The News This Week 

North American Transit Industry

New York City Transit System Prepares for the Returning Masses: With a crippled Wall Street slowly recovering from the World Trade Center attack, transportation services are prepared for an onslaught of New Jersey commuters returning to work after the Spt. 11^th terrorist attack in lower Manhattan.

Amtrak Reports Fear of Flying Boosts Train Ridership: Travelers are boarding Amtrak in record numbers since Sept. 11^th when four airplanes were hijacked and the federal government temporarily suspended commercial flights. Amtrak added cars to routes to accommodate a 40 percent increase in passengers unable to fly during the two-day shutdown of U.S. airports. 

ALSTOM To Provide Passenger Locomotives To New Jersey Transit: The Board of Directors of New Jersey Transit Corp. voted on September 21 to award to ALSTOM a $175M contract for the design and manufacture of a fleet of 33 new 4,000 horsepower diesel-electric passenger locomotives.

Amtrak asks US Government for emergency funds: Amtrak has asked the federal government for around $3bn in emergency funds over the next 18 months to purchase additional passenger cars, improve tracks and electrical systems and increase safety and security, in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in the U.S.

Siemens Transportation Systems, Inc. Awarded $172 Million Contract for Boston Blue Line Heavy Rail Vehicles: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has awarded a $172 million contract to Siemens Transportation Systems, Inc.

Amtrak Train Crashes in Utah: An Amtrak train carrying stranded airline passengers and others to California crashed into a freight train, derailed and caught fire in the western Utah desert. There were no serious injuries.

Granite Construction Awarded $69.5 Million Joint Venture Contract in Florida:  Granite Construction Incorporated announced that Granite Construction Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary, has been awarded a design-build contract in joint venture with Herzog Contracting Corporation and Washington Group International for reconstructing a commuter rail line in south Florida.

Virginia Commuter Rail Cancels Contract with Milwaukee Rail Car Firm: With the work only partly completed, a commuter rail line in Virginia has canceled a $2.7 million contract with Northern Rail Car Corp. after the Milwaukee firm fell behind on scheduled deliveries of passenger cars, an executive with the line said.

County Officials Push Seattle-Area Light Rail Project Forward: The Pierce, King and Snohomish county executives announced that Sound Transit has devised prudent plans to build two-thirds of its promised 21-mile route. The bulk of the funding is coming from local taxes, including a 0.4 percent sales tax and a 0.3 percent vehicle license tax.

Canadian National Contributes to Relief Efforts in United States: Canadian National announced it will match dollar for dollar the amount employees and pensioners/retirees wish to contribute to the September 11th Fund, up to a maximum of US$250,000.

U.S. Railroad Industry Able to Stay Afloat Despite Weak Economy: The nation's railroad industry keeps chugging along through the economic slowdown with solid backing from old economy commodities and limited competition.

RailWorks Corporation files for Voluntary Reorganization Under Chapter 11: RailWorks operations in Canada are not involved in yesterday's filings and continue to operate outside of bankruptcy.

Canadian National's Acquisition of Wisconsin Central Wins Unanimous Approval of U.S. Surface Transportation Board: CN and WC expect to consummate the transaction on or about Oct. 9. In the merger, WC shareholders will receive US$17.15 per share for their stock. In a separate story, Canadian National Railway announces it’s intent to issue $600 million in debentures in $600 mln debt offering.

The first of ExpressTrak LLC/Amtrak's new fleet of 109 refrigerated railcars rolls out at Ebenezer Railcar Service's shops in West Seneca, NY: These reefer railcars will speed perishable commodities coast-to-coast behind regularly scheduled Amtrak passenger trains in as little as four days. Unger signed a $10 million-plus contract with Ebenezer Railcar Services in January to build the 109 high-tech, 57-foot railcars.

BNSF and CSXI to Provide Seamless Intermodal Service Between Texas and The Ohio Valley: This new service cuts rail transit times in half, from about seven days to three days between DFW and the Ohio Valley; and to four days between Houston and the Ohio Valley.

RailAmerica Reports August 2001 Carloads; Same Railroad Carloads Up 5% for Month and 6% Year-to-Date: RailAmerica, Inc., the world's largest short line and regional railroad operator, announced that "same railroad" carloads (including intermodal units) were 104,930 in August 2001, up 5% from the 99,915 in August 2000. Year-to-date, "same railroad" carloads for 2001 increased 6% to 818,388.

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. Reports Traffic for August 2001: North American carloads in August 2001 were 30,769, a decrease of 803 carloads from August 2000. Australian carloads in August 2001 were 74,497 compared with 22,878 carloads in August 2000.

Canadian National's Guaranteed Empty Equipment Supply Program to Cover Full Freight-Car Fleet by Fall: Canadian National is on track to extend its highly successful guaranteed empty equipment supply program to all CN-controlled freight cars by November 2001. 

Skanska Lands New Major Contract in New York Valued At $76 M: The U.S. subsidiary, Slattery Skanska has been contracted by Metro-North Railroad in New York to construct a maintenance facility for commuter trains. The contract is valued at USD 76 M, about SEK 825 M, of which Skanska Slattery will be responsible for 80 percent.

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