In this section, we showcase short line industry stories published in local media.
Durbin & Greenbrier Valley debuts unit with Western Maryland paint scheme
Two hurricanes in two weeks prompt short liners to again call for a disaster relief fund
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.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has announced the recipients of funding through the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) grant program and the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program. The 44 projects receiving funding through these programs include several with a short line railroad component.
ASLRRA member Paducah & Louisville Railway (P&L) will receive $33,780,304 to make upgrades to rail infrastructure, rehabilitate five bridges, improve traffic control systems and more along P&L’s 280-mile main line. In a statement on the award from Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who sent a letter of support for the project to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, McConnell notes that P&L interchanges with four Class I railroads and transports a variety of freight including equipment for Kentucky’s military installations.
In Chicago, Illinois, the USDOT awarded both a Mega grant and an INFRA grant worth $209.9 million and $81.3 million, respectively, to help complete CREATE Project EW2A. The project reconfigures the main tracks of ASLRRA member the Belt Railway Company of Chicago to eliminate conflicting commuter, transit and freight paths. According to the CREATE program project description, this section is considered “the most congested rail chokepoint in the Chicago Terminal.”
Other rail-related projects receiving awards include $138 million to the Minnesota Department of Transportation to make upgrades to I-494 and replace an old railroad bridge used by ASLRRA member Progressive Rail Incorporated. And in Oregon, $25 million to the Port of Coos Bay will help fund planning for a three-part intermodal terminal project. Class III railroad Coos Bay Rail Line serves the port.
Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena will be a featured speaker at ASLRRA’s 2025 Annual Conference, which will be held April 6 to 8 in Denver, Colorado. Other featured speakers include a panel of industry experts who will discuss the RailPulse coalition.
Vena has over 40 years of experience in the railroad industry, getting his start as a maintenance-of-way laborer with Canadian National Railway (CN). While at CN he also worked as a brakeman, conductor, locomotive engineer, trainmaster and superintendent. As his career progressed Vena continued to move up at CN, eventually being named the organization’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Vena was named chief operating officer at Union Pacific in 2019. He also held the position of senior advisor to the chairman for two years before being named CEO in August 2023.
RailPulse General Manager David Shannon will also be a featured speaker at the Annual Conference. Joining him to discuss RailPulse will be Norfolk Southern Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Mike McClellan and a representative from Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services, Inc. (G&W).
RailPulse was formed by a coalition of forward-thinking railcar owners, including Norfolk Southern and G&W, dedicated to developing, broadening and accelerating the use of GPS and other telematics technologies on railcars that aim to increase service, safety, efficiency, and visibility across North America’s freight rail industry.
As general manager, Shannon is responsible for leading the development and launch of the RailPulse platform, as well as managing the operations, strategy, and growth of the coalition. Shannon has over 25 years of experience in leading technology organizations, with a focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) and remote condition monitoring.
McClellan was instrumental in the launch of RailPulse in 2020 and continues to serve on the RailPulse board. He got his start in the rail industry with the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) where he worked for ten years before joining Norfolk Southern in 1998 as assistant vice president intermodal. He has held roles as vice president intermodal and vice president intermodal and automotive and led the industrial products team before transitioning to lead strategic planning in 2018.
Featured speakers at ASLRRA's 2025 Annual Conference will include (L to R) Union Pacific's Jim Vena, RailPulse's David Shannon and Norfolk Southern's Mike McClellan.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has issued an Enforcement Notice concerning its In-Use Locomotive Regulation, which is pending authorization from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Because the EPA’s ruling on CARB’s request has not been made, CARB announced it will delay data collection requirements that were set to begin on Jan. 1, 2025.
In the notice, CARB writes that due to “uncertainty over the timing of the U.S. EPA authorization decision” and the potential need for “entities not previously regulated by CARB…to implement new systems” in order to comply with data collection and reporting requirements, the required reporting period for the 2025 calendar year will “run from July 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.” Entities will then submit their required reports by July 1, 2026.
ASLRRA and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) have filed suit against CARB in the Eastern District of California on behalf of their members arguing that CARB lacks the legal authority to enact the locomotive rule because only the federal government has authority to regulate rail operations. On Sept. 30 the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California issued an order in that case, staying the litigation pending the EPA’s decision regarding CARB’s request.
ASLRRA and the Association of American Railroads (AAR) have submitted joint comments in response to a request for comment on a notice of information collection issued by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
The FRA is asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve an extension of recordkeeping and information reporting requirements related to freight and other non-passenger train brake systems and equipment, but with adjustments made that decrease the previously approved burden hours from 528,432 to 324,638 hours.
In their comments, ASLRRA and AAR say that the FRA underestimates the reporting burden because it excludes job briefings from the burden estimate. Moreover, the FRA did not make this exclusion clear in either the first or second information collection request notices it published. The Associations also argue the FRA’s reasoning for excluding job briefings “is based on an incorrect application of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and the PRA’s implementing regulations.”
Two recent safety notices from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) urge railroads and railroad employees to maintain vigilant safety practices. ASLRRA has added these new notices to its own safety resource page. This page includes links to FRA safety alerts and bulletins, and information from the Fatality Analysis of Maintenance-of-way Employees and Signalmen (FAMES) Committee, SOFA Working Group and Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS).
In Safety Advisory 2024-01, the FRA emphasizes the importance of rules and procedures concerning roadway workers and roadway maintenance machines (RMMs). The FRA recommends railroad and contractors review and update rules governing communication between roadway workers and RMM operators and rules for work/red zones and work/red zone distances for all RMMs. The advisory further says railroads and contractors should increase monitoring of employees for rule compliance and conduct additional safety briefings to increase worker awareness of the dangers of operating and working around RMMs.
The FRA’s Fatality Analysis of Maintenance-of-way Employees and Signalmen (FAMES) also published a Fourth Quarter Safety Alert to remind individuals of the spike in fatal roadway worker incidents that occurs in the fourth quarter of the calendar year. Analysis of data over 27 years shows that the highest number of incidents occur in the fourth quarter, with 36 percent of all fatalities occurring during this time, and 47 percent of those fourth-quarter fatalities taking place in October. The FRA and FAMES Committee hope that alerting employees to this trend will result in increased vigilance during this time, particularly regarding on-track safety procedures.
The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has issued two announcements concerning increases in retirement benefits and earning limits for the upcoming calendar year. The RRB also published a notification discussing its funding situation under the current continuing resolution funding government operations.
For most railroad retirement annuity recipients, a rise in the cost of living will result in an increase in annuities starting in January 2025. The tier I portion of a person’s railroad retirement annuity will increase by 2.5 percent, while the tier II portion will rise 0.8%. This will result in an average increase of $69 a month for individuals, $97 a month for an employee and spouse and $42 a month for eligible widows and widowers. The RRB will send letter to all annuitants in late December detailing these changes.
The RRB also announced that earnings limits will increase in 2025, as they are indexed to average national wage increases. For those who are under full retirement age throughout 2025, the limit rises to $23,400 from $22,320. For those who attain full retirement age in 2025, the exempt amount in the months before the person reaches full retirement age is $62,160, up from $59,520. The announcement also discusses earnings deductions, spouse annuities and special work restrictions.
In a separate statement, the RRB said it is operating under the continuing resolution passed at the end of the 2024 fiscal year, which was passed to avoid a government shutdown and expires Dec. 20. The RRB goes on to note that current proposed funding levels for fiscal year 2025 under the Senate and House budgets are still less than the RRB’s request. A lower budget will, according to the RRB, force the agency to “continue its existing hiring freeze and operational cutbacks” and prevent the agency from being able to “move forward with its multi-year information technology modernization project.”
Updated hazardous materials guidance from the Federal Railroad Administration, HMG Revision 5, makes revisions concerning one-time movement approvals (OTMAs) for bulk packages and packaging that do not conform to Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR).
There are three categories of OTMA under the section governing nonconforming or leaking packages. OTMA-1 refers to any packages, packaging or railcars that do not meet OTMA-2 or OTMA-3 criteria. OTMA-2 refers to bulk packages overloaded with hazardous material. HMG Revision 5 includes a range of defects not included in any OTMA category. The update also “requires Class 1 carrier approval for all OTMA-1 and OTMA-2 applications in order to include carriers in the decision-making process of the movement of nonconforming bulk packages/ packaging.”
Of the many projects making up ASLRRA’s government affairs team’s to-do list, the team is currently homing in on two priorities in the legislative realm.
First, ASLRRA staff continues to conduct outreach on Capitol Hill to build support for bills to modernize the 45G railroad track maintenance credit. Members of Congress have been signing up to co-sponsor the bills, which would, among other things, increase the tax credit cap to $6,100 per track mile. However, ASLRRA hopes to encourage even larger numbers of lawmakers to co-sponsor the bills and is working with members of the Association’s Legislative Policy Committee to expand outreach efforts.
To learn more about 45G, please see ASLRRA’s Tax Policy webpage and two-page fact sheet.
ASLRRA’s government affairs team is also working with members to respond to requests from the White House and Congress, in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration, for information about damage to short lines caused by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
A survey has been sent via email to members affected by these recent hurricanes. ASLRRA urges those who have received the email to submit their information today, as having such data shows government officials the need for federal disaster aid for short lines.
By helping collect data regarding estimates for recovery and repair costs, ASLRRA hopes to inform the government’s efforts to develop legislation for supplemental disaster funding along with later funding decisions being made by federal appropriators. A recent article on Progressive Railroading magazine’s RailPrime site focuses on the need for a short line disaster relief fund, featuring interviews with ASLRRA-member short line representatives who detailed the destruction caused by recent hurricanes and the intense physical and financial burdens these storms incurred on their railroads.
ASLRRA’s Central and Pacific Region Meeting takes place next week, Oct. 28 to 30 in Dallas, Texas. Join the more than 330 people who will attend this event; interested participants can still register.
Registration is also still open for ASLRRA’s targeted educational events, the General Counsel Symposium and the Finance & Administration Seminar, which are co-located with the regional meeting. The General Counsel Symposium will take place Oct. 28 to 29 and the Finance & Administration Seminar will take place Oct. 29 to 30. Click here to register for these events.
Booth sales are now open to all ASLRRA members for the Association’s Annual Conference and Exhibition being held April 6-8 in Denver, Colorado. More than 140 booth spaces were reserved during the priority placement period that recently ended for companies that had booths at the 2024 Annual Conference in Kansas City.
Adjustments to the 2025 Annual Conference schedule will offer more exhibit hours and an additional exhibit day on Tuesday, ending with a brunch in the Expo Hall. Click here to view more information for exhibitors.
Organizations exhibiting at ASLRRA’s Annual Conference must be Association members. Not a member but want to exhibit? Reach out to Senior Vice President, Membership and Business Development Kathy Keeney to learn about becoming a member.
ASLRRA has opened registration for the 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition, and those who register before Nov. 14 will be able to lock in last year’s early bird rate and secure their spot at the short line railroad industry’s premier education and networking event. Due to schedule changes for the 2025 conference, ASLRRA urges attendees to plan to stay until Wednesday to take full advantage of all this year’s event has to offer.
Along with the conference, ASLRRA is excited to open registration for optional activities including a train ride on the Rocky Mountaineer and a networking event at Lucky Strike. Individuals must sign up to attend the conference in order to add the train excursion and/or the Lucky Strike event. Space is limited for both events, so those who want to attend either or both events should register for the conference soon.
ASLRRA reminds its members that the Association does not partner with outside groups to book registration or hotel rooms and does not authorize any individuals or companies to do so on ASLRRA’s behalf. ASLRRA will not contact you directly via phone or email to make hotel reservations.
The only way to register for events is through ASLRRA communications and its website. Likewise, the only way to book a hotel room in ASLRRA’s room block at special rates is by using links provided on the Association’s website or by contacting the hotel directly using information and codes from ASLRRA.
Those who receive solicitations about hotel rooms or registration should not provide any sensitive information to those individuals and instead forward details about the encounter to ASLRRA’s Amy Westerman.
Aldon Company, Inc., based in Waukegan, Illinois, was founded in 1904 with deep roots in the railroad industry. Aldon manufactures and distributes a wide variety of railroad safety and track repair tools, including derails and rerailers, signs & lights, wheel chocks & stops, and railroad switch & turnout products. Director of Business Development, Claudia Santos, is our primary contact and can be reached at (847) 623-8800. Learn more about them in Booth 211 at ASLRRA's 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Denver.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tentatively selected 70 projects to receive funding through the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) National Grants Program. These projects include some funding for locomotive upgrades.
The DERA program is meant to help reduce diesel emissions across a range of transportation sectors by providing funding to “incentivize and accelerate the upgrade or retirement of older diesel engines to cleaner and zero-emission solutions.” Although the EPA is working to finish processing all the awards and satisfy legal and administrative requirements, the DERA National Awards webpage features a brief summary of the selected projects and shows a few railroad connections.
In California, the County of Napa will retrofit unregulated switch locomotives to repowered Tier-4 switch locomotives. Awards to the American Lung Association (ALA) will go toward upgrading locomotives in two states. In Missouri the ALA will purchase eight auxiliary power units for line-haul locomotives and in Idaho it will install 21 diesel auxiliary power units for locomotives. And in Washington, the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority will replace seven locomotive tier 2 head end power unit engines with tier 3 versions.
The EPA has said it will update its DERA awards page with more information once all award selections are finalized.
As part of its efforts to support its members and tell the short line railroad story, ASLRRA works to publicize member news through various communications channels. In addition to general press releases concerning business announcements and personnel changes, the Association encourages organizations to send notes about community engagement efforts and other feel-good content.
ASLRRA recently shared the story of the North Louisiana & Arkansas Railroad, which brought a locomotive to the 110th birthday celebration for Arkansas resident Ida Newbill. The story received significant positive feedback and is one example of the way sharing short line news can help ASLRRA’s members connect to a wider audience online.
One feature ASLRRA is currently developing is a story for Veterans Day describing how Association members work with and support veterans and active-duty military members in their organizations and local communities. Contact ASLRRA’s Mariel Takamura to share information about veterans engagement efforts or any other news.
Nominations are now being accepted for ASLRRA’s Safety Person and Safety Professional of the Year awards, which can be completed via online forms. Click here to go directly to a nomination form for the Safety Person of the Year Award or click here for the Safety Professional of the Year Award nomination form. Nominations are due Nov. 15.
The Safety Person of the Year Award recognizes a non-management employee of a member railroad who exhibits a high degree of safety awareness and contributes off-duty time to activities promoting safety awareness in the community. The Safety Professional of the Year Award recognizes a railroad management employee of a member railroad who is responsible for safety programs, training and the overall management of safe behavior and actions on their railroad(s).
Please contact Mariel Takamura with questions about nominations or the awards process.
As an 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.
This week, Fred Oelsner will be attending the Hack the Railroad conference in Columbia, Maryland as well as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 9th Annual Cybersecurity Summit in Washington, D.C. Both events feature expert speakers and regulators working on cybersecurity challenges in rail and, more broadly, in the transportation world.
This webinar includes an introduction to Operation Clean Sweep (OCS), of which ASLRRA is an official supporting member. OCS assists companies in their goal towards achieving zero plastic resin loss during operations, thereby keeping plastic out of the environment and surrounding waterways. The session will also discuss the OCS Rail program that was launched in 2024 as a new category of the OCS program specifically for rail partners and their operations. Several current OCS Rail members will also share individual case studies for an inside perspective on the program.
Speakers:
Sponsored by the American Chemistry Council
Webinar speakers offer important information during their presentations, but the opportunity to engage in question and answer (Q&A) sessions after the presentation often provides further clarity to webinar participants.
ASLRRA’s recorded webinars include both the presentations and the Q&A sessions, allowing viewers to hear what points the audience wanted further clarified or addressed. Look for the titles below in ASLRRA’s On-Demand Webinar library, all of which feature an engaging Q&A segment:
Visit ASLRRA’s webinar homepage and log in to view all the on-demand offerings in the Association’s webinar library.
The Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) is currently scheduling Safety Culture Assessments (SCAs) for short line, tourist, passenger and commuter railroads for 2025. Interested railroads are encouraged to secure a spot on the calendar before all spaces are filled.
Deemed “the most robust model for assessing safety culture in the U.S. rail industry” by the FRA, an SCA is a voluntary and confidential evaluation of a railroad’s safety culture, offered at no cost to the organization. A team of SLSI professionals uses employee surveys, employee interviews, safety document evaluation and field observations to identify a railroad’s areas of strength and areas of opportunity, rooted in the Ten Core Elements of a Strong Safety Culture as adopted by the Department of Transportation’s Safety Council.
The SCA concludes with a report out to management, and the delivery of recommendations, programs and materials to assist in addressing areas of opportunity. The SLSI can also offer additional, specific technical assistance to railroads looking to strengthen their safety culture.
Railroads that have already conducted an SCA can schedule a follow-up assessment to identify improvements since the initial SCA and any new opportunities for advancement. Railroads that have implemented recommendations from the SLSI’s initial SCA have shown improvement in safety culture across all ten elements measured.
Learn more at SLSI’s website, or contact SLSI’s Director of Safety Culture Programs Sam Cotton to put the SLSI’s over 700 years of safety experience to work on your railroad.
Industry publication Railway Age magazine has announced the 2024 Women in Rail award winners. Eleven of this year’s 25 honorees are ASLRRA-member employees, as are two of the seven honorable mention recipients.
The Women in Rail awards recognize those in the U.S., Canadian or Mexican rail industries who demonstrate “outstanding leadership, vision, innovation, community service involvement, and accomplishments.” Winners will be recognized with a feature in the November issue of Railway Age.
ASLRRA congratulates all this year’s winners, particularly those from its member organizations. They are (in alphabetical order):
Honorable Mention:
From Oct. 20 to 31, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is hosting a group of delegates from Brazil who represent public and private rail-sector organizations. One of the group’s scheduled events is a public business briefing on Oct. 29 in Chicago, Illinois that will allow U.S. companies to meet with delegates and learn about commercial opportunities related to Brazil’s freight rail network.
The business briefing will take place at the Royal Sonesta Chicago Downtown and include delegate presentations and one-on-one meetings. Presentations will focus in part on rail modernization projects and initiatives and needs of Brazilian organizations for U.S. technologies and equipment. Use this link to learn more about the event and register to participate.
While in Chicago, the delegation will tour ASLRRA member the Belt Railway Company of Chicago. During their trip the group will also meet with freight rail operators, suppliers, regulators and financing institutions in Washington, D.C. and Dallas, Texas.
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.
