Railway Age March 2021 by Railway Age

MARCH 2021

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

MOMENTUM Railroad Leadership Defines What’s Guiding the Industry to a Bright, Sustainable Future

DEEP ENGINEERING DIVES Using Data Science to Better Understand and Maintain Right-of-Way Performance

SAFETY-CRITICAL HMI HMIs

Exploring Train Control System Human Machine Interface Requirements railwayage.com

August 2017 // Railway Age 1

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AILWAY GE

February March 2021 2020

FEATURES

Photo Credit: Shutterstock / wellphoto

CEO Perspectives Industry Thought Leader Views

Deep Engineering Dives Big Data for M/W Performance

Designing for COVID

Precision Maintenance

Human Machine Interface

TTCI R&D

Industrial and Graphic Design

CSX, VisioStack Initiative

HMI Train Control Requirements

High-Performance Wheel Testing

DEPARTMENTS 4 6 7 52 53 54 54 55

Industry Indicators Industry Outlook Market People

NEWS/COLUMNS 2 56

From the Editor Financial Edge

Products Professional Directory Classified Advertising Index

ON THE COVER: A rapidly moving doublestack intermodal train is illustrative of the rail industry’s growth opportunities. Photo: Shutterstock/James Wheeler

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. 222, No. 3. 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© 2021 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: 212221-9195. 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).

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March 2021 // Railway Age 1

FROM THE EDITOR We Spend Billions, and All We Get Is a B?

he American Society of Civil Engineers reminds me of those college professors whose standing policy is never to give any student an A. No matter how diligent or resourceful you are, you must be doing something wrong, right? On the other hand, there are those who automatically pass you as long as you show up for class, or who grade on a curve. “Wow, I barely studied and I still got a B+!” The ASCE on March 1 awarded U.S. freight and passenger railroads the highest grade of its most recent Infrastructure Report Card. It’s not an A, or even an A–. It’s a B, which stands for “better than a C.” A grade of C is mediocre—and remember, the mediocre are always at their best. I suppose we did reasonably well, considering that the overall ASCE U.S. infrastructure grade was a C–, which translates to “crappy.” Our friends in the pavement business rated a D, which stands for “dilapidated.” Must be all of those potholes, which people like me who drive high-performance cars sporting 19-inch alloy wheels shod with 245/40R19 lowprofile tires dread. Either that, or it’s all of those tractor-trailers pounding the crap out of our government-funded highways without paying their fare share. Oh yeah, let’s make ’em longer and heavier and autonomous, rolling like high-speed U.S. Army M1A2 Abrams tanks in Elon Muskinspired platoons, while we’re at it! ASCE cited “sustained private investment by freight railroads” as the primary reason for our grade B condition. In the 40 years since partial deregulation under the

Staggers Rail Act (1980 to 2020), privately owned U.S. freight railroads invested nearly $0.74 trillion (sounds more impressive than $740 billion, right?), averaging approximately $25 billion per year over the past five years, on capital expenditures and maintenance expenses, most of it related to right-of-way, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure. Sounds like you freight rail civil engineering types deserve an A+, and that’s not being graded on a superelevated curve! So how do we rate a B? What’s dragging us down to not much better than mediocre? ASCE’s scorecard noted that “despite freight and passenger rail being part of an integrated system, there remain stark differences in the challenges faced by the two rail categories.” For example, while some of Amtrak’s operations are hosted on well-maintained, privately funded freight rail infrastructure, America’s Railroad has a $45.2 billion state-of-good-repair backlog on the Northeast Corridor, which most people who live outside the Northeast either don’t understand or outright detest. ASCE called for “significant, overdue investment in passenger rail infrastructure, particularly in high-population centers.” So, I suppose that if such investments were made, our industry might rate a grade of at least an A–? Want better highways? Transition the Highway Trust Fund into a user-pay system based on vehicle-miles traveled instead of on fuel tax. That’s an AAR recommendation that deserves an A+.

WILLIAM C. VANTUONO Editor-in-Chief

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Industry Indicators AAR: VOLUMES ‘ENCOURAGING,’ THOUGH NOT ‘EXEMPLARY’ “U.S. rail volumes in January 2021 weren’t exemplary, but they were encouraging,” the Association of American Railroads reported in February. “Total carloads averaged 232,576 per week in January, the highest weekly average for any month in a year. Ten out of 20 carload categories had higher volumes in January 2021 than in January 2020. U.S. intermodal volume and chemicals carloads were higher than ever before; grain carloads were higher than in any month since October 2007 and the eleventh most for any month on record; and carloads for several other major carload categories, including primary metal products, lumber, paper, and iron and steel scrap, were higher than they’ve been since the pandemic began.”

Railroad employment, Class I linehaul carriers, JANUARY 2021 (% change from JANUARY 2020)

TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 113,461 % CHANGE FROM JANUARY 2020: -11.57%

Transportation (train and engine) 45,521 (-11.97%)

Executives, Officials and Staff Assistants 7,293 (-4.14%)

TRAFFIC ORIGINATED CARLOADS

FOUR WEEKS ENDING JANUARY 30, 2021

MAJOR U.S. RAILROADS BY COMMODITY

JAN. ’21

JAN. ’20

% CHANGE

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

110,040 3,742 38,510 23,984 136,298 47,417 243,324 4,396 13,547 22,431 23,286 13,598 35,344 17,188 58,440 60,596 12,543 27,691 14,707 23,221

78,606 3,545 36,705 23,289 130,581 53,946 278,680 4,474 13,128 22,182 18,096 15,131 36,579 16,377 60,916 74,693 15,572 27,712 14,278 25,612

40.0% 5.6% 4.9% 3.0% 4.4% -12.1% -12.7% -1.7% 3.2% 1.1% 28.7% -10.1% -3.4% 5.0% -4.1% -18.9% -19.5% -0.1% 3.0% -9.3%

TOTAL U.S. CARLOADS

930,303

950,102

-2.1%

327,849

315,421

3.9%

1,258,152

1,265,523

-0.6%

CANADIAN RAILROADS TOTAL CANADIAN CARLOADS

COMBINED U.S./CANADA RR

Professional and Administrative 10,219 (-5.81%)

Maintenance-of-Way and Structures 27,618 (-8.40%)

Maintenance of Equipment and Stores

Intermodal

FOUR WEEKS ENDING JANUARY 30, 2021

MAJOR U.S. RAILROADS BY COMMODITY

JAN. ’21

Trailers Containers TOTAL UNITS

92,089 1,081,131

18,085 (-20.14%)

CANADIAN RAILROADS

Transportation (other than train & engine)

Trailers Containers TOTAL UNITS

JAN. ’20

% CHANGE

75,097

1,173,220

971,575 1,046,672

22.6% 11.3% 12.1%

2 292,757 292,759

0 272,543 272,543

— 7.4% 7.4%

75,097

4,725 (-11.62%)

COMBINED U.S./CANADA RR

Source: Surface Transportation Board

Trailers Containers

92,091 1,373,888

1,244,118

22.6% 10.4%

TOTAL COMBINED UNITS

1,465,979

1,319,215

11.1%

Source: Rail Time Indicators, Association of American Railroads

4 Railway Age // March 2021

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BEFORE YOU INVEST IN ANOTHER AIR BRAKE CONTROL VALVE,

TOTAL U.S./Canadian CARLOADS, JAN. 2021 VS. JAN. 2020

1,258,152 JANUARY 2021

STOP & CONSIDER:

1,265,523 JANUARY 2020

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 JAN. ’21

ORIGINATED JAN. ’20

% CHANGE

54,265 21,022 15,352 10,760 33,804 8,317 8,777 2,017 17,408 9,102 2,148 1,903 19,454 12,408 40,652 10,362 69,455

55,118 16,304 21,253 10,828 23,139 8,716 8,618 2,808 18,511 9,977 2,821 2,195 21,170 12,146 39,977 10,277 70,779

-1.5% 28.9% -27.8% -0.6% 46.1% -4.6% 1.8% -28.2% -6.0% -8.8% -23.9% -13.3% -8.1% 2.2% 1.7% 0.8% -1.9%

TOTAL U.S. Carloads and intermodal units, 2012-2021

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

Proven Reliable:

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March 2021 // Railway Age 5

Industry Outlook

Pan Am Railways Sale Advances to STB CSX HAS SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION TO THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD (STB) TO ACQUIRE THE PAN AM SYSTEM, including Pan Am Railways (PAR) and its 50% stake in Pan Am Southern (PAS), the Class I railroad reported Feb. 26. CSX announced Nov. 30 it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire PAR, a New England Class II with 1,700 route-miles that was previously known as the Guilford Rail System. The move would expand CSX’s reach in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts, while adding Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to its existing 23-state network. It would also offer access to northern Maine and Saint John, N.B., via PAR haulage agreements with J.D. Irving Ltd. subsidiary NBM Railways. 6 Railway Age // March 2021

But a point of contention had been who would operate PAS, a “pro-competitive” joint venture of Norfolk Southern (NS) and PAR that consists of 437 miles of rail lines and trackage-rights agreements. It gives NS access to New England via trackage rights on the former Boston & Maine Mechanicville, N.Y.Ayer, Mass., main line, the “Patriot Corridor.” NS, in a Nov. 6 filing with the STB, opposed the CSX-PAR transaction. CSX and NS have now reached an agreement: Both Class I railroads will retain ownership of PAS. Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) subsidiary Pittsburg & Shawmut Railroad, LLC, which will do business as Berkshire & Eastern Railroad (BERK), will operate and maintain PAS, formerly run by PAR subsidiary Springfield Terminal Railway.

“The selection of a G&W affiliate is based upon our desire to maintain competition and enhance rail service in the New England market,” CSX said in a statement. “G&W’s existing presence, relationships and experience will greatly assist the transition.” In a statement to Railway Age, NS said that its “goal is to ensure that shipping customers have access to safe, reliable and competitive rail transportation in the New England and New York markets and beyond. Norfolk Southern has reached an agreement with CSX that benefits shippers, and we support the transaction. We believe the current structure of the transaction will preserve and enhance rail service and competition in the New England and New York markets.” railwayage.com

Market New From KBC/NYAB: EE-26™, EP 60/26™ Knorr Brake Company (KBC) and New York Air Brake (NYAB), both subsidiaries of Knorr-Bremse, have introduced the EE-26™ electropneumatic passenger rail brake system. Employing electronic closed-loop control, it was designed in compliance with APTA standard PR-M-S020-17. Based on NYAB’s EP-60® freight rail product line, the EE-26™ also utilizes an AAR-approved Car Control Device. It has been designed to APTA standards to be interoperable with vehicles that have legacy brake control valves. NYAB and KBC also developed the EP 60/26™, described as “a second variation on the EE-26™ that can handle ECP as well as respond to traditional pneumatic control.”

NORTH AMERICA

FRENCH NATIONAL RAILWAYS (SNCF) and GERMAN RAIL (DB) have signed a new digital cooperation agreement expanding on their existing partnership. The two railways will pool their technical knowledge to accelerate progress in digital freight technology for cross-border services; Building Information Modelling (BIM) and digital twins; improvements to passenger service apps; alternative energy sources, including biofuel, hydrogen, hybrid and battery power; and “green stations.”

The WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY has selected a design-build team for its Rail Heavy Repair and Overhaul facility. General contractor HENSEL PHELPS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY and STANTEC will provide design, construction, testing and commissioning services for WMATA’s $225 million repair and overhaul facility in Prince Georges, Md., as well as a master plan to accommodate future growth. The shop will have service bays for 40 rapid transit railcars, a railcar truck shop and storage tracks to accommodate up to 24 cars. “Green design” features will be incorporated to reduce water demand and energy use, and provide significant “daylighting” for repair work and office operations, among other measures. The project will also include a new rail connection to the Metrorail Orange Line. Completion is expected in fourth-quarter 2024. “This new facility will support an enhanced model for maintenance and repairs that will contribute to WMATA’s objectives for a safer and more efficient system,” said Ken Anderson, Transit Sector Leader for Stantec’s Buildings practice.

Knorr Brake Company / New York Air Brake

WORLDWIDE

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CHART INDUSTRIES INC., and BALLARD POWER SYSTEMS are partnering to develop integrated system solutions, including a fuel cell engine with onboard liquid hydrogen storage and vaporization, for rail, bus, truck and marine applications. Under a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding, Chart and Ballard will collaborate to “enable accelerated adoption of hydrogen in heavy-duty transport applications requiring long range, rapid refueling and lowest total cost of ownership of the vehicle,” according to the companies. Chart is a provider of technology, equipment and services related to liquefied natural gas, hydrogen, biogas and carbon dioxide capture. It has truck LNG (liquefied natural gas) tank experience; an existing liquid hydrogen onboard vehicle tank prototype design; fuel to vehicle connection/interface experience; and a Minnesota-based LH2 (liquid hydrogen) test lab. Ballard is a producer of zero-emission PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cells, enabling electrification of buses, commercial trucks, trains, marine vessels, passenger cars and forklift trucks. It has market access to system integrators and vehicle OEMs as well as fuel cell testing facilities in British Columbia, Canada; and Denmark. March 2021 // Railway Age 7

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CEO

CEO PERSPECTIVES

PERSPECTIVES

North America’s freight rail industry faces daunting challenges as the 21st century enters its third decade: Improving operations in the face of stiff competition and high customer expectations. Leveraging complex, exponentially growing advanced technology. Embracing aggressive, innovative marketing strategies. Growing the top line as a relevant, sustainable business, while practicing meaningful environmental, social and corporate governance. Investing capital prudently. Championing balanced economic and legislative policies. Working with other transportation modes to grow business and improve supply chain logistics. In this special series, North American railroad CEOs—the industry’s thought leaders—address these challenges through insightful essays written especially for Railway Age.

10 Ian Jefferies, Association of American Railroads 12 Katie Farmer, BNSF 14 Keith Creel, Canadian Pacific 18 JJ Ruest, CN 22 Jim Foote, CSX 26 Pat Ottensmeyer, Kansas City Southern 29 Jim Squires, Norfolk Southern 31 Lance Fritz, Union Pacific

Shutterstock / James Wheeler

33 Peter Gilbertson, Anacostia Rail Holdings 35 Dean Piacente, OmniTRAX 37 Dan Smith, Watco

railwayage.com

March 2021 // Railway Age 9

CEO PERSPECTIVES specifically, railroads will be empowered to do so will play out this year, in part through the need to reauthorize the surface transportation law, ideally in keeping with past precedent of bipartisan cooperation. Indeed, with renewed enthusiasm for addressing infrastructure, a relevant question in Washington should be: How can freight rail manage more freight to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and alleviate pressure on publicly owned infrastructure? Certainly, exploring policies that emphasize the industry’s efficiency and balances the competitive playing field in the freight market is a sensible goal. Railroads, through sustained private investment, modernized operations and the continued deployment of new technologies, are already increasing critical capacity and improving product delivery in their existing footprint and without significant public dollars. But future progress requires datadriven and forward-thinking policies— not measures that undermine railroads’ competitive viability. So, to inform the process and foster policies that encourage rail growth in parallel with resulting societal benefits, AAR will emphasize a set of key points to policymakers and the public.

By Ian Jefferies, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads

ailway Age readers probably sense the opportunity that the Association of American Railroads and its members do, as railroads could occupy a little more time in the limelight this year. Infrastructure and transportation policy will capture greater importance in 2021 than in recent years, and rail—both passenger and 10 Railway Age // March 2021

freight—will be important to the process. This makes good sense. As a privately financed, safe and environmentally efficient transportation mode, railroads are uniquely positioned to make progress on major challenges, including— most immediately—economic recovery, as well as climate change and maximizing the efficient movement of goods. How,

FREIGHT RAIL IS ADAPTING AND FUELING GROWTH Railroads are future-focused and increasingly nimble: • Structural changes in traffic patterns have been long-afoot, and railroads are continuing to make strides to offer justin-time service at more competitive rates. • With retailers continuing to restock their inventory and strong seasonal railwayage.com

AAR

Sustainable Economic and Legislative Policies

FREIGHT RAIL’S PUBLIC BENEFITS Some fundamental truths worth repeating: • By any measure, the most recent decade has been the safest in history. • Freight railroads have invested roughly $25 billion annually in recent years—of their own funds, not government funds. • While accounting for 40% or more of long-distance freight volume, freight railroads account for only 0.6% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. On average, railroads are three to four times more fuel efficient than trucks. • Railroads haul approximately 35% of all U.S. exports.

CEO PERSPECTIVES e-commerce demand, railroads closed 2020 consistently exceeding 2018 levels— which were 6%-10% above comparable 2019 volumes. • Forthcoming research from the Northwestern University Transportation Research Center (NUTC) shows railroads directly won business from new retail customers amid the COVID pandemic, leveraging available capacity and seizing a clear market opportunity. RAIL WILL CONTINUE TO THRIVE WITH SENSIBLE POLICIES To make greater progress, policymakers should consider measures such as the following: • Maintain the balanced economic regulatory structure that empowers the market to govern most interactions (including rate setting) between railroads and customers, while also providing needed regulatory protections for qualifying shippers. • Make the Highway Trust Fund solvent

again by implementing, over time, a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fee that takes into account vehicle weight or axle count. A VMT offers the opportunity to create a more equitable system of funding public road and bridge infrastructure by ensuring that all passenger and commercial vehicles pay for their use. • Consider a market-based program to reduce emissions from freight transportation by encouraging businesses to ship their products using modes with lower GHG emissions. Shortsighted policies are incongruent with future growth. When considering surface transportation authorization, the primary objective should be a bipartisan bill focused most squarely on funding and devoid of divisive policy measures. Riders that have no place in a transportation bill will only undermine bipartisan buy-in, while rail-specific measures, like those that follow, will undermine the industry’s positive externalities. • Mandating specific operating models,

such as a minimum railroad crew size, and unnecessary personnel requirements that are not supported by safety data and would roll back efficiency gains and limit innovation. Rather, policymakers should embrace innovation that bolsters network safety and performance. • Limiting railroad efficiency through the imposition of arbitrary operational complexities and restrictions on private and largely closed networks, such as a specific train length maximum. Larger and more predictable train sizes allow railroads to reduce the number of trains running concurrently, and more precisely match the locomotive power assigned to each train, which improves efficiency and lessens the environmental impact. • Increasing truck size or weight limits, as this would shift freight to roads and increase subsidies to the trucking sector, already a beneficiary of substantial subsidies from consistent infusion of general taxpayer funds into the Highway Trust Fund.

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March 2021 // Railway Age 11

CEO PERSPECTIVES several non-mandated sub-divisions across our network. We will continue to look for opportunities to utilize PTC for additional productivity gains beyond the safety purpose for which it was created.

Leveraging Advanced Technologies

By Katie Farmer, President and CEO, BNSF Railway

t BNSF Railway, we always look to leverage advanced technologies that will improve our ability to operate a safe and efficient railroad as well as provide better service and enhanced user experiences for our customers. We recognize that continual exploration of new technologies is critical to our success. 12 Railway Age // March 2021

PTC Last year marked an important milestone for safety in the rail industry as we collectively made Positive Train Control fully operable on 100% of federally mandated locations. Every train that moves with PTC is a safer train and that’s why we were deploying PTC as a safety overlay across our railroad before it was ever mandated. BNSF has continued to install PTC on

BIG DATA AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Not only have we increased the pace at which we install and utilize new technologies that enable us to drive safety and efficiency, but we also continue to explore new opportunities to harness information by leveraging big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate results. Multiple AI techniques have been deployed in the field at BNSF. One of the latest additions is AI-based image analytics that processes the pictures captured by Machine Vision Systems (MVS). The MVS across our network capture more than 750,000 wheel images per day, which are analyzed by an AI-based scoring system to quickly identify hard to find defects and present them to the detector desk to take action promptly. BNSF is also piloting an Optical Track Inspection system that uses AI to identify track defects like a hairline crack or a missing bolt in a joint bar. Furthermore, we have leveraged big data analytics to enhance our geometry car and wayside detector systems to ensure the safety of track and rolling stock respectively. Use of unmanned geometry cars has enabled us to expand track inspections, and using these analytics, we are able to predict issues before they occur and create an optimal comprehensive plan. By leveraging our various sensors, like temperature, acoustic signature, wheel profile and wheel-impact, we have also been able to improve defect identification. railwayage.com

BNSF

ADVANCED NETWORK OPERATIONS BNSF has made substantial investments to migrate to advanced network operations by integrating various transportation systems and tools such as Movement Planner, Terminal Planner, Dispatching System (TMDS) and iPad-based work order reporting. Each tool creates value on its own, but it’s the powerful combination of systems and capabilities that enable us to improve safety, service and network fluidity while improving the work experience for our employees.

CEO PERSPECTIVES INTERMODAL ADVANCEMENTS BNSF was the first U.S. railroad to use wide span electric cranes, Automated Gate Systems (AGS), and a number of other technologies across a network. Our goal is to continually explore and deploy intermodal technologies that improve service for our customers. BNSF has enhanced the in/out gate processes with our RailPASS mobile app that enables drivers to get through the gate in as little as 30 seconds. Building on that success, we are piloting touchless gate technology at our South Seattle Intermodal Facility, which will reduce the need for driver interaction at our facility gates. ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES BNSF continues to expand the adoption of technologies that are environmentally friendly. We are leading the rail industry by piloting a battery-electric locomotive in revenue service in California. If the initial pilot proves successful, BNSF will explore

additional testing at other locations as we do our part to reduce emissions and environmental impact. The electric wide span cranes we use at several of our busiest intermodal facilities produce zero emissions and reduce

“We recognize that new technologies are key for us to meet the needs of our customers, employees, communities and the environment.” the number of diesel-powered hostlers needed due to increased efficiency from a wider range of motion. We have deployed

electric-powered, cargo-handling equipment in several intermodal facilities in California. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE We have leveraged GIS and GPS technologies to improve our customer experience significantly. We have delivered new web and mobile tools that provide accurate and more frequent information to our customers regarding their shipments so that they can more effectively plan their operations. We have also provided new API capabilities to make the exchange of data even easier and more flexible in our effort to make doing business with BNSF as easy as possible. In closing, at BNSF, we recognize that new technologies are key for us to meet the needs of our customers, employees, communities and the environment. As we look to the future, we will continue to focus on pioneering and developing emerging technologies that help us meet the needs of our various stakeholders as well as those of our company.

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Growing the Top Line

By Keith Creel, President and CEO, Canadian Pacific

t’s fitting that we’d talk about growing the top line as 2021 gets under way. Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, every Class I railway saw volumes decline. At CP, our volume fell 2% and our revenue 1%. Despite the challenging year, it was an industry-best performance I’m very proud of. As we begin this year and celebrate the 140th anniversary of CP’s incorporation, I know that the future holds great opportunity for us.

14 Railway Age // March 2021

The CP family is ready to continue producing for our customers, the communities we serve, our shareholders and each other. Our strong performance during difficult times only gives me further conviction and confidence in what we can achieve in times of economic strength. When CP began its journey of transformation back in 2012, its cost structure was unsustainable. The cost structure and our service didn’t allow us to truly

compete for business. When I joined the company in 2013 as President and Chief Operating Officer, I helped to get the team focused on the fundamentals: getting the right people in the right places, identifying inefficiencies and taking out costs where we could. As a result, we improved our service and began to operate at a lower cost. Once we did that, we shifted our focus to growing the business. We encountered our share of challenges, and we didn’t get it all right, but that part of our journey was essential. Today, I can confidently say that our value proposition lies in the service we provide. We don’t try to be everything to everyone. By combining a compelling service with the most direct routes in key lanes, we offer value to our customers. If we can cycle their cars faster than our competitors and build an expectation of reliability, we win alongside our customers. One of CP’s great successes has come from leveraging the land we have available in key markets. For example, we are working with Maersk to construct a new transload facility in the Vancouver area. Today, when ships come into the port, containers need to be trucked throughout the Vancouver area to be transloaded. We will be able to rail containers from the port directly to this new facility, eliminating the need for thousands of trucks on publicly funded roads. It’s good for the environment, good for the customer and good for CP. Land is at a premium in congested urban areas, and that’s only going to continue. Our unique land holdings are a differentiator and strength of CP’s that we’re focused on continuing to leverage to drive further top-line growth. In this situation, we identified a strategic customer that could help us make the most of a valuable real estate asset. Creating win-win solutions like this one gives customers good reasons to stick with us. We also need to talk with our customers regularly to determine how their needs are changing and how we can best meet them. A year ago, when we saw business levels decline sharply due to the pandemic, CP Chief Marketing Officer John Brooks challenged our sales team railwayage.com

Canadian Pacific

CEO PERSPECTIVES

In the midst of the 2020 global pandemic and industry recession, FreightCar America stepped up. To offer customers more, we launched our new purpose-built railcar plant in Castaños, Mexico. We hired a workforce with extensive railcar experience, and in a matter of weeks, passed the AAR audit and certification. This investment has expanded our capabilities to produce more railcar types than ever before, including a full portfolio of 20+ conversion designs. At FreightCar America, our team, our new facility and our offerings are purpose-built—to serve you.

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help you meet your needs and serve your customers? It sounds simple, but the result was more than $20 million in business at a time when we really needed it. It

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to call each of our 500 biggest customers over a three-week period. They asked: How is the pandemic affecting your business? How have your transportation needs changed? What can we do to

reminded all of us how much power there is in asking questions and thinking critically about the answers we get. I believe the lessons we learned from having those conversations will help us emerge from the pandemic stronger than we came into it. The Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) model is one that works in any environment. There’s good reason to expect 2021 will be a year of growth, but whatever the economy brings us, we have a model that will provide the foundation for us to succeed and the people who will deliver. Throughout this pandemic, CP’s employees proved their resilience each and every day. The pride they show in their work under the most challenging of circumstances sets them apart. This franchise is blessed with unique strengths, a strong pipeline of business opportunities and the team that can deliver. That’s what gives me confidence we’re well positioned to grow the top line in 2021 and beyond.

16 Railway Age // March 2021

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Improving Customer Supply Chain Visibility

By JJ Ruest, President and CEO, Canadian National Railway Company

ven if our beginnings date back to the Industrial Revolution, CN has always been at the forefront of innovation, the main agent of change for our company. We were the first North American railroad to use diesel engines in mainline service and we invented remote-operated locomotives, to name just two examples.

18 Railway Age // March 2021

CN also pioneered a revolutionary model for railroading, Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), which has become the standard for the industry. Now, CN is moving from PSR toward Digitalized Scheduled Railroading (DSR) to create more operational efficiency and more value for our customers and their supply chains. The freight and logistics industry

has undergone a major transformation in the way goods are transported. Complex global supply chains are now the norm, and real-time visibility of vast amounts of data is key to success. With DSR leading the way and leveraging advanced integrated B2B technologies to improve operations, safety and ease of doing business, CN is bringing railroading into the 21st century. The strategic development and deployment of state-of-the-art technology—CN’s next big driver of value—is well under way, signaling a new era of innovation, business transparency and seamless integration to help our customers succeed in their local and global markets by partnering with CN. An important part of this multi-faceted modernization strategy is to enable better connectivity and collaboration with customers and supply chain partners by making shipment information more visible and delivering a seamless experience for the whole supply chain. By enabling easy access to real-time shipping data, CN will unlock critical supply chain information to give our customers better visibility of their shipments, not only on CN’s network, but also on those of our supply chain partners. Our goal is to connect with and display actionable data from our supply chain partners to provide timely and accurate information to customers about the complete end-to-end move as cargo transits from one supply chain partner to another. We want to provide an optimal digital experience for CN customers and supply chain partners, regardless of how they connect to and consume data, to help them build competitive advantage. In our vision, the superior customer experience we will deliver will be simple, intuitive, consistent and connected through a digital ecosystem encompassing a supply chain community of customers and partners. Simply put: Its functions will benefit all links in the supply chain, allowing them to plan and execute better and make quicker, datadriven business decisions. By offering shipment information at their fingertips, we will empower our customers and partners to build revenues, streamline operations, improve on-time shipping railwayage.com

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performance and grow their business. Concretely, CN will provide customers with a transparent view of the complete transaction across the plan-ship-trackpay value stream. Customers will be able to visualize their shipments using

maps, status-based graphics and KPIs, with drilldown capabilities to shipment details, using a mobile device or web to query information or execute a transaction with ease. To that effect, customers will be able to choose the omni-channel

that best meets their needs (API, mobile, EDI, web). Of course, access to live customer service will also be available via chat, text or voice. As we move toward new levels of connectivity, CN will help deliver optimized supply chain operations and advanced services devoid of silos. By adopting a design-thinking mindset, agile culture and platforms-based ecosystems, CN is building the digital railroad of the future. We are leading the way as an essential enabler of the digital economy with new technologies. Next-generation digital technologies and intelligent systems are laying the foundation that will safely usher us into our next century of successful operations, creating the best solutions for our customers, while generating value for our investors and delivering sustainably for all communities. At CN, it’s all about the customer experience, and we’re going to make it better and simpler to do business with us.

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Railroads as a Sustainable Business

By Jim Foote, President and CEO, CSX

s a backbone of the U.S. economy, freight railroads offer essential transportation services to businesses and customers across the country. Over the past 12 months, as the world has been grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry’s critical role has accelerated, with safe, reliable service becoming more important than ever to transport essential goods and keep America—and its economy—moving. 22 Railway Age // March 2021

While the world has been laser-focused on COVID-19, the effects of climate change have not slowed, underscoring the need for businesses to double down on their sustainability approach. Rail is the most sustainable mode of land-based transportation: On average, freight railroads are three to four times more fuel efficient than trucks and produce 75% fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is not only a considerable environmental advantage for freight rail, but also a significant opportunity to help

customers reduce their own carbon footprints by diverting incremental volumes off the highway, without sacrificing reliability. With this advantage comes both an opportunity and imperative for the railroad industry to lead by example to mitigate the effects of climate change and forge the way toward a low-carbon economy. At CSX, we take this responsibility very seriously and have made sustainability core to how we operate. In 2017, we embarked on a transformative journey to become the safest, most efficient, best-run railroad in North America, offering unparalleled service and environmental benefits to customers. Our operational transformation enabled us to drive significant improvements across the business, including our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. It allowed us to achieve new levels of environmental efficiency, as well as safety performance and customer excellence. These include: • Reaching 2020 emissions reduction targets ahead of schedule. • Becoming the first U.S. Class I railroad to operate at a fuel efficiency rate of less than one gallon of fuel per thousand gross ton-miles. • Establishing the first U.S. Class I railroad emissions reduction target to be approved by the Science Based Targets initiatives, setting the goal of a 37% reduction in GHG emissions intensity by 2030. • Delivering record-setting safety performance across the network through enhanced safety training, processes and technology. • Achieving faster transit times, greater schedule reliability, increased transparency of network performance, and more consistent freight flows, resulting in a superior service for customers. CSX is now better positioned to be a bestin-class supply chain partner to customers. Average transit time for merchandise carloads has been reduced by more than two days, and total fuel efficiency has improved by more than 15%. This new efficiency results in a more attractive service product for customers and greater environmental benefits due to decreased fuel usage and lower emissions. In addition, we are able to offer customers a higher level of reliability, railwayage.com

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predictability and transparency than has ever been possible through rail. To provide the best possible experience for our customers, CSX continues to use and invest in innovative technologies to streamline supply chains and create more efficient modes of delivery. For example, through the introduction of XGate—a revolutionary new system that reduces potential emissions at intermodal terminals by up to 90% —we were able to increase

the pace of customer deliveries by scanning and inspecting containers in a fraction of the time it takes a team of workers to do so. We are also using zero-emission automated cranes at some of our major intermodal terminals, which maximizes efficiencies and environmental benefits. Looking ahead, we are ready to embark on the next phase of sustainable growth by making CSX rail the ground transportation mode of choice. With continued

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investments in rail assets, accident prevention, environmental technology, fuel efficiency, and more, we continue to look for opportunities to better serve our customers, employees and the communities in which we operate. We are focused on leveraging the inherent benefits railroads offer as the most sustainable mode of land-based transportation and are working hard to make sure CSX is building on these benefits to continue leading the industry in safety and sustainability. Our leadership in the freight rail industry and our aspirations rely on our ability to conduct business in a sustainable way that does right by our stakeholders, including customers, employees, communities and shareholders. While we are proud of the progress we have made, we know our work isn’t done. We are always striving to be safer, more efficient and more reliable. It is my responsibility to drive the mission of CSX, which is to be the best run railroad in North America. I believe the best is yet to come for CSX.

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Maximizing USMCA for Cross-Border Growth

By Pat Ottensmeyer, President and CEO, Kansas City Southern

ast summer, the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, officially entered into force and replaced the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The USMCA set a new standard for bipartisan support, passing by overwhelming majorities in both houses of

26 Railway Age // March 2021

Congress in the United States. Following its approval by all three countries, then United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer stated, “USMCA is the gold standard by which all future trade agreements will be judged, and citizens of all three countries will benefit for years to come.” As we approach the one-year anniversary of this historic trade agreement, we

are facing new and unexpected challenges to our economies, and to our societies, as a result of the coronavirus global health pandemic. The pandemic has placed enormous stress on extended global supply chains, and its economic effects have been a resounding wake-up call regarding the importance of secure, reliable and resilient sources of manufactured goods to serve North American markets. This phenomenon has been particularly evident in critical goods such as pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and supplies, personal protective equipment, and food. As reported by Jacob M. Schlesinger in The Wall Street Journal last summer (“How Coronavirus Will Reshape World Trade,” June 19, 2020), “Nearly 90 governments have blocked the export of medical goods to preserve supplies for their citizens, while 29 did the same for food, according to Global Trade Alert, a Swiss-based monitoring group.” More recently, the global semiconductor shortage has severely impacted automobile production across North America. This development, a derivative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, prompted President Biden to sign an Executive Order intended to review U.S. dependence on extended global supply chains and insulate the economy from critical supply shortages, making the United States less reliant on extended global supply chains. The conf luence of these events represents a unique opportunity for North America to emerge as an even more powerful force in global manufacturing and trade. Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, there was evidence that the winds of global supply chain strategies were beginning to shift. According to a 2019 study conducted by consulting firm AT Kearney, there has been a “dramatic reversal” away from U.S. imports from Asian low-cost countries (LCCs). Further, the share of manufactured imports from Mexico to the United States relative to U.S. imports from Asian LCCs has increased in each of the past two years, and stood at 42% for all of 2019. In an epilogue to this 2019 study, AT Kearney stated, “2020 dawned with a disruption of a new order of magnitude— COVID-19. We expect companies will be increasingly inclined to spread their risks railwayage.com

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CEO PERSPECTIVES

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... [and] restructure their global supply chains with an eye toward increased resilience ... as resilience is the key to operating profitably in the face of ongoing disruptions.” The key word here is “resilient,” which means the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. This all should bode well for U.S.-Mexico cross-border trade, which has already contributed to the creation of substantial economic prosperity on both sides of the border. As the chart above illustrates, the GDP produced by the ten border states would have represented the third largest trading block in the world in 2019. In order to completely capitalize on this new North American moment and realize the full benefits afforded by USMCA, government leaders should

commit to establishing a framework that will facilitate better coordination of issues and policies on an ongoing basis. Ideally, such a framework would also include private-sector engagement so that, unlike NAFTA, there is a dynamic exchange of ideas and an alignment of policies to keep USMCA current and relevant as economies, technologies and societies evolve in ways that we cannot even imagine today. Furthermore, unlike NAFTA, USMCA includes a sunset provision that requires that it be refreshed and renewed in the future. There is a model for the framework I am describing. The U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue (HLED), established in 2013, was formed to align and advance economic and commercial priorities

central to promoting mutual economic growth, job creation and global competitiveness for both the United States and Mexico. Under leadership of then President Obama and Vice President Biden, HLED met annually, with cabinet-level participation and in conjunction with the U.S-Mexico CEO Dialogue, a group of private-sector CEOs of which I have the privilege to serve as U.S. Co-Chair. We are entering a new era for North America. The new USMCA assures 16 years of clarity for private-sector enterprise to make the investment needed to further develop stronger, more resilient (there’s that word again) North American supply chains. President Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador have conducted their first (virtual) bilateral meeting. They did not miss the opportunity to establish the necessary framework for a high level, dynamic engagement to keep USMCA current, relevant and properly aligned with the best interests of our societies, as they agreed to re-start the HLED to further mutual goals. They agreed to strengthen supply chain resilience and security. The region’s economic recovery and long-term prosperity depend on a healthy bilateral relationship, with private-sector participation and an eye toward creating a more resilient manufacturing and supply chain strategy for North America.

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CEO PERSPECTIVES technologies, terabytes of operational and customer-centered information are pouring into our data centers and applications every day. This exponential growth of data allows us to create a comprehensive, integrated and real-time environment of actionable information. We are enhancing safety, increasing operating efficiencies and customer engagement, reducing costs, and much more. We’re building mathematical models that predict traffic f low and locomotive maintenance, and offering relevant data to our business partners as a service product. We’re breaking down silos within our organization, collaborating, and sharing this data freely across departments to increase productivity. We’re committed to leveraging highdefinition data—images, videos, and beyond—that provides even more value, further transforming how we maintain our infrastructure and enabling us to quickly adapt to shifting market demands.

Building the Digital Railroad of the Future

Norfolk Southern

By Jim Squires, Chairman, President and CEO, Norfolk Southern

hroughout history, technological innovation has been a driving force of transformation and growth in the rail industry. Now, in our nation’s Fourth Industrial Revolution— Industry 4.0, a movement defined by the intersection of digital and physical capabilities—Norfolk Southern (NS) is accelerating our own transformation to lead the railwayage.com

digital revolution sweeping our industry. We’re accomplishing this by unlocking the power of Big Data, advancing automation and empowering our workforce. UNLOCKING THE POWER OF BIG DATA Data is foundational to everything we do. With our investment in Positive Train Control (PTC) and other automated

ADVANCING AUTOMATION Automation projects are rarely just about workforce productivity. They often generate better results and, most important, safer outcomes. Our locomotives, for example, are equipped with more than 350 sensors that provide real-time vitals on our trains and infrastructure, much like an Apple Watch does for individuals. In fact, NS has been doing this much longer than Apple. To generate value from the high-velocity data streams that are coming in, we built robotic infrastructure and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to process the information in the field. There is a significant role to be played by AI in automating many aspects of operations, especially around the issue of safety. The traditional train inspection process, for example, is inherently challenging and vulnerable to human limitations. We’re working on technology-driven inspections using machine vision portals, AI algorithms and high frame rate cameras that far exceed what humans are able to detect. EMPOWERING OUR WORKFORCE A vital part of our strategy is leveraging March 2021 // Railway Age 29

CEO PERSPECTIVES shipments. Our ExpressNS mobile app focuses on improving every aspect of the customer experience and getting truck drivers in and out of our intermodal facilities as quickly as possible. We’ve also deployed our own Terminal Inventory and Yard Management solutions that use GPS to track every equipment move. In each case, digital technology is empowering our workforce to achieve outcomes beyond human ability alone.

mobile devices and applications in field and yard operations. To offer just a few examples, our train and engine crews are equipped with mobile devices and a Mobile Train Reporting application we developed that

dramatically reduces the amount of time and effort required to report their pickups, drop-offs and other work activity. The efficiencies of the app are also producing more timely, detailed updates for our customers as they track their

BLAZING A TRAIL IN THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION As we combine our operational and performance goals with the new capabilities of Industry 4.0, we can deliver long-term shareholder value with lasting impact on the rail industry. By being responsive to customer needs and market demands, evolving quickly, and remaining focused, we are well-positioned to lead the charge in our industry’s digital transformation.

STAY IN GEAR WITH RAIL GROUP NEWS RAIL GROUP NEWS brings you a daily round-up of news stories from Railway Age, RT&S, and IRJ. This email newsletter offers North American and global news and analysis of the freight and passenger markets. From developments in rail technology, operations, and strategic planning to legislative issues and engineering news, we’ve got you covered.

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ROUND-UP of NEWS STORIES FROM:

3/4/19 1:04 PM

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Smart Capital Investment Strategies

Union Pacific

By Lance Fritz, Chairman, President and CEO, Union Pacific

hen developing our capital strategy, our UP team drives forward— with our rearview mirror in plain sight. We have to, because unless you take into account the path you’ve cleared, it’s impossible to see where you’re headed. That was certainly railwayage.com

the case as we looked at 2021. Union Pacific’s capital investment strategy builds on our accomplishments by reinvesting in our current infrastructure for safety and reliability; using targeted investments to improve our network’s efficiency, productivity and service; and investing to reduce our environmental impact and enhance customer experience,

positioning us for future growth. Our 2021 capital budget of $2.9 billion touches on all of those areas while delivering value to our shareholders through efficient use of capital. Now some might say the spend is holding the line considering the budget is almost flat compared to 2020’s spend, but to understand the numbers, you have to look at what we’ve done as a railroad for the past three years. Since we implemented Unified Plan 2020 at Union Pacific—our brand of Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR)—we’ve seen our adjusted operating ratio go from 61.6% in fourth-quarter 2018 to an all-time quarterly low of 55.6% in fourth-quarter 2020. We basically reinvented the way we operate the railroad, and as a result, leveraged the best rail franchise in North America to generate safe, reliable and efficient service for our customers, while at the same time generating significant capacity. Looking at the hard numbers, about 80% of our planned capital investment this year is replacement spending to harden our infrastructure, replace older assets, and improve the safety and resiliency of the network. It’s that infrastructure investment— along with the strength and perseverance of our employees—that allowed us to quickly react to service issues like the crippling arctic vortex that struck the Midwest and South this past February, or that positions us to provide efficient service as we continue to unbury West Coast ports hampered by slowdowns generated by the pandemic. Here’s where the future part comes in, as in how we’re going to grow into the next decade. Our capital investment strategy focuses not only on maintaining and improving our network, but also on smartly expanding it in ways that benefit our service offerings and position us to grow as our customers’ business grows. A perfect example of this is our new intermodal ramp in the Twin Cities. With minimal capital investment, we turned an existing yard into a small intermodal terminal, allowing us to provide new service to an attractive market in a quick and efficient manner. This new offering includes domestic intermodal service between the Twin Cities and Los Angeles, expanding our customers’ reach to key March 2021 // Railway Age 31

CEO PERSPECTIVES Upper Midwest markets. We started out small in January with capacity of roughly 20,000 loads, with future plans to build out to more than five times that capacity. We’re not stopping there. We continue to pursue additional expansion projects to our meet our projected growth targets. We remain focused on modernizing our locomotive fleet through the upgrade of older core units. Generating a longer life out of an existing asset, boosting its reliability, and improving its fuel efficiency is a win for all stakeholders. The plan also includes targeted freight car acquisitions to support replacement and growth opportunities. We continue to invest in capacity projects on our network to improve productivity and operational efficiency. Plans call for completing more than 20 siding extensions focused in the southern and Pacific Northwest portions of our network. These sidings support our train length initiatives and target future growth areas for our business. They also provide operational flexibility, allowing us to

THE NEWS DESTINATION FOR THE RAIL INDUSTRY

pass trains more efficiently and with priority, which means improved customer service as our on-time performance improves. We never stop investing in technology to create a platform that improves the customer experience, reduces our carbon intensity and achieves continued productivity. We also remain focused on our enhancements to our energy management system to reduce fuel consumption, leveraging integration with our PTC platform. Despite this planning, we recognize we must have the flexibility and agility to adjust our capital investment strategy as our business demands—and our customers’ business requirements—evolve. For example, earlier this year, UP announced it made the strategic decision to not proceed with additional investments required to complete the freight car classification yard in Brazos, Tex. While the company’s long-term growth outlook in the Southern Region remains unchanged, the implementation of Unified Plan 2020 created capacity at existing facilities to

effectively handle that growth. On the other hand, later this year, we’ll wrap up enhancement projects that started in late 2019 at our Englewood Yard in Houston, an important asset that supports our ever-growing chemical and plastics business. The $108 million investment included upgrading the hump computer system and constructing a number of track extensions. UP employees closed out 2020 by installing a new master retarder at Englewood, which, along with those other improvements, will allow us to process more cars through Houston than ever. Taken as a whole, our capital investment for 2021 supports productivity and operational efficiencies that make Union Pacific the pride of the transportation industry and positions us for a year of unprecedented growth. There’s no question that I’m proud of where we’ve been and what our employees have achieved, but I’m even more hopeful about where we’re headed.

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32 Railway Age // March 2021

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CEO PERSPECTIVES

Anacostia Rail Holdings

Providing Outstanding Customer Service

By Peter Gilbertson, Chairman, Anacostia Rail Holdings

t is often said that customer service must be the responsibility of every employee. From a short line railroad perspective, customer service must be reimagined, encouraged throughout, and delivered responsibly with every transaction. Our franchise depends on it! What is the context of U.S. freight railroading in U.S. logistics in 2021? Many railwayage.com

basic facts are challenging. The industry is undergoing the secular loss of coal, a once highly profitable line of business operating in unit trains. More troubling, for years, non-intermodal business lines have generally failed to keep pace with U.S. GDP and industrial output indices, even though the industry is generally selling a product at a price lower than its competition.

Stated otherwise, we are losing market share at a troubling rate. But this industry has some profound advantages. The rail network is generally in outstanding shape and now has a PTC system that can enhance safety and productivity. The industry has ample track, locomotive and car capacity (including about 400,000 stored railcars or 25% of the f leet) available for growth. Railroads have compelling environmental fundamentals that will become more important in the future. Systemic improvements in customer service are essential to revenue growth. Customer service is a story of adding value to the customer’s business with information, communication, ease of doing business, f lexibility, problem-solving, and reliable and safe execution. Fundamentally, to design responsive customer service, we must understand our customers and their markets. It is not their job to understand us. There is realtime pressure. Railroading is changing quickly, with far fewer people and therefore fewer relationships as touchpoints and less institutional knowledge. The same is happening with our customers. Railroads continue to be difficult to do business with. Concepts like demurrage, car-hire, interchange and use of private car f leets are learning challenges our competitors do not present. We are a network business that sometimes acts like it does not want to be. Customer service must include managing and simplifying these issues. We are in frequent contact with our customers. We try to meet the decisionmakers, learn their needs, explain who we are, and explore ways to improve. In exchange for the cost of a lunch, the customers send their key people to educate our team, understand upcoming changes, ask questions and identify specific concerns. We have a need to educate a new generation of shippers how to use rail. It must be our responsibility to explain terminology, and make simple the processes for rate making, car ordering, etc. In these days of fast-changing operations, we must hold ourselves out as the primary advocate for managing our customers’ interline issues with our Class I partners. March 2021 // Railway Age 33

CEO PERSPECTIVES That model works for supporting traffic growth. It is our responsibility as service providers to share the details about the benefits of good rail service. As a short line, this leverages the advantages of our operation. Our crews should know the loading dock workers quite well. Our sales team members don’t churn, so they have established relationships with traffic managers. We know whom to call and so do they when something goes wrong—and more important, to plan for something proactively that may be a joint opportunity. Customer service can be a strategic tool as well, allowing the railroad to plan with the customer. COVID-19 highlighted these issues. Many customers across the board were in a fog about what to expect from supply chains, as well as from their own operations. We needed to plan resources and service schedules. We needed to get closer to customers and to talk regularly and candidly. Customers were not bothered: They

realized we were trying to help, and they told us what they could. Customers also need efficient and reliable exchanges of data and information, and the industry must do much more to modernize its technology platform. Small railroads cannot be black holes in the network scheme of visibility for shipments. New developments—which Anacostia supports—encourage a single network solution rather than balkanized efforts by individual Class I’s. Today, every single customer should expect to know exactly where every shipment is on the railroad, at all times. The value of the lading—the customer promise to ship to their receiver—is incredibly important, but often overlooked on our end. We need to understand that perspective and be willing to spend funds on innovations and resources to deploy the information. Example: proactive messaging when trip plans are in jeopardy due to weather and congestion. Our operations

must be willing to offer f lexibility on service to accommodate a recovery. That is what all of us as consumers expect in customer service when we buy something from Amazon. Customer service also can be manifested in operating changes. How to double business with a customer with a two-car spot that cannot be physically expanded? Provide a switch twice a day. We do it in many places—and would love to offer it more. The tools are out there and the expectations are great. We must be prepared to make customer service a top priority just like safety and financial metrics. One last word, and this can be done at a local level: Design your service metrics by involving your customers in the dialogue. It is easy to score your own test—but much harder to evaluate your performance when the metrics are more complex. Yet, it’s meaningful because they can exactly match what the customer needs to use—rail.

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CEO PERSPECTIVES

Building Better Communities Through Industrial Development

OmniTRAX

By Dean Piacente, CEO, OmniTRAX

rowing American communities: Many industries claim to have a focus on bringing economic growth to our nation’s cities and towns, but few actually prove it day in and day out. America’s railroads are a notable exception. Railroads have long been leaders in creating and growing American communities, railwayage.com

going back to the westward expansion of the country nearly 200 years ago. Much of the United States was developed only after rail lines were constructed, providing connections between regional nodes of commerce and outposts in the then untamed wilderness. Since the creation of the North American rail network, railroads have been responsible for helping to locate many of the country’s biggest and longest lived

manufacturing companies in the communities they now call home. More nimble and specialized than the seven Class I railroads that serve North America, companies like OmniTRAX take a hyper-localized approach to growth within the towns and counties served because the operations are an integral part of the community. We don’t just pass through. Our team members live locally and have a vested interest in the improvement of that community. At OmniTRAX, the fact that we are a rail transportation company born out of a real estate development entity enables us to operate at the critical intersection of the railroad and the rail-served real estate of the community. This, in turn, gives us the focus needed to deliver innovative solutions to attracting the right companies to the right communities so all parties benefit. Located in 18 major markets across North America, we exist to develop strong relationships with both community leaders and economic developers with the goal of understanding local needs and creating environments that are favorable to our current and potential customers. Working with our government partners, OmniTRAX deploys programs like the Rail-Ready Sites initiative to identify, assess and market rail-served properties along our rail lines to bring quality jobs and investment to these areas. So far, the Rail-Ready Sites program has brought more than 50 sites on 10 railroads to market with many others to come. A great example of how OmniTRAX uses this novel approach and collaboration to help American communities grow through customer partnerships is A&R Logistics, a global leader in supply chain services for the chemical industry. In 2019, A&R Logistics announced its selection of the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub (SGIH) in Effingham County, Ga., for its new global export facility. With its close proximity to the Port of Savannah and Georgia Ready for Accelerated Development (GRAD) certification, the 2,600-acre SGIH site is a true partnership between landowner Effingham County Industrial Development Authority and OmniTRAX as rail provider and its real estate development sister company Broe Real Estate Group as master developer. To land this project, OmniTRAX committed to building the March 2021 // Railway Age 35

CEO PERSPECTIVES first new dual rail-served industrial park in Georgia in the modern era—the seven mile, dual-Class I served Savannah Industrial Transportation switching operation. OmniTRAX also worked with Broe Real Estate Group to build a 1-million squarefoot facility that includes the new A&R export operations. All of these partnerships were born out of a desire to bring higher paying jobs to the region that are stickier and long lasting. This facility allows U.S. manufacturers the ability to reach to new markets by partnering with one of America’s fastest-growing ports. We work with the economic development organizations in the communities we serve daily, as well as their member companies and landowners, to attract new business. At the most recent addition to the OmniTRAX portfolio, the Winchester & Western Railroad operating in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey, we are actively promoting the I-81 corridor and the greater Northeast as a place to manufacture

based on its access to over 100 million people in a day’s drive. Shortly after the acquisition, we participated with the Berkeley County Development Authority and the state of West Virginia in attracting The Clorox Company to a site along our railroad. Clorox is investing $190

“We work with economic development organizations in the communities we serve daily, to attract new business.” million in a facility to produce Scoop Away and Fresh Stop cat litter, which will create 100 direct jobs and many more indirect ones, again helping to grow an American community. OmniTRAX also works to nurture

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regions by proactively bringing economic development projects to our existing industrial parks. In 2007, OmniTRAX led an effort along with our partners at Upstate Colorado Economic Development and the state of Colorado to locate Vestas, a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer and servicer of wind turbines, to the 3,000-acre, Broeowned Great Western Industrial Park in Windsor, Colo. The 200,000-square-foot project, which created more than 650 high-wage jobs, was a catalyst for more than $700M in capital investment by the company in the state. Everyone at OmniTRAX takes the effort to grow American communities seriously, from our team in Denver to our colleagues in the field. We all understand the livelihoods of thousands of families are impacted by our efforts. This was one of the main reasons I recently chose to join the company after a career at one of the Class I’s—to help an organization committed to bringing economic prosperity to areas of the country that need it.

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CEO PERSPECTIVES

Integrated Transportation Services Fuel Growth

Watco

By Dan Smith, CEO, Watco

f you ever wanted an example of why it is so important to stay focused on the ever-changing needs of your customers, I give you 2020. A year that brought us the first pandemic in 100 years and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, also created real challenges for many of the customers we serve. Times like these are when you build

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relationships, and at Watco, they vividly remind us of how we got to where we are today. We learned long ago that you should listen to your customer, ask questions, and learn how to solve their problems in a value-creating manner. If you do that every day, you will find you earn more of their business. And if you do it well enough for long enough, your customer

will reward you with the right to perform new service offerings that you never dreamed you could provide, even in the most challenging of times. That is when integration and efficiency matter the most to our customers, when they need help. At Watco, we have always believed that some of the value created by a customer sharing more business with us should always be shared back with them. The approach has helped us go places we never imagined. Watco has been blessed to follow our customers into many new areas of service. As a matter of fact, we can trace our roots back to the exact moments when customers invited us to integrate deeper into their supply chain by inviting us to take on new services for them. Those moments have formed the cornerstones of the services Watco provides today, underpinning the integrated transportation services platform that allows us to return more and more value to our customers. Watco got its start in Louisiana providing in-plant switching and car cleaning in 1983. A few years later, we started our first railcar repair facility in Kansas. That facility needed additional track and more frequent switches to serve our repair customers better, so we attempted to acquire three blocks of rail to switch ourselves. The only option we were given was to acquire all 100 miles of the SEK Railroad, which has now grown into a 400-mile line known as the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad, handling more than 70,000 carloads per year. We frequently like to remind ourselves that we were a customer of a railroad before we owned any railroads. Had things gone differently, we might have ended up with only those three short blocks of rail we wanted. But we said yes, and now we own or operate more than 7,000 miles of rail over 44 railroads, 35 industrial switching locations, and 15 shop and mobile repair facilities in the United States, Australia and Canada. We wouldn’t have any of them if we hadn’t said yes to a customer that invited us to take on a new service we hadn’t provided before, including when we needed to do it for our own shop. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, March 2021 // Railway Age 37

CEO PERSPECTIVES we were asked to begin loading railcars with various commodities within our growing network of short lines and switching sites. Also, we were fortunate to acquire an amazing multi-modal asset in Houston known as Greens Port Industrial Terminals on the Houston Ship Channel. The customers with us on this part of our journey helped us with our integration into transloading. Today, within our terminals and ports segment, we own or operate more than 80 terminals in the United States, Australia, Canada and Mexico. All of this was only possible because customers were looking for solutions, and we were looking to share value to those who asked us to help them. In 2014, we started our logistics segment at Watco. We were approached by several customers to help with their transportation needs—not only using Watco assets, but even when we weren’t physically handling it ourselves. This made complete sense to us, because since

the beginning, Watco has always believed the right solution is the one that creates the most value for the customer—even

“We believe the future remains bright for those who create value for their customers and fairly share it with those who create it.” when it means they don’t use Watco’s services. It is all about delivering the most value, and if you can’t do that

with what you have, you better just admit it. Because the truth will find you eventually. What does service integration mean to Watco? It means survival. It means growth. It means always sharing value with your customers. It means continued success. It is the single, biggest reason we have been able to grow into the team we are today—a team made up of nearly 5,000 amazing team members serving thousands of wonderful customers who have allowed us to reach levels of success that would have been impossible to imagine on that hot July day in Louisiana back in 1983. By focusing on integrating our services into our wonderful customers’ supply chains during the most trying time in over a century, our amazing team members gave us our most successful year ever in 2020. We believe the future remains bright for those who create value for their customers and fairly share it with those who create it.

WE SIFT THROUGH THE NEWS SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO RAIL GROUP NEWS brings you a daily round-up of news stories from Railway Age, RT&S, and IRJ. This email newsletter offers North American and global news and analysis of the freight and passenger markets. From developments in rail technology, operations, and strategic planning to legislative issues and engineering news, we’ve got you covered.

RAIL GROUP From RAILWAY AGE, Railway Age,RT&S RT&S and and IRJ IRJ NEWS http://bit.ly/rail_news ROUND-UP of NEWS STORIES FROM:

1 38 RA_RailGroupNews_Half_Sift_2019.indd Railway Age // March 2021

3/4/19 1:04 PM railwayage.com

BIG DATA

Figure 2: Use of AI for crossing gate status [3].

DEEP ENGINEERING DIVES Using data science to better understand and maintain right-of-way performance. BY ALLAN M. ZAREMBSKI, PH.D., P.E. FASME, HON. MBR. AREMA, PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE AND DIRECTOR, RAILROAD ENGINEERING AND SAFETY PROGRAM, DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE

s noted in the February 2021 Railway Age article [1], the University of Delaware’s annual “Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning” conference provides a forum for railroad and data analytics professionals to come together with academia and discuss the latest applications and research in railway-related data science. Clearly evident from these annual conferences, there is growing use of data analytics, often referred to as “Big Data,” to address maintenance and safety issues in all aspects of railroading: Engineering (Track and Structures), Equipment (Rolling Stock) and Transportation (Operations). This article will continue that discussion of the December 2020 conference, focusing on railwayage.com

the Track and Right-of-Way-related applications of data analytics to the issues of railroad safety and maintenance. Although held in a virtual format, the conference— organized by Drs. Allan M. Zarembski, Nii Attoh-Okine and Joseph Palese—was able to attract more than 270 attendees from the full spectrum of railroad Big Data-related activities and research. One major area of safety focus that was discussed in several of the presentations was grade crossing safety. Not surprising, grade crossing safety is an ongoing concern in the railroad industry, and a range of research efforts are making use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) tools to address it. The presentation by the Federal Railroad Administration showed a range of programs such as the

use of a combination of vision systems/ cameras and AI-driven recognition software to identify vehicles in grade crossings and trespassers on the right-of-way. Another FRA program, labeled i-CATTS for integrated Crossing Assessment & Traffic Sharing System, is aimed at developing an affordable and field-deployable system using AI to provide real-time traffic information and estimate grade crossing delay time due to train blockage (see Figure 1, p. 40)[2]. This information can then be shared with motorists and first-responders. A related program uses AI processing to evaluate grade crossing status, such as illustrated in Figure 2 (above)[3] . In the area of inspection technologies, data analytics is helping to improve the accuracy, precision and effectiveness March 2021 // Railway Age 39

BIG DATA of inspection systems. This was likewise seen in several presentations. For example, ML, in the form of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), is being used to improve the accuracy of rail testing, specifically to improve the detection of internal rail defects as well as their location, as seen in Figure 3 (below, right)[4]. In another application, DNNs are being used to identify changes in images from cameras and other vision systems, to allow for the identification of missing or degraded track components. Such a DNN is illustrated in Figure 4A (p. 41), where multiple layers of the DNN allow for improved analysis capability as well as the ability of the system to “train itself” and “learn” from the input data[5]. Figure 4B (p. 41) shows how this is then applied to the problem of identifying missing or failed fasteners. Another area that has seen significant influence of improved data analysis, as applied to large data sets (i.e., Big Data), is that of maintenance forecasting and prediction of component failure. It has been the subject of numerous presentations in

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Figure 1: Distribution of vehicular traffic at grade crossings [2].

both this and earlier Big Data conferences, often showing different and increasingly effective applications of data analytics tools and approaches. This is the case illustrated in Figure 5 (p. 42), where track geometry degradation is modeled and forecast using a data analytics technique referred to as Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average or ARIMA[6]. The 2019 Big Data conference showed the use of the same technique to forecast rail wear[7], thus showing the versatility of these data analytics tools and techniques, as well as their increased application to real problems. Broken rail prediction, again using a Neural Network approach was the topic of another presentation [8]. As can be seen in Figure 6 (p. 42), a specific form of Neural Network, the Soft-Tile CodingBased Neural Network or STC-NN, is used to develop a model to

• Ultrasonic rail testing • Joint bar inspection • Track geometry • LiDAR profiling • Clearance analysis

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Figure 3: Neural Network application for improved rail testing[4]. 40 Railway Age // March 2021

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BIG DATA

Figure 4A: LRAIL Deep Neural Network structure [5].

predict, on a probabilistic basis, when and where broken rails will occur. The resulting AI model was able to “catch” more than 71% of broken rails on a 20,000-mile rail network. Data analytics was also used to integrate the inspection, analysis, forecasting and maintenance planning process for

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Figure 4B: LRAIL Deep Neural Network application [5].

an application of an axle-box mounted accelerometer (ABA) inspection system [9] . The result was a condition-based maintenance decision system for rail surface condition as applied on a regional railway in Romania. The specific approach is as follows: • Data collection from an onboard ABA.

• Signal processing of raw data. • Use of Hilbert spectrum analysis to identify defect signatures based on the axle-box acceleration measurement. • Degradation model used to identify different degradation scenarios over time.

March 2021 // Railway Age 41

BIG DATA

Figure 5: Use of ARIMA for track geometry degradation forecasting [6].

• Use of multi-objective optimization process to find the trade-offs between the stochastic degradation scenarios and the number of interventions (replacements or maintenance). • Use of Pareto analysis for maintenance decisions. The result is an integrated process that

42 Railway Age // March 2021

Figure 6: Broken rail prediction methodology [8].

allows for the identification of where the highest increase of performance can be achieved, while keeping control of the budget for each intervention. This process and the resulting maintenance decision parameters were presented for a segment of the study line with a corrugation condition. Based on this process, 70 rail segments were

identified as requiring replacement. As noted, the range of presentations went from highly theoretical to quite practical. In addition to the applications and theoretical modeling, other papers addressed such issues as data quality and the potential source of error from such factors as Covariate Shift in track

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BIG DATA geometry data [10] . These issues focus on data quality measure, which plays an important and significant role in determining the performance of an ML model. Thus, Covariate Shift, which is defined as a change in the distribution of the independent variables, can adversely affect the development and performance of such an ML model. The University of Delaware’s Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Conference continues to provide a spotlight on and a venue for learning about the growing application of data analytics, ML and AI in the rail and transit industry. The next Big Data conference is scheduled for December 15-16, 2021. For further information, contact Professor Allan M. Zarembski at dramz@udel.edu. REFERENCES 1. Zarembski, A. M., “Using Data Science to Better Understand and Maintain Rolling Stock Performance,” Railway Age, February 2021. 2. Jay Baillargeon and Francesco Bedini Jacobini, Federal Railroad Administration, “Leveraging Big Data to Advance Grade Crossing Safety & Trespasser Prevention,” 2020 Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference. 3. Larry Jordon, Wi-Tronix, “IoT for Rail and Case Study of Applied Video Analytics for Maintenance in Rail,” 2020 Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference. 4. Bobby Gilbert, Sperry Rail Service, “An Introduction to Elmer®: Artificial Intelligence and Big Data for Rail Inspection,” 2020 Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference. 5. John Laurent, Pavemetrics, “Use of 3D Laser Scanning and Artificial Intelligence to Detect Changes in Track Condition,” 2020 Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference. 6. Serkan Sandikcioglu, ENSCO, Jay Baillargeon, FRA, Jackie Van Der Westhuizen and Radim Bruzek, ENSCO, “Rail Geometry Predictive Analytics with Time Series Models,” 2020 Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference. 7. Palese, J. W., “Application of Data Analytics to Rail Wear Forecasting,” railwayage.com

2020 Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference. 8. Xiang Liu, Associate Professor, Rutgers University, “Artificial IntelligenceAided Broken Rail Prediction on Freight Railroads,” 2020 Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference. 9. Alfredo Núñez, Delft University, Netherlands, “Evolutionary Multi-objective

Optimization for Maintenance of Rail in a Regional Railway Network,” 2020 Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference. 10. Nii Attoh Okine, University of Delaware, “Covariate Shift Problems in Track Geometry Data,” 2020 Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference.

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March 2021 // Railway Age 43

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

DESIGNING FOR COVID Industrial and graphic design has a key role in the emergence of a safer and more sustainable mass transit industry.

he challenge: The very name and definition of our industry, “mass transit,” encapsulates the unprecedented disruption the pandemic has caused to transit agencies. Social distancing is diametrically opposed to the very advantage passenger rail transportation provides: to safely transport mass groups of people in the same vehicle. In daily life, people benefit from public transit for myriad transportation needs. Compiled, the list would be long; commuting to and from work would be at the top. How can industrial and graphic design contribute to alleviate this unprecedented crisis? In the short term, many measures have already been implemented: working in multidisciplinary teams of engineers and maintenance shops; devising graphics, shapes and schemes that encourage social distancing; wearing of masks and the disinfection of hands; installing plexiglass barriers in food service cars—the list goes on. The lion’s share of modifications is in the interior, but signage on railcar exteriors is also being installed for the New York MTA and other systems. Industrial and graphic design

44 Railway Age // March 2021

has provided short-term visible hygiene measures, alleviating the apprehension of riders using public transportation. These designs will be roughly divided in two categories: • Short term, which are now implemented throughout the country, and could last from one to two years or longer. • Long term, forming an integral part of the criteria for new rail vehicle design. Daily vehicle cleaning has become a critical link in the chain of tasks required to provide a safe interior. Industrial design can play an important part by: • Utilizing state-of-the-art disinfecting liquids and sprays (see p. 53). • Improving cleaning tool industrial design. During my years at Amtrak and NJ Transit, specialty cleaning device manufacturers inquired if new designs were needed. This is an opportunity to revisit the tools to address the stringent procedures required. • Learning from previous experiences. An example that comes to mind is the many modifications that were implemented in Amfleet cars, replacing carpeted areas above the baggage rack with vacuum

formed parts. This provided surfaces that could be wiped, and a more updated appearance. Crevices and hard-to-reach places in interiors that are difficult to reach and clean can be streamlined with vacuum formed sections that will make them easy to clean. • Choosing the correct materials. All materials used in seating comply with flammability and toxicity requirements. It is now up to the designers to come up with ways to use color to delineate spaces, and smooth materials that can be cleaned and wiped thoroughly. Seating materials should minimize seams. Presently, transit agencies are focusing on interior graphic design, outfitting interiors with safety distancing signage on the floor, center ceiling, bulkheads, vestibules and doors to provide ample notice of the distance recommended between passengers. Signage with clear graphics requiring the use of masks has been placed in stations. Transit systems are mandated to require passengers and conductors to wear masks. Public service announcements remind riders to wear masks, keep social distance and use disinfecting liquids. Cleaning and disinfecting standard railwayage.com

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BY CESAR VERGARA, VERGARASTUDIO

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN maintenance procedures (SMPs) for interiors are continuously updated. In three-seat rows, the center seats have been blocked, with signage that they are not to be occupied. Plexiglass barriers have been installed in Amtrak food service cars, protecting passengers and attendants. Hand disinfectant dispensers in vestibules and car seating areas have been installed. Industrial design will also play a visible part in new rolling stock designs. Some suggestions of semi-permanent or permanent solutions: • State-of-the-art filtration systems that are being tested in the ventilation systems at Amtrak and other passenger railroads. • Special UV lighting that helps eliminate viruses. • Configuring seating in a staggered sequence to create more social distancing. • Applying new materials being developed that don’t allow surface bacterial or virus growth. • Lighting that indicates social distancing. • Improving design of walkover seating to allow for thorough cleaning. • Raised disc flooring that is easier to clean but still provides anti-slip qualities in rainy and wintry weather. • Surfaces with protective film that can be peeled off periodically to reveal new surfaces. • Plexiglass partitions applied with mushroom head Velcro that can be removed when no longer required, or for cleaning. • Establishing wide-scale and regular employee coronavirus abatement interactions, including suggestions for improvements to industrial and graphic design. A potential silver lining is that the measures being adopted by many agencies create an opportunity. By virtue of their smooth shapes that are easier to clean, vehicle interiors can be configured to be more comfortable, easier to clean, and appealing to passengers and onboard crew. An existing example of this type of industrial design is the interior of the Kawasakibuilt M8 commuter fleet for Metro-North. Some of the mainstream innovations in these vehicles, such as armrests shaped smooth with no cavities or sharp edges, are not only more comfortable and ergonomic, but also afford the cleaning crew ease in wiping on all sides. The gently curved center ceiling panel, baggage rack and coves are also easier for the railwayage.com

maintenance crew to wipe clean. These innovations, intended for ease of cleaning, result in a more ample interior volume for passengers and crew. These features are surprisingly appropriate for a more thorough cleaning during the pandemic. Industrial design has to work in concert with architects in platform design, as the vestibule of the railcar becomes a de-facto continuation of the platform when the doors are open during dwell time. In the M8, I designed the vestibules, clearly marked by their yellow color flooring, to closely match the tactile yellow of the platform edge. This was not a requirement, but rather a design done in the spirit of the ADA for the visually impaired. The result was a clearer definition of the vestibule as well, and a very wellreceived aesthetic. There exist many good examples in public transportation outside of the rail industry. As an example in the bus industry, the DC Circular, serving downtown areas of Washington D.C., sports a prominent “Swoosh” on the exterior. I carried this

graphic feature to the floor of the length of the bus as well as to the ceiling, forming a reflective “swoosh” graphic. This was not only decorative, as it indicates that passengers should move toward the back, closer to the rear exit door (opposite). As a COVID industrial design option, ADA norms can easily be adapted to achieve social distancing. As an example, the space required by a passenger in a wheelchair to safely maneuver and secure a mobility device is a circle approximately six feet in diameter—the same equivalent CDCrecommended measure for social distancing. The area in front of accessible lavatories also provides sufficient square footage and can be used as a temporary area for standing passengers to social distance. One thing is certain: We will eventually beat the virus, but it will have changed how we maintain, operate and disinfect our transit vehicles for decades to come. Industrial and graphic design will play a key role in the recovery, and in the emergence of a better, safer and more sustainable mass transit industry.

March 2021 // Railway Age 45

BIG DATA

PRECISION SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE

How CSX uses advanced analytics and autonomous data collection systems in m/w tasks. inear asset management is a high-tech term that defines what goes into railroad maintenance-of-way. It’s a rapidly evolving area that increasingly relies on autonomous or semi-autonomous data collection systems, coupled with Big Data-driven analytics (p. 39). Among the many railroad/supplier collaborative efforts is one involving CSX and Greenville, S.C.-based VisioStack, a developer of condition monitoring, data analytics and decision support systems. The company’s rail-centric offerings are RAILLINKS® AI and RAILLINKS® PREDICT. As CSX’s Director of Track Testing, Brad Spencer has a lot under his umbrella. “There are many ways to conduct testing,” he says. “We use autonomous boxcars, our ATAC (Autonomous Track Assessment Cars) system, because they’re a bit more modular, and we’re not using a resource that’s quite as restrictive as a locomotive, because a lot of

46 Railway Age // March 2021

these platforms are still under development. We have not used machine vision until this year, but we conduct frequent testing, which is critical for doing predictive analytics and deep learning. The foundation of autonomous systems is data management, where we can synchronize all our different data platforms. There’s no better way than visualization to get information out in the field. We use various system providers and technologies. If there’s no way to marry and sync all that data together, it doesn’t matter how many times you collect it.” “We started working in November 2018 with VisioStack,” explains Spencer. “We began with a small project, looking at curve alignment issues on one specific route, and we were in discussions with several companies about data management. We liked VisioStack’s platform, and wanted to see what they could do with it. We were pretty impressed with that initial project. It only took a few weeks, but it gave us some idea of what to look

forward to and what their potential is.” “We’ve been working on this technology for about 10 years, when we started seeing a trend toward autonomous data collection systems,” says VisioStack President and CEO Zachary G. Garner. “This meant there was going to be a lot more inundation of data. We set out to build a Cloud-based platform that can handle any type of railway asset or condition data, meaning track geometry, rail wear or linear sample data, as we call it, point cloud data—whether that’s LIDAR, or rail profile, or any type of imagery data as well as defects. Defects come from many different systems. “We’ve really been working on workflows, which means whatever data we get, we try to establish an automated process by which decisions are made. So it’s very critical, if we’re going toward autonomous data collection systems, that we have business rules and automated processes in place that allow us to validate data quality and to perform various flexible tasks on the data, and then ultimately railwayage.com

VisioStack (all images)

BY WILLIAM C. VANTUONO, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

BIG DATA create actionable items off that data. Workflows are a key element of our RAILLINKS® platform. And we have to be flexible to what a particular client needs. CSX is a big organization, with many different requirements for the various types of data it collects. “Data visualization is really important, especially when we’re collecting more data than we’ve ever collected before, not just in this industry but across industries. If we don’t understand what we’re working with, then we can’t make real step-change improvements on our business processes. We’re good at data visualization. And when you’re good at that part, you can start understanding data on a higher level than you could before. “If you’re swamped with the data you’re collecting, you’re still swimming, not knowing where you’re going. But if you can start to break it down and to visualize it at the macro and micro levels, then you really have a good understanding of what you need to do and where you’re going. That’s a key foundation of putting in place analytics that can work off of that data. Data always is going to tell a story. And until you can have a strong platform that allows you to visualize the various parts, you won’t be able to segue to the analytical phase. We’re starting to head over into the analytical side and be able to squeeze value from the data. A lot of money is spent on data collection systems.”

Normalized Change Detection: This shows the predictive side of the platform, which finds the “needle in the haystack,” those areas of interest that should be followed even before they become defects. NCD is all about early detection and prevention.

SPOT MAINTENANCE TO CAPEX PLANNING As an example of improved spot maintenance, a track geometry profile can show a surface defect, like a dip or a hump. “Let’s say we are looking at a dip, running an autonomous test vehicle over this defect two to three times a week,” explains Spencer. “We establish a timeframe and look at all the runs across there. With the VisioStack software, we can quickly just click on that section of the curve, because every run is visualized with a different color. We can select a spot in the curve and hit ‘trending,’ and it’ll actually show you what the trend is over time. And you can see that profile and determine that the dip is getting bigger. We repair it, and then it goes right back to zero. “If you really want to do some predictive things, you could say, ‘I don’t have a tamper freed up on the Columbia Subdivision, but I can see that this isn’t going to go very well.’ And I’ve got an idea how much time I’ve got

with the current tonnage on that line. We’ll still send the inspectors out and have them focus on those areas, but we can predict when we can get our tamper to that area. So it’s very key for predictive analytics when you’re applying it to that type of situation. But on a bigger picture, on the entire subdivision, taking the data and actually putting real values to it, real data behind it, and being fact-based, we can decide how to prioritize the whole network. That is based on tonnage, speed, and all the risk characteristics. Without this kind of a data management system, we’re collecting data and not really using it to its full capacity. That’s what we’re finding most important with VisioStack. “One of the really important drivers is finding repeat exceptions that drive permanent fixes. VisioStack has taken tabular reports and visualized them inside their platform. So when roadmasters look at strip charts from geometry testing, they can just click on a spot and determine very quickly where repeat

railwayage.com

Degradation: This shows several track geometry runs, aligned in a single location, that are trending poorly.

sheets are, how they were addressed, did they come back within a certain amount of time, was the defect fixed correctly. It’s an excellent tool for the field. And having it in a visualization makes it so much clearer to those folks who are actually using the data on the ground. There are some big applications for this technology with the field people, helping them understand what’s going on.” In terms of capital maintenance planning, “Cloud-based data management is having the technology where data flows go into the right places at the right time, enabling quick decisions,” says Spencer. “Our capital plan has become more dependent on data, vs. the old days when we had people making decisions that weren’t always the smartest when you’re looking at the whole network. Now, we’re able to make many more informed decisions, and lower our risk. If you look at our derailments, we are driving those numbers down every year. This technology is another means to take us to the next level.” March 2021 // Railway Age 47

C&S

SAFETY-CRITICAL HMIs Exploring train control system Human Machine Interface requirements.

equirements for safetyrelevant Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) for train operators are becoming more common around the world. The evolution toward safety-relevant HMIs for train control is already well under way in Europe and Asia, most notably as part of the widespread adoption of the European Train Control System (ETCS), with more than 50,000 miles of the worldwide rail network equipped or contracted to be equipped with ETCS. While HMI safety requirements have not yet become widespread in North American rail applications, the anticipated re-emergence of HMI safety requirements could soon be an example of history repeating itself. In North America, the original cab signaling Aspect Display Units (ADUs) brought wayside signal aspects into the cab to provide continuous signal visibility to the locomotive engineer, reducing the risk of the engineer missing or misinterpreting the displayed aspect. These ADUs included incandescent light points that were treated with the same care as wayside signals, including hot and cold 48 Railway Age // March 2021

filament checking and light-out detection. Many of these safety-critical ADUs remain in service today. Over time, the advancement of HMI and automatic train control (ATC) technologies contributed to a general reduction in the safety responsibilities of both the train operator and the train control display. As LED indicator light point array and eventually full electronic displays emerged, lighting technology made safety checking more difficult. ATC systems provided increased automation and protection against train operator errors that previously would have led to collision or derailment. Safety functionality was increasingly allocated to safety-critical controllers on board the train and along the wayside while being removed from the display itself. The logic in easing safety requirements of the display was simple: “If the ADU is wrong, the ATC will still respond safely.” In almost all industries involving automation, system capabilities continually increase over time—and so does complexity. Providing more information and decision-making to human operators presents increasing risk.

This holds true in the rail industry, as the scope and capabilities of train control systems have continued to evolve along with the train control system’s integration with other sensitive systems that support railway operations, such as Energy Management Systems (EMS). HMIs used with ATC systems may be referred to by a variety of acronyms, including ADU, CDU (Cab Display Unit), DMI (Driver Machine Interface), SDU (Signal Display Unit), TOD (Train Operator Display), OCD (Onboard Cab Display), etc. Regardless of name, these HMI devices typically provide continuously updated speed and movement information, used by the train crew for purposes of complying with movement authorities and bulletins. Functions vary in criticality: Performing a departure test may generally be regarded as not safety-critical, while manually entering operational data that affects braking algorithms or inputting information that factors into the determination of train location or movement authority limits could potentially have significant safety implications. Considerations of safety-relevant HMIs have been under way in the industrial railwayage.com

Shutterstock / wellphoto

BY RYAN MCKINLEY, VITAL ASSURANCE LTD.; AND BLAKE KOZOL, DEUTA AMERICA CORPORATION

C&S automation and process control industry in the past and are more recently being explored in the automotive industry. These considerations are largely driven by the ubiquitous increase in system functionality and complexity mentioned earlier and an increasing acknowledgment of the criticality of HMIs in system design. Railroads in other countries around the world are also requiring train operator displays to ensure safe operations for both display (machine to human) and input (human to machine) functions. This includes ETCS, one of the largest and most complex interoperable train control systems in the world. In North America, rail operators that have implemented ATC systems, such as Positive Train Control (PTC) and Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC), over the past 20 years, typically have not included Safety HMIs because they were not required to do so by any regulatory agency and did not identify benefits that warranted the cost. Importantly, there are many differences in the environment and framework of how HMI safety is managed between the European and North American rail environments. European Union rail policy is geared toward the creation of a safe and interoperable “Single European Railway Area.” In 2004, the EU established the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), which was given the responsibility of developing the technical and legal framework for creating the Single European Railway Area. ERA is the design authority for the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), which is a single interoperable control, command, signaling and communication system. ERTMS includes ETCS, which is a cab-signaling system that incorporates ATP (automatic train protection), GSM-R (Global System for Mobile communications for Railways) and operating rules. The EU intends for ERTMS to reduce the purchasing and maintenance costs of these systems while increasing train speed, infrastructure capacity and safety level. The CCS TSI mandatory specifications include quantitative safety requirements for Driver-Machine Interface (DMI) functions. The quantitative safety requirements are provided in terms of a Tolerable Hazard Rate (THR), which is in units of failures per hour, calculated by UNISIG in the Functional Safety Analysis of ETCS DMI for ETCS Auxiliary Hazard. The Functional Safety railwayage.com

Analysis identifies several dozen DMI hazardous situations and uses event tree analysis to derive THR requirements for these hazards, considering the consequences of the hazards and barriers to their occurrence. The THR requirements were then used to derive a corresponding safety integrity level (SIL) according to EN 501295, which expresses the degree of safety integrity for a safety-related function as one of four discrete SILs (from SIL 1 to SIL 4) or as Basic Integrity. SIL 4 has the highest level of safety integrity. Now that most North American railroads have successfully achieved FRA safety certification of their initial PTC implementations, the railroads are exploring ways to further enhance operational and safety benefits of PTC. Safety requirements are therefore likely to increase. PTC 2.0, elimination of train orders via radio, and increasing prevalence of international supply chain and international standards may all contribute to this trend. The distribution of costs and efforts to improve system safety will be a function of mitigating the most hazards at the lowest cost, which is also influenced by the availability of affordable and proven solutions. PTC systems typically include an HMI, mounted in the locomotive cab, which displays continuously updated speed and movement information. The train crew uses this information to maintain awareness of train speed and location for purposes of complying with movement authorities and bulletins. PTC systems can be divided into safetycritical and non-safety-critical functions. The safety-critical functions can be further broken down into vital and non-vital functions. Vital functions are those that are shown to be compliant with the safety assurance criteria and processes outlined in 49 CFR Part 236 Appendix C, and which have been shown through analysis to achieve a mean time to hazardous event (MTTHE) greater than or equal to 109 hours. Non-vital functions are not required to fulfill these same qualitative and quantitative criteria. Examples of safety-critical PTC functions include location determination, speed enforcement, switch protection, temporary speed restriction protection, consist determination, and movement authority protection. Some of the existing safety-critical functions have been assessed in the railroads’ safety documentation as vital, while others have

been assessed as non-vital. Some obvious targets for safety enhancement are safetycritical functions that were initially assessed as non-vital because they did not fulfill the criteria for vital systems mentioned earlier. The railroads may look to make these previously non-vital functions vital by implementing a variety of onboard, office, wayside, and/ or communications solutions. PTC designs typically assume that missing or erroneous display information does not affect safety because the onboard controller will initiate enforcement in the event the train crew fails to respond. However, PTC safety analysis should determine if hazards could occur if, as examples, a train crew were to rely on erroneously displayed speed information when the PTC system is in a non-enforcing state, or if the train crew were to believe they are operating under PTC protection when the display erroneously indicates they are not. Along with PTC functions, Locomotive EMS are also increasingly incorporated into PTC displays. EMS provide additional safetyrelevant controls for throttle position and dynamic braking, relying on critical inputs from a human operator. Additionally, the flexibility of potential functionality expansions, such as the ability to safely display and acknowledge movement authorities and work-zone entry permissions without radio transcription, could result in increased efficiency as well as safety. With safety HMI technology now having been proven in use and providing safety benefits to justify the cost, North American railroads may find that the time has come to incorporate these technologies into their new or updated ATC implementations. Railroads are likely to find the incremental additional cost of safety HMIs insignificant given the potential added benefits. Undoubtedly, North American ATC systems will continue to evolve, driven by a desire to increase functionality, safety and operational efficiencies. Safety HMIs represent an example of technological advancement that may help railroads to leverage innovations to their advantage. As ETCSbased railroads have already deployed tens of thousands of such applications, the risks of new technology introduction are largely mitigated. Our industry aspires to continually improve safety and efficiency for the future; with safety-relevant HMI devices, the future may have roots in the past. March 2021 // Railway Age 49

TTCI R&D

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HIGH PERFORMANCE WHEEL TESTING Evaluating state-of-the-art wheel steels for improved life and damage resistance.

ince 2016, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) has been conducting a long-term high performance wheel (HPW) test to evaluate current state-of-the-art wheel steels for improved life and damage resistance. This test, designated HPW2, evaluated 14 wheel 50 Railway Age // March 2021

steels from 11 manufacturers. Laboratory evaluations have also been completed. On-track testing continues at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST), part of the Federal Railroad Administration’s Transportation Technology Center, Pueblo, Colo., and revenue service evaluations have recently begun. This project is

a part of the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) Strategic Research Initiatives program on Wheel Performance and Integrity. The laboratory tests evaluated each wheel steel for various material properties, including hardness, tensile strength, fracture toughness, and microcleanliness. railwayage.com

TTCI

BY KERRY JONES, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGY CENTER, INC.

INTELLIGENCE IN RAIL

AUTOMATIC SUCCESS Automated Inspections Mitigate Incidents Automated Inspections Monitor & Identify Issues

Wayside Monitoring Machine Vision Inspection Figure 1: Rotating beam fatigue tester, showing motor (left), housing (center), and test specimen (right).

Additionally, rotating beam fatigue tests were performed on each steel type to determine the endurance limit. For this test, samples were subjected to rotating bending conditions at various loads. A rotating beam fatigue tester is shown in Figure 1. The bending load is applied vertically through the end of the specimen on the right side of the figure. By plotting the cycles to failure against the bending stress, an S-N curve can be generated. The stress at which the material runs for at least 10 million cycles without failing is known as the endurance limit. The steels in this test had endurance limits ranging from 45 ksi to 85 ksi. The endurance limit by itself is not the main indicator of performance, but it must be considered in conjunction with other mechanical properties. All steels met or exceeded the requirements for AAR Class C wheels. The HPW2 test wheels were installed under 10 gondola railcars loaded to 286,000 pounds GRL (gross rail load), using two or three test wheelsets from each supplier. These wheelsets have accumulated an average of 60,000 miles at FAST. Normalized values of f lange wear and tread wear showed a range of values with more wear showing on wheels with lower tensile strength and lower hardness. Ultrasonic testing revealed shallow subsurface fatigue cracks in seven of the railwayage.com

test wheelsets, including three wheels provided by one supplier. Wheels with cracks were removed to prevent the development of a more serious condition, such as a vertical split rim. Most of the observed cracks developed in narrow bands less than 0.5 inch wide, but measured 1 inch to 24 inches in length. Two crack bands were nearly continuous around the circumference. All of the detected subsurface crack bands developed after the previous semiannual ultrasonic inspections. In each case, no indications were found in the previous inspection. No wheels have been removed for other causes, although several wheels are nearing the AAR wear limit for flange width. Revenue service testing began during summer 2020 with six participating suppliers. Wheels were installed in unit grain trains. To directly compare performance, approximately 100 sets of AAR Class C wheels will also be monitored for causes of removal. The operating railroad plans to provide TTCI with periodic updates including mileage, repair, and WILD (Wheel Impact Load Detector) data on cars with test wheels. As with the on-track testing at FAST, TTCI’s HPW inspections in revenue service will consist of examining tread condition, tread and flange wear, as well as ultrasonic testing for subsurface fatigue cracks.

Remote Diagnostics Real-Time Fleet Wide

Asset Management Analyze & Act

March 2021 // Railway Age 51

People BRIAN CUNKELMAN Strato, Inc.

HIGH PROFILE: Strato Inc. has promoted Brian Cunkelman to

President. Mike Foxx, who previously held the role, will continue as CEO of the Piscataway, N.J.-based company, which develops and manufactures products such as airbrake hoses and components, freight and passenger car parts, and castings and fabrications, and offers custom product design and engineering services. Cunkelman joined Strato in 2019 as Vice President of Engineering. He has more than 25 years of leadership and executive management experience in rail industry engineering, operations, manufacturing, sales and aftermarket services, business development, and supply chain management. Before joining Strato, he worked for Gardner Denver and Wabtec. Cunkelman holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Brown University and holds 30 U.S. and numerous foreign patents. Strato recently ranked No. 71 on business journal NJBIZ’s 2020 list of Top 250 Privately Held Companies in New Jersey.

annet Walker-Ford is taking on the role of National Transit and Rail Leader for WSP USA. As a Senior Vice President, she will be responsible for growing the firm’s business in the transit and rail markets; developing client relationships within state and local transit agencies, consultants, industry associations, railroads and contractors; and establishing strategies that will position WSP for major advisory, planning, design, program management and construction management assignments, the company said. Walker-Ford served most recently as Senior Vice President and Transit Market Sector Leader, Americas at AECOM. She has more than 20 years of transportation experience, and has also served as Deputy General Manager/Deputy CEO as well as Chief Information Officer at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), where she led the implementation of a regional smartcard fare collection system. L.B. Foster Co. named a new Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), William (Bill) M. Thalman, effective March 1. Thalman served most recently at Kennametal, Inc., as Vice PresidentAdvanced Material Solutions since 2016 and as Vice President-Transformation Office since 2019. He also worked for Kennametal Europe. “Bill brings a unique set of skills and ideas from years of experience in leadership positions that include financial, operations and business transformation assignments,” L.B. Foster President and CEO Robert P. Bauer said. “His demonstrated success and leadership qualities are an excellent fit, and 52 Railway Age // March 2021

they come at a time when the company is sharply focused on driving performance improvements and adapting to changing markets.” L.B. Foster recently restructured, creating two primary business units. Union Pacific Locomotive Engineer and TSC (Total Safety Culture) Coordinator Wade Wilde of Ogden, Utah, has received the Class I railroad’s 2020 J.C. Kenefick Safety Award. The annual award was presented during a virtual ceremony, which UP shared on Twitter. Named after former UP Vice Chairman, CEO and President John Kenefick, the award has been the top safety honor for a union employee since 1986. (Kenefick “guided the company into the era deregulation after the passage of the Staggers Act in 1980,” and worked to more than double the railroad’s size through acquisitions and to gain access to the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, UP noted on its website.) Wilde, the 2020 honoree, is a 16-year railroader who works in the Rocky Mountain Service Unit and is actively involved as a leader in the TSC program. A voluntary employee-led initiative, TSC “teaches employees safe behaviors while providing observations and feedback,” according to UP. “TSC directly empowers our union employees to address at-risk behaviors and receives the full backing of senior management.” “This is a great honor, and I am super proud to be a recipient of the Kenefick award this year,” Wilde said during the presentation. “And I want to thank my team. I want to thank the Total Safety Culture process that has allowed me to go out and have that

peer-to-peer engagement, from our General Manager all the way down to our people in the field doing the work—switching the cars, moving the freight. They’re second to none, and I’m very proud to be part of that team. I wish we could give this award to all of them, and I understand that it’s got to go to somebody, but I want them to know that I’m thinking about them, and it’s their hard work that’s got us to where we are today.” Wilde said that one of the biggest achievements for his service unit was having more than 90,000 TSC observations in 2020—a 64% increase over 2019. Reminding teammates of the importance of safety “is really what drives me to do what I do,” said Wilde, who also serves as a mentor. His success in that role comes from “answering the phone, showing up when people need your help, being out there every day.” HDR promoted Tom McLaughlin to President, Global Transportation. McLaughlin, an HDR Executive Vice President based in New York, succeeds Brent Felker, who retired at the end of 2020. He will focus on growing the consultancy’s Global Transportation program, which includes a staff of more than 4,000. McLaughlin served previously as HDR’s U.S. Northeast Regional Director of Operations. Prior to joining HDR 18 years ago, he worked as a consultant and for the New York State Department of Transportation. FreightCar America appointed Terence R. Rogers Vice President, CFO and Treasurer. Rogers has been serving as FreightCar America’s interim CFO since January 2021. He took on his new roles, with increased responsibilities, Feb. 15. Rogers has nearly 40 years of experience in finance, accounting and operations, and served most recently as Executive Vice President and CFO for Roadrunner Transportation Systems (2017-19). Prior to joining Roadrunner, he was Executive Vice President and CFO of Heico Companies (2012-17), and held various executive management positions at Ryerson over a 17-year period. “We are thrilled to have a person of Terry’s caliber join the permanent team,” FreightCar America President and CEO Jim Meyer said. “He is an extremely experienced financial leader who brings invaluable experience as we complete the remaining steps of our strategic repositions and look to pivot to longterm growth.” railwayage.com

Products Deep-Cleaning Products and Services to Fight COVID-19 For high-touch, high-traffic surfaces in public transportation and other environments, AEGIS MICROBE SHIELD® is a fullspectrum liquid designed to reduce antimicrobial growth. This aftermarket alternative to built-in protection is applied topically by either the spray or “wet and wipe” methods. Odorless and colorless, it uses quaternary silane-based antimicrobial technology to protect surfaces by inhibiting the growth of stain and odor-causing bacteria, mold, mildew and fungi, according to Aegis Environmental Management Inc. AEGIS Microbe Shield® is registered with global regulatory authorities such as Health Canada, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and ECHA (European Chemicals Agency). Protect Technologies is the exclusive North American distributor. For more information, visit www.aegismicrobeshield.com. The HONEYWELL UV TREATMENT WAND uses Ultraviolet-C (UVC) technology to reduce viruses and bacteria on train, bus and automotive surfaces. “When properly applied, UVC lights have been found capable of delivering doses that clinical studies show reduce or inactivate various viruses and bacteria, including SARS-CoV (including SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19) and MERS-CoV,” according to the company. The portable, 15-pound system includes a 12-inch-long handheld wand that dispenses UVC light using a single lamp, and a rolling backpack with battery. The wand can be used at varying speeds and distances from a target surface, but at its ideal dosage and speed, it can cover approximately one square meter in 17 seconds, or about 3.5 meters per minute, Honeywell says. One hour of steady system usage is possible per battery charge. Visit www.honeywell.com for more information. DISINFECTIX is a site disinfecting service from WIL-KIL for office buildings, warehousing and other facilities. Trained professionals deploy products that are labeled for use against various pathogens. The fine-mist application and high-touch wipe process only requires 10 minutes of contact time and does not leave residue behind, the company says. The service meets EPA criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID19. For more information, visit www.wil-kil.com/commercialpest-control/disinfectix-disinfecting-service/. MADISON CHEMICAL’S PROCLEAN SURFACE DISINFECTANT is a one-step, ready-to-use sanitizer, disinfectant and virucide for hard, non-porous surfaces in industrial, commercial and institutional settings. The non-abrasive formula—which contains no fragrances, bleach, harsh acids or phosphates—cleans, disinfects and removes odors, according to the company. Listed on EPA List N: Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2 (reference EPA registration #10324-85110), it kills the Human Coronavirus, Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and a variety of animal viruses specified on the EPA registered label, Madison Chemical says. Visit www.madchem.com for more information. railwayage.com

March 2021 // Railway Age 53

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CIT

212-461-5781

212-461-5632

James.Spencer@cit.com

DANELLA RENTAL SYSTEMS, INC

561-743-7373

561-743-1973

SBolte@danella.com

FREIGHTCAR AMERICA

312-928-0850

312-928-0890

tbaun@freightcar.net

Natalie.cornell@hatch.com

jhansen@herzog.com

HATCH LTK HERZOG

816-385-8233

HOLLAND LP

708-672-2300

708-672-0119

sales@hollandco.com

RWIN CAR & EQUIPMENT

724-864-8900

724-864-8909

bspringer@irwincar.com

315-786-5431

315-786-5676

Janice.Pfeil@nyab.com

PLASSER AMERICAN CORP

757-543-3526

757-494-7186

plasseramerican@plausa.com

POWERRAIL INC

570-883-7005

570-883-7006

Sales@ePowerRail.com

PROGRESS RAIL A CATERPILLER CO

256-505-6402

256-505-6051

info@progressrail.com

RAILWAY EDUCATIONAL BUREAU

800-363-7512

bbrundige@sb-reb.com

24,26,C3

SIEMENS MOBILITY

800-SIEMENS

www.USA.siemens.com

TRAINYARD TECH LLC

724-443-8881

cra2@zooninternet.net

TRIMBLE

678-597-3156

rail.trimble.com/rail@trimble.com

trinityrail.com

NEW YORK AIR BRAKE

TRINITY RAIL

678-597-0156

800-631-4420

VISIOSTACK INC WESTERN CULLEN HAYES WVCO RAILROAD SOLUTIONS

41 773-254-9600

773-254-1110

jm@wch.com

541-484-9621

541-484-1987

wvcorailroadsolutions@wilvaco.com

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.

railwayage.com

March 2021 // Railway Age 55

Financial Edge Texas Cold Won’t Bring Back Coal

hey say hope springs eternal. Tell that to the citizens of the great state of Texas. Winter storm Uri delivered power outage Armageddon beginning around Feb. 14 (Happy Valentine’s Day! Love, Uri). While Texas and its beleaguered, battered and thirsty citizens deservedly got the national headlines, rolling blackouts occurred up the Midwest corridor. At the peak of the storm, on Feb. 16, at least 4.5 million Texans were without power (3.3 million on Wednesday, Feb. 17) with heavy emphasis in the Houston and Austin metro areas. The causes of the rolling blackouts outside of Texas stemmed from extreme cold (polar vortex-level wind chills) both increasing energy demand and affecting the operability of some renewable generating capacity. In Texas, the cold temps (down to 5 degrees Fahrenheit in Dallas) froze (or made inoperable) generating assets, gas lines (valves) and water pumping stations. Power outages shut down water treatment plants. According to AEP Texas, as power generating assets and fuel distribution networks succumbed to the cold weather (by freezing up and/ or stopping operability), the Texas grid manager, ERCOT, shut down the grid to prevent overwhelming demand from causing damage to the grid. (The technical term is “load shedding.”) In fact, to avoid potential damage to the grid, ERCOT, during the worst of the crisis, lengthened the blackouts to avoid overwhelming the grid with power demand even while it was preventing some power generating facilities from restarting. To bring service fully back online, ERCOT had to increase demand with slowly increasing supply. The results for Texans were life threatening. The role played by renewable energy received airplay during and after the crisis. There have been calls for increased reliance on fossil fuel plants. This sentiment has been expressed from Texas to Kansas and Missouri. It is easy to look at the situation and believe 56 Railway Age // March 2021

that a multi-state crisis and significant political outrage could be the blast of cold reality that re-energizes demand and appetite for coal and coal loadings (down in 2021 by 12% YOY after last year’s 25% reduction). Unfortunately for investors in coalcarrying railcars, the Texas wind that blows, blows not for king coal. The results of the electricity debacle of 2021 are more likely to move power generation further away from coal and escalate the decline in appetite for those assets. Critics of wind power will point to the assets in Texas that froze up during the February freeze. Texas’ wind turbine issues were a Texas-sized problem limited mostly, well, to Texas. While Texas is the largest state in terms of wind-generating capacity, among the top ten states are Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa and North Dakota. Although those states generate less wind power than Texas, they annually experience winter with great ferocity. Even wind towers in North Dakota and Minnesota freeze up. That happens (infrequently) at temperatures –20 degrees Fahrenheit and lower. Wind towers sense temperature and cease operation to avoid damage (kinda sounds like ERCOT, no?). Cold temps and weak winds caused the slowdown in wind power in Oklahoma and Kansas. From one point of view, it would be easy to take one fact out of context— wind towers can freeze up—and convert it to the idea that the percentage of energy generated from fossil fuel should be increased. That ignores the current trend and the momentum in power generation. During the week of the Texas crisis, Evergy (Kansas City Power and Light and Westar Energy) drafted and proposed a bill (in both Kansas and Missouri) cementing its strategy of retiring older coal-generating assets at the lowest cost to its rate payers. The quotable phrase was: “We’re long on old coal generation. We’re seeing increasing demand from industries and municipalities for access to renewable energy.”

The texas wind that blows, blows not for king coal. the electricity debacle is likely to pivot power generation further away.” Storm notwithstanding, the spark to light the fuse igniting coal-fired generation is already out. This might be the last curtain call for using fossil fuels as a political cover. Texas’ free market approach to supplying residential power richly rewarded anyone with fuel or energy during the crisis (Macquarie made more than $200 million selling gas and power). That system will likely undergo some evolution after this crisis. Changes may include rethinking how to adjust the open market system to control costs during an emergency (hint: it doesn’t involve Macquarie-owned Griddy’s $16,000 power bills) or winterizing wind towers or investing in a grid structure that is f lexible and responsive in a crisis. Those are more likely results than increasing coal’s market share of Texas’ power generation. Got questions? Set them free at dnahass@ railfin.com.

DAVID NAHASS President Railroad Financial Corp. railwayage.com

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 1-11-21. 216 Emergency Order Procedures: Railroad Track, Locomotive and Equipment Updated 1-11-21. 217 Railroad Operating Rules Updated 1-11-21. 218 Railroad Operating Practices - Blue Flag Rule Updated 1-11-21. 221 Rear End Marking Device-passenger, commuter/freight trains Updated 1-11-21. 223 Safety Glazing Standards Updated 1-11-21. 224 Reflectorization of Rail Freight Rolling Stock Updated 1-11-21. 225 Railroad Accidents/Incidents Updated 1-11-21. 229 Locomotive Safety Standards Updated 1-11-21. 231 Safety Appliance Standards Updated 1-11-21. 232 Brake System Safety Standards Updated 1-11-21.

49 CFR Part 234, State Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Action Plans. FRA is issuing this final rule in response to the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act mandate that FRA issue a rule requiring 40 States and the District of Columbia to develop and implement highway-rail grade crossing action plans. This final rule also requires ten States that developed highway-rail grade crossing action plans as required by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and FRA’s implementing regulation to update their plans and submit reports to FRA describing actions they have taken to implement them. DATES: This final rule was effective January 13, 2021.

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Railway Age March 2021

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