In this section, we showcase short line industry stories published in local media.
Port of Long Beach breaks ground on $1.6 billion ‘Green Gateway’ rail expansion
Railroad members! If you want to be featured in this section, please email us the link. You can also tag us (@ASLRRA) in your social media posts. Interested in seeing your railroad showcased in your local newspaper. Contact Amy Krouse for assistance.
Federal grants like the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program and Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) program, among others, play a crucial role in helping small railroads complete large-scale projects, fueling growth and improving safety on their railroads.
ASLRRA member Texas, Gonzales and Northern Railway Company (TXGN) used a CRISI grant to help fund a $4.5 million railroad interchange construction project that will boost TXGN’s capacity and further improve safety. Completion of the project in 2023 also led to TXGN being a finalist in ASLRRA’s annual Business Development Award competition, held in the spring.
The road to project completion started in 2019 when TXGN parent company TNW Corporation first applied for a CRISI grant for its subsidiary. TXGN received its CRISI award in 2021, broke ground on the project in Dec. 2022 and completed it in June 2023.
TXGN’s new interchange improves connections to Class I partner Union Pacific Railroad, in addition to other benefits. TXGN now has expanded service capacity, with the ability to handle unit trains and industry-standard 286,000-pound loads. In constructing the interchange TXGN also incorporated modern technology like power switches that further improve operational safety.
The short- and long-term impacts of this project are significant. TXGN is better equipped to handle increased rail traffic, receiving unit trains and conducting interchanges more efficiently. Improvements to operations help TXGN meet current customer needs while allowing it to attract future business in the growing agriculture, energy and storage segments in south Texas.
Though TXGN and TNW Corporation are skilled in providing freight rail services, navigating the federal grant process was trickier. Without specific staff members assigned to grant writing and management, small railroads can struggle with grant applications, award obligation and project management. TXGN and TNW relied on outside grant-writing consultants for this project. In addition to working with outside consultants, TXGN and TNW were sure to engage Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) grant staff when necessary and leverage available FRA grant resources. The result is a completed project that TXGN described as a “game-changer for our customers and local agencies” that will “support the community for years to come.”
Members of the Gonzales color guard and Texas, Gonzales and Northern Railway employees gathered in July 2023 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of an interchange construction project funded in part by a federal CRISI grant.
ASLRRA has added three new virtual reality (VR) training modules to its Short Line Training Center’s online Learning Management System (LMS). This is the first time VR has been incorporated in online training modules.
The three VR courses are Freight Car Familiarization, Locomotive Daily Inspection and Class I Airbrake Test and Inspection. Using VR technology offers several benefits for trainers and trainees, including enhanced engagement and motivation, improved safety and efficiency and increased accessibility and scalability. Watch a video demo of the new VR training courses by clicking here.
“The Short Line Training Center is a significant addition to our industry’s arsenal of products to help short line railroads level up on safety,” said ASLRRA President Chuck Baker. “The Learning Management System allows for railroad employees to be trained or certified at any time, in any location. This flexibility allows even the smallest of railroads to train employees without time away from the railroad, and the added cost of travel. The use of VR technology is a new level of interactivity for the participant and will increase the effectiveness of the training.”
In addition to these VR courses, the LMS offers a Part 214 railroad workplace safety program, Part 243 model programs and drug and alcohol and post-accident testing training courses. Thirty technical training courses are planned, with five to be released in 2024 and others currently in development.
The Short Line Training Center is a collaborative project created by the ASLRRA and Iowa Northern Railway Company (IANR), and funded through a Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant. The Short Line Training Center includes the LMS and Regulatory Training Courses plus a Mobile Technical Training Center equipped with two Type II Locomotive Simulators and two additional simulators permanently located at the IANR training center in Waterloo, IA, all of which help deliver essential regulatory, compliance and safety training and materials to railroad employees.
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ASLRRA and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) filed joint comments concerning the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would designate marijuana a schedule III controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act.
Marijuana is currently considered a schedule I controlled substance and railroads are required to comply with U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulations concerning drug and alcohol workplace testing programs. Changing marijuana to a schedule III controlled substance would apply regulatory controls applicable to that level.
The Associations’ comments note several potential negative impacts of the new rule. First, federal drug and alcohol testing is central to a safe rail transportation system. Marijuana is currently the top drug type to appear in positive drug tests in rail as well as across the transportation industry, and, while rare, marijuana use by rail employees has been considered a probable factor in several accidents.
The comments also identify concerns about the proposed rule’s impact on certification of USDOT drug-testing laboratories and the ability of railroads to conduct drug testing of employees. Both ASLRRA and AAR ask the DEA to ensure USDOT’s existing drug-testing program, which includes marijuana, remains in place and that there be no disruption to the existing program if the rule is finalized.
With the comments, ASLRRA joined 19 stakeholders across the transportation industry in a letter outlining concerns about the reclassification of marijuana. The coalition is worried about the potential of the rule to prevent certain transportation employers from testing for marijuana use, which must be done through controlled-substance testing because there is currently no scientifically proven method to detect marijuana impairment, as there is for alcohol. The letter also identifies concerns about the safety implications for users of the nation’s transportation systems if marijuana becomes a schedule III substance.
ASLRRA has updated its resources concerning 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 218, Railroad Operating Practices. The Association has posted a One-Person Crew Operating Rules Template, which is available to members on ASLRRA’s Compliance Templates webpage, and required for submission by Sept. 6 for those railroads operating with a single person in the cab of a locomotive.
Association members can use the template to comply with Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) requirements under the agency’s new minimum crew size rule. Railroads wanting to operate with certain one-person crews must file the appropriate paperwork with the FRA, to include an operating rules document.
All paperwork for one-person crews must be submitted to the FRA by the Sept. 6 deadline noted above. ASLRRA staff and members of the Safety and Training Committee have developed templates for these documents and held a webinar to help railroads understand requirements for short lines. A recording of the webinar is available any time to ASLRRA members in the Association’s On-Demand Webinar library. Included with the recording is a copy of presentation materials and a compliance guide published by the FRA’s Office of Railroad Safety.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has posted in its eLibrary a summary report of its High-Hazard Flammable Train Route (HHFT) Assessment and Legacy Tank Car Focused Inspection Program.
The report was written in response to a directive by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tasking the U.S. Department of Transportation with conducting an inspection program on certain HHFT and large-volume hazardous materials train routes and initiating a program to examine legacy DOT-111 tank cars and the phase out of those cars. Buttigieg committed the USDOT to these studies after the derailment in East Palestine.
Between March 1, 2023 and Aug. 31, 2023 the FRA evaluated routes over which the largest volumes of hazardous materials are transported and reviewed industry processes related to wayside detector technology. This evaluation identified areas of improvement concerning effective use of wayside detector technology.
The FRA’s tank car review showed that tank car owners are still on track to meet the May 2029 deadline to phase out DOT-111 tank cars and upgrade to more robust DOT-117 specification tank cars. However, as the report notes, “economic and practical challenges remain that prevent the full-scale, immediate phase out of the cars.”
While the FRA found that compliance with regulatory requirements on high-volume hazardous materials routes generally aligns with results of the FRA’s routine inspections, the railroad industry could benefit from “development of shared best practices” concerning wayside detector policies and procedures and improved wayside detector data sharing among railroads.
The FRA’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) is currently working on a task related to wayside detectors, and this report will inform the group’s efforts. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will also use report results to inform ongoing rulemaking efforts concerning high-hazard trains.
After reaching attendance capacity for its 2024 Rail Program Delivery Workshop scheduled for July 30 and 31, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is no longer accepting registrations. However, the FRA has made public a workshop agenda, session descriptions and workshop session booklet in its eLibrary.
For those who are unable to attend the workshop, the FRA’s session booklet contains some information and links that may be useful. Those who have already registered can expect to learn about grant application success, using technology and tools to achieve project success and best practices to advance project delivery.
On July 19, days after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued its final report on the Norfolk Southern derailment at East Palestine, Ohio, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued accident investigation report HQ-2023-1813 concerning the incident.
The FRA’s report provides an executive summary and describes circumstances prior to the accident and the accident itself. The report also describes the FRA’s investigation and analysis, which included evaluation of crew members involved, relevant signal and train control systems, track and equipment and more.
Based on its investigation, the FRA determined the probable cause of the accident to be a failed roller bearing on a covered hopper car. The agency also identified potential contributing causes leading to the derailment and contributing factors that affected the severity of the accident.
Yesterday the House Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials held a hearing titled “Examining the State of Rail Safety in the Aftermath of the Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.” Discussion centered on the rail safety bill, the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act, recently introduced by subcommittee Chair Representative Troy Nehls (R-Texas). A recording of the hearing is available here.
Hearing witnesses included National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown, the Honorable Michael Rulli of the 6th District of Ohio and representatives from the American Chemistry Council and labor unions. There were no railroad or railroad industry association representatives who testified at the hearing.
While ASLRRA did not participate in the hearing, Association staff attended to listen for any discussion of short line railroads. Staff reported no mention of short lines during the hearing, though lawmakers largely expressed support for Nehls’s rail bill.
The Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act on July 25. ASLRRA’s government affairs team has been advocating for short line interests with appropriations staff, particularly regarding full funding for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program and the Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI). ASLRRA staff will cover the hearing for discussion of budget items important to railroads and short lines, and review bill text once it is released.
The Short Line Railroad Relief Act has garnered a new industry supporter in the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA).
TIA is an organization representing third-party logistics professionals doing business in North America. The association joins 16 other groups, including ASLRRA, in support of the bill. Representative Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) introduced the Short Line Railroad Relief Act in 2023. The bill would provide emergency funding for short line railroads in the event of a natural disaster or other catastrophe.
There is currently no federal program providing disaster relief funding to short line railroads. This lack of funding proved especially problematic when ASLRRA member Seminole Gulf Railway was devastated by Hurricane Ian in 2022. Recovering from the hurricane absent federal assistance cost Seminole Gulf millions while slowing the railroad’s ability to reconnect southwest Florida to the North American rail network and bring in much-needed construction materials and other supplies to help residents rebuild.
The Short Line Railroad Relief Act has bipartisan support from 23 co-sponsors representing states across the U.S. For more information, visit ASLRRA’s policy page on the topic.
Know a company that would benefit from joining and participating in ASLRRA? Please contact ASLRRA’s Senior Vice President of Membership and Business Development Kathy Keeney via email or on (202) 585-3439.
ALS Oils & Lubricants, based in Kansas City, Kansas, provides fluid analysis for many industries and a variety of testing services for oil, fuel, coolant, grease, metalworking fluid, and transformer oil. It provides a trend report for fluids that gives information and recommendations to help optimize system reliability for equipment health. With a regular fluid analysis program such as oil analysis, it is possible to be one step ahead of unnecessary breakdowns and downtime. Our primary contact is Key Account Manager, Oil & Lubricants Andi Carrel, who can be reached on (913) 281-9881.
Hot Switch Heating Systems, LLC, based in Minot, North Dakota, makes induction rail heaters that are engineered for swift installation with minimal disruption and no track modifications, expandability, and unparalleled performance. The heaters employ cutting-edge magnetic induction technology instead of traditional resistance or forced air heating methods, setting a new industry standard to keep switches clear of snow and ice. It also manufactures fiberglass switch heater covers to reduce energy costs and increase efficiency. Managing Member Meagan Kunnanz is our primary contact and can be reached on (701) 500-4775.
Registration is open for both ASLRRA’s Eastern and Southern Region Meeting, which will be held Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 in Jacksonville, Florida, and the Central and Pacific Region Meeting, which will be held Oct. 28 to 30 in Dallas, Texas.
Attendees at both meetings can also play golf. A separate registration is required for each golf tournament, which take place on the Luna Vista Golf Course in Texas and the Slammer & Squire Course in Florida.
Click here to register for the Eastern and Southern Region Meeting. Those needing accommodations can click here to reserve a room in the ASLRRA room block at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville. The deadline for discounted hotel rates is Sept. 9.
Click here to register for the Central and Pacific Region Meeting. Early bird rates for the meeting and golf end on Aug. 20. Those needing accommodations can click here to reserve a room in the ASLRRA room block at the Westin Galleria Dallas. The deadline for discounted hotel rates is Oct. 7.
ASLRRA’s two industry-specific fall meetings are now open for registration. The General Counsel Symposium and the Finance & Administration Seminar offer education sessions specifically geared toward industry professionals in the legal, human resources, finance and administration fields.
The General Counsel Symposium takes place Oct. 28 and 29, while the Finance & Administration Seminar takes place Oct. 29 and 30. Both are held concurrently with the Central and Pacific Region Meeting in Dallas, though attendees must register separately for each event. General Counsel Symposium attendees can also register for continuing legal education (CLE) credits for certain sessions.
Please note that education sessions for these events and the Central and Pacific Region Meeting may overlap. The early bird rate for both events expires Aug. 15. Attendees can also secure a room in the ASLRRA room block at the Westin Galleria Dallas. Discounted room rates expire Oct. 7.
ASLRRA published its industry survey several weeks ago, asking Class II and III railroads or their respective holding companies to provide crucial data. The primary contact at eligible railroads should have received ASLRRA’s request for information and instructions for how to complete the survey.
The announced survey submission due date, July 26, is this Friday. Collected data will help ASLRRA support its advocacy and regulatory work. Without accurate, up-to-date information, the Association cannot adequately respond to inquiries or potentially burdensome regulations. ASLRRA urges member contacts to please make every effort to ensure their railroads complete the questionnaire. Those who have questions or who are in need of assistance can contact ASLRRA’s Cameron Downs or Fred Oelsner.
Members of ASLRRA’s Safety and Training Committee, under the leadership of Committee Chair Mitch Harris, traveled to Association headquarters in Washington, D.C. last week to work on program templates.
The group is working with ASLRRA staff to develop templates to help members comply with the Federal Railroad Administration’s recent final rules concerning certification of dispatchers and signal employees. ASLRRA thanks those on the committee for their work on behalf of Association members.
Record high temperatures, flooding and other natural disasters are only some of the events that have inflicted major damage on the nation’s rail network this year. To help members plan for and cope with these events ASLRRA has assembled disaster preparedness resources available on the Association’s website.
Railroad and supplier members helped ASLRRA develop essential templates and checklists to assist in the development of response plans that can be put in place and used as training tools before disaster strikes, as well as emergency response tools and resources to aid in the recovery process in the aftermath of a catastrophic event.
Resources on the Association’s Disaster Preparedness page include disaster planning, hazmat response and instructions on accessing an emergency docket, in addition to links to other government websites. ASLRRA members may download materials directly from the website. Find the Disaster Preparedness page under the Safety & Compliance tab.
ASLRRA also has a robust selection of recorded webinars available for members in the On-Demand Resource Library that may be used to prepare and train for emergency situations. Topics range from Crisis Communications and Media Training to Hazardous Materials Incident Reporting and Emergency Notifications Section Review.
ASLRRA member railroads can turn tie inspections into savings and safety improvements with Loram’s Aurora Track Inspection Technology. As an exclusive ASLRRA Preferred Provider, Loram offers discount pricing on its Aurora Track Inspection Technology featuring state-of-the-art imaging technology that scans track to reveal the specific condition of every tie along the way, pinpointing potential problems and marking their exact location.
A comprehensive tie inspection using Loram’s Aurora technology provides a detailed report that enables a railroad to streamline capital maintenance programs and helps ensure they are in line with industry regulations with compliance reports, while also helping them to plan repairs in the most efficient way possible.
All ASLRRA Member Discount Program Preferred Providers are carefully vetted companies committed to providing discounted pricing, special offers and guaranteed exceptional services on a range of industry-specific products and services. Visit the Association’s Member Discount Program page to view all Preferred Providers and learn how Loram’s Aurora Track Inspection Technology can make railroad operations safer and more efficient.
Fred Oelsner traveled to New Jersey yesterday to participate in the quarterly in-person meeting with the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Northeast Corridor (NEC) Positive Train Control (PTC) Committee held at New Jersey Transit headquarters in Newark.
JR Gelnar is attending the AAR Tank Car Committee meeting this week at MxV Rail facilities in Pueblo, Colorado. Gelnar is representing short lines in discussions of facility and component certifications.
Chuck Baker, Amy Krouse, Richard Sherman and ASLRRA intern Kristine Polija attended the House rail safety hearing in person yesterday. While on Capitol Hill Baker, Krouse and Sherman also stopped by a Railway Supply Institute event in the Rayburn Building. RSI was hosting a showcase of rail technology and innovations.
Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) summer intern Danny Jurta (far left) joined Richard Sherman (center) and Kristine Polija at yesterday's rail safety hearing.
Railroad publication Railway Age magazine is accepting nominations for its annual Women in Rail Awards. Nominations are due Oct. 1.
The Women in Rail Awards recognize women who are considered trailblazers in the industry. Winners will be those with notable “leadership, vision, innovation and accomplishments.” Railway Age will honor 20 individuals with profiles in the magazine’s November issue.
Eligible individuals include those in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and can represent any area of the railroad industry. Self-nominations are also welcome. Click here to learn more and complete an online nomination form.
Click here for a calendar of industry events.
Views & News is published by American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.
Please contact Mariel Takamura, associate editor, with questions or comments.
