William Vantuono

NORFOLK Southern (NS) joined local and state officials in Chicago on November 5 to dedicate a new fleet of GP33ECO environmentally-friendly shunting locomotives at its 47th Street intermodal terminal.

THE US rail industry's push to extend the congressionally-imposed deadline for the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) yielded a breakthrough on October 28, when the Senate passed the Surface Transportation Extension Act 2015 (HR 3819) which authorises federal funding for the Highway Trust Fund and gives the railways three more years to roll out PTC.

NORFOLK Southern (NS) informed its customers on October 20 that it will no longer accept shipments of poisonous inhalation hazard (PIH) commodities from December 1, and that passenger trains operated by Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express, and Chicago's Metra will be banned from its infrastructure from December 31.

The North American crude by rail (CBR) market is facing the combined challenges of falling demand due to reductions in oil prices and the introduction of new wagon safety standards. William Vantuono, editor-in-chief of IRJ's North American sister publication Railway Age, and Railway Age contributing editors David Thomas and David Nahass, trace CBR's evolution and consider its future prospects.

MARYLAND Transit Administration (MTA) has decided to phase out its fleet of four AEM7 and six HHP8 electric locomotives used on Marc commuter services on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and replace them with eight new 200km/h Siemens Charger diesel locomotives.

SAN FRANCISCO Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) unveiled a full-size mock-up of its forthcoming S200 SF LRV on June 16 and confirmed that it has exercised an option with Siemens for 40 additional vehicles.

NORTH America's two largest shortline and regional rail operators are set to begin merging their operations after the United States Surface Transportation Board (STB) approved Genesee & Wyoming's (GWI) application to take control of the assets of RailAmerica from December 28.

HURRICANE Sandy, the worst storm of its type to hit the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area in generations, has had a devastating impact on the rail network.