual • BKDOUBLE • $19.50

Basic Principles of Track Maintenance • BKTMB • $140.00

Diesel-Electric Locmotives • by Walter Simpson • BKDIESEL • $45.00

Mechanical Department Regulations • (Parts 210, 215, 216, 217, 218, 221, 223, 224, 225, 229, 231, & 232) • BKMFR • $32.95 Train Wreck: The Forensics of Rail Disasters • Soft Cover • BKTW • $24.95* American Steam Locomotives, Design and Development, 1880-1960 • BKASL • $40.00* The Railroad: What It Is, What It Does 5th Edition • BKRRNN • $46.95 Emergency Responder's Guide to Railroad Incidents • BKERGRAIL • $33.00* The Great Railroad War: United States Railway Operations During World War I • BKWAR • 25.00* Operations Managing Railroad Transportation • BKMRT • 39.95* Railway Operations and Control - Third Edition • BKROC • $39.95* Railroad Operations and Railway Signaling • BKRORS • $28.00 * No bookseller discounts available. **Maps shipped internationally will have additional charges.

The Basics of Railroad Wheels • BKWHEEL • $25.75 Guide to Freight Car Couplers and Draft Gear Systems • BKCDG • $67.95

Doorway to Safety With Boxcar Doors • BKBD • $23.50 Freight Cars: Lettering and Marking • BKK2CBK • $26.50

Guide to Freight Car Trucks • BKFCT • $89.95

Locomotive Guide to Locomotive Mechanical Maintenance - SD & GP Locomotives • BKGLMM • $37.50 Guide Locomotive Electrical Maintenances • BKGLEM • $46.75 Fuel Saving Techniques for Railroads - The Railroader's Guide to Fuel Conservation • BKFUEL2 • $29.50 Guide to North American Diesel Locomotives • BKGNADL • $27.99* Maps 2014 Railroads of Continental United States Wall Map (laminated) • MPWML14 • $47.95* ** 2007 Edition Railroads of Canada Map (laminated) • MPRRCAN • $99.00* **

The Art and Science of Rail Grinding • BKGRIND • $145.00 Railway Geotechnics • BKGEOTECH • $220.00* Transit Development and Operation of New York's IRT and BMT • by Al Fazio • BKNYIRT • $59.95 Elements of Planning, Engineering and Operating Light Rail with Applications in New Jersey • by Al Fazio • BKEPEO • $59.95

Shipping Rates:

Add the following shipping and handling if your merchandise subtotal is: UP TO $10.00 10.01 - 25.00 25.01 - 50.00 50.01 - 75.00 75.01 -100.00 100.01 - 150.00 150.01 - 200.00 200.01 - 300.00

U.S.A. $4.50 8.40 11.43 12.71 15.16 17.42 20.17 24.49

CAN $8.75 13.66 18.14 22.90 30.19 39.53 53.08 66.10

U.S.A. CAN 300.01 - 400.00 28.80 79.65 400.01 - 500.00 33.23 92.93 500.01 - 600.00 37.90 105.97 600.01 - 700.00 42.56 121.93 700.01 & up (Appropriate charges applied)

To order, call

1-800-228-9670 or visit www.transalert.com The Railway Educational Bureau 1809 Capitol Ave., Omaha NE, 68102 (800) 228-9670 I (402) 346-4300 www.RailwayEducationalBureau.com

EQUIPMENT SALE/LEASING

STAY IN GEAR WITH RAIL GROUP NEWS

RECRUITMENT EDNA A. RICE, EXECUTIVE RECRUITER, INC. The world’s most accomplished executive search firm specializing in the rail and transportation industries. With 31 years’ experience, we possess the industry-specific knowledge and expertise needed to consistently deliver the exceptional results one would expect for both our clients and our candidates.

1500 Marina Bay Drive, Suite 125 Clear Lake Shores, TX 77565

(713) 667-0406 www.ednarice.com info@ednarice.com

RAIL

From Railway Age, RT&S and IRJ GROUP http://bit.ly/rail_news

NEWS

ROUND-UP of NEW

RAILWAY

AILWAY GE ARE YOU A RAILROAD OR SUPPLIER SEARCHING FOR JOB CANDIDATES?

Visit http://bit.ly/railjobs 38 Railway Age // December 2020

To place a job posting, contact: Jennifer Izzo 203-604-1744 jizzo@mediapeople.com

railwayage.com

Ad Index COMPANY

PHONE #

FAX #

URL/EMAIL ADDRESS

PAGE #

AMERICAN CONCRETE PRODUCTS CO.

402-339-3670

bhutchinson@enterprise-properties.com

28

AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL TRANSPORT

800-489-9888

AITX.com

C3

AMSTED RAIL GROUP

312-922-4516

312-922-4597

kskibinski@amstedrail.com

13

CIT

212-461-5781

212-461-5632

James.Spencer@cit.com

15

CN

888-888-5909

HIRAIL CORPORATION

800-274-7245

319-455-2914

info@hirail.com

29

HOLLAND LP

708-672-2300

708-672-0119

sales@hollandco.com

17

L.B. FOSTER CO.

412-928-3506

412-928-3512

glippard@lbfoster.com

27

LTK ENGINEERING SERVICES

215-641-8826

215-542-7676

NCornell@ltk.com

35

OMNI PRODUCTS, INC.

815-344-3100

815-344-5086

bcigrang@omnirail.com

26

PLASSER AMERICAN CORP

757-543-3526

757-494-7186

plasseramerican@plausa.com

3

RAILWAY EDUCATIONAL BUREAU

402-346-4300

402-346-1783

bbrundige@sb-reb.com

19,37

SMBC RAIL SERVICES LLC

312-559-4800

888-RAILCAR

sales@smbcrail.com

18

TRINITY RAIL

800-631-4420

trinityrail.com

C4

C2

The Advertisers Index is an editorial feature maintained for the convenience of readers. It is not part of the advertiser contract and Railway Age assumes no responsibility for the correctness.

Advertising Sales MAIN OFFICE Jonathan Chalon Publisher 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 620-7224 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jchalon@sbpub.com AL, KY, Jon Chalon 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 620-7224 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jchalon@sbpub.com CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, VT, VA, WV, CANADA – QUEBEC AND EAST, ONTARIO Jerome Marullo 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 620-7260 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jmarullo@sbpub.com

railwayage.com

AR, AK, AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NE, NM, ND, NV, OK, OR, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WI, WY, CANADA – AB, BC, MB, SK Heather Disabato 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910 Chicago, IL 60603 (312) 683-5026 Fax: (312) 683-0131 hdisabato@sbpub.com

THE NETHERLANDS, BRITAIN, FRANCE, BELGIUM, PORTUGAL, SWITZERLAND, NORTH GERMANY, MIDDLE EAST, SOUTH AMERICA, AFRICA (NOT SOUTH), FAR EAST (EXCLUDING KOREA /CHINA/INDIA), ALL OTHERS, TENDERS Jerome Marullo 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 620-7260 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jmarullo@sbpub.com

SCANDINAVIA, SPAIN, SOUTHERN GERMANY, AUSTRIA, KOREA, CHINA, INDIA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA, RUSSIA, EASTERN EUROPE BALTIC STATES, RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING Michael Boyle International Area Sales Manager Nils Michael Boyle Dorfstrasse 70, 6393 St. Ulrich, Austria. +011436767089872 mboyle@railjournal.com ITALY, ITALIAN-SPEAKING SWITZERLAND Dr. Fabio Potesta Media Point & Communications SRL Corte Lambruschini Corso Buenos Aires 8 V Piano, Genoa, Italy 16129 +39-10-570-4948 Fax: +39-10-553-0088 info@mediapointsrl.it

JAPAN Katsuhiro Ishii Ace Media Service, Inc. 12-6 4-Chome, Nishiiko, Adachi-Ku Tokyo 121-0824 Japan +81-3-5691-3335 Fax: +81-3-5691-3336 amkatsu@dream.com CLASSIFIED, PROFESSIONAL & EMPLOYMENT Jennifer Izzo 800 Connecticut Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06854 203-604-1744 Fax: 203-857-0296 jizzo@mediapeople.com

AILWAY GE

December 2020 // Railway Age 39

Perspective: ASLRRA

Short Line Industry Plans for Transition

W

ell, it’s been a strange year! And with a strange election season to top it off. The results of the Presidential election are clear, and the short line industry is actively engaged with the transition team for the Biden Administration, discussing our priorities and making the case for how short line railroads can help the country move forward. Whether it’s jobs growth, economic development, environmental sustainability, safety or literally uniting our country, short line railroads are a solution to many of our collective challenges.

While there are many issues of concern to us—grant programs like CRISI, BUILD and INFRA; crew size issues; LNG by rail; truck size and weight laws; modal equity issues involving highway funding; safety regulations at the FRA; economic regulations at the STB—we don’t take our eyes off the ball on our top priority: permanence of the short line tax credit, 45G. This tax credit continues to be the most effective public funding mechanism to help our small business railroads upgrade their privately owned infrastructure.

The efforts to create, extend and make 45G permanent have always focused on Congress, and we expect that to remain true.

We now have a pretty clear picture as to how the election will impact our effort to make 45G permanent and more specifically who we need to concentrate our early efforts on in the new Congress. The big challenge will be finding ways to do that in a COVID-19 world.

At the risk of patting ourselves on the back, short lines did exemplary work in the 116th Congress that is now coming to an end. We secured an overwhelming bipartisan majority of co-sponsors in both the House and Senate for legislation to make the credit permanent—303 in the House and 63 in the Senate. While the credit was not made permanent, we were fortunate to secure a five-year extension of the credit, extending through 2022, which was a longer extension than almost any other tax provision received.

When the new 117th Congress begins in January, all bills from the 116th Congress die, requiring us to start the process all

40 Railway Age // December 2020

over again—unless, of course, we are able to achieve permanency for 45G in the lame duck session of Congress happening right now. But assuming that won’t happen, our task to build back up an overwhelming amount of co-sponsor support is straightforward enough.

First, in the House, 46 of our previous 303 co-sponsors are not returning, either through retirement or electoral loss. Their replacements will have little or no familiarity with the short line industry, so we will have to engage in what is always a timeconsuming education campaign. Second, our 257 returning House co-sponsors will need to be re-secured, an easier, albeit still time-consuming, task. Similarly, in the Senate, we lost nine of our 63 co-sponsors through retirement or electoral loss.

We know the Democrats will retain a majority in the House, and we stand in good stead with the current leaders of the relevant Committees. Ways & Means (W&M) Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and T&I Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) have previously co-sponsored our legislation and have been strong advocates on our behalf.

Turning to the Senate, we will not know which party will lead this body until after the two runoff elections in Georgia take place in January. However, we are wellpositioned regardless of the outcome as both would-be Chairmen of the Finance Committee, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), have been longtime leaders in this legislative effort.

Indeed, they have taken turns as chief sponsor of our legislation as the majority party has changed back and forth over the years.

Getting legislation passed through Congress is always difficult with a divided government, but we have overcome that difficulty before. The 45G tax credit first passed in 2004 and has been extended seven times. Those extensions have been successful in all iterations of control of Congress and the White House. In the past, the merits of the credit have always outweighed the demands of partisanship, and it will be our job to ensure that continues to be the case.

While the short line industry has considerable experience getting the job done, we

are facing a whole new landscape this time around. Our past success in attracting Congressional support has rested on our ability to bring large numbers of railroaders, rail suppliers, shippers and economic development officials to Washington to tell our story. The Railroad Day on the Hill event was a particularly important tool both as a show of force and an excellent opportunity to educate Members of Congress on the economic and environmental benefits of railroads. Likewise, our “show and tell” events on short line properties across the country proved to be a most effective way to get a Member of Congress to really focus on the importance of the short line in his or her District and to retain that information long after the event itself. We learned that the old saying—a picture is worth a thousand words—was true, and a picture the Congressman was actually in was worth even more.

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to use new tools to help us tell this story.

We have taken our “show” online, utilizing Zoom and Teams and other platforms to meet with our Congressional members and staff, and where possible, have scheduled COVID-19-safe in-person opportunities with our industry. We will continue to explore innovative ways to communicate our message and to make it stick in a way that leads to legislative success. Railroad Day will still happen in Spring 2021, but it will be virtual. We hope that will enable even more engagement as there will be no need to travel to Washington.

Thomas Jefferson once said, “We in America don’t have government by majority; we have government by the majority who participate.” Getting everyone in the short line industry to participate and engage in new ways with their elected officials is our challenge, and we will make that one of our primary tasks in 2021.

CHUCK BAKER President ASLRRA

railwayage.com

Trust the most responsive team in rail to keep your business moving.

Comprehensive repair network across the United States and Canada.

Full-Service: Brookhaven, MS | Bude, MS | Goodrich, TX | Longview, TX | North Kansas City, MO | Sarnia, ON | Tennille, GA Mobile: Emmetsburg, IA | Gonzales, LA | Hastings, NE | Hudson, CO | LaPorte, TX | Mounds, IL | Bude, MS | Tennille, GA All rights and ownership reserved by American Industrial Transport, Inc. AITX and American Industrial Transport as well as AX logo are trademarks owned by American Industrial Transport, Inc. Railcar repair and maintenance services are provided through AITX Railcar Services, LLC and AITX Railcar Services of Canada Inc. Railcar leases are entered into by AITX Leasing, LLC.

THE PREMIER PROVIDER. YOUR TRUSTED PARTNER. Thanks to our platform of integrated railcar products and services, TrinityRail is the industry’s unmatched rail resource, providing the confidence your business deserves.

Trust North America’s premier provider of rail transportation solutions to deliver the quality, innovation and expertise you need to meet every business challenge. Every time.

Learn more at TrinityRail.com.