Year: 2007

No Picture
NTSB

Chealander Newest NTSB Member

January 4, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – Steven R. Chealander was sworn in today as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. Chealander brings a wealth of both civilian and military aviation experience to the NTSB.  Prior to joining the Board, he was with American Airlines, serving since 1991 as a pilot and Captain qualified on the DC-10, B-737, MD-80, and F-100 aircraft, and as a Chief Pilot in Los Angeles. At American, he also was a flight safety manager, performing safety and compliance audits and participating in investigations, and was most recently the Manager of Flight Operations Efficiency. From 1964 to 1991, Chealander served in the U.S. Air Force, with tours of duty

No Picture
World

Bombardier Transportation Signs $549 Million US Contract With Spanish National Railways

January 3, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

BERLIN – Bombardier Transportation signed a contract with Spanish National Railways (RENFE) for the supply of 100 TRAXX F140 DC locomotives for freight transportation. The total contract is valued at about $549 million US (416 million euros) and also includes a 14-year maintenance service agreement for this fleet of locomotives. Delivery of the first freight locomotives is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2008 and continue until 2010. Bombardier Transportation was selected to supply the new freight locomotives for RENFE on Nov. 7. Under the contract, a portion of the vehicles will be manufactured by Bombardier at RENFE’s site in Villaverde, near Madrid. The MITRAC propulsion systems will

No Picture
Transit

MARTA to Review Station Gaps

January 2, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

ATLANTA — MARTA, metro Atlanta’s mass transit system, is reviewing the so-called station gaps, the distance between subway stops, according to a report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Officials hope adding more stations to the 48-mile line will attract more riders. Extending the rail line would cost roughly $100 million per mile, while building the “infill stations” might be a cheaper approach. “MARTA’s approach has always been to extend the line, and once they’ve built that, development would come,” Lara Hodgson, a member of metro Atlanta’s regional Transit Planning Board, told the newspaper. “But what if you did the opposite?” she added. “What if you build where development already is?” —

No Picture
Miscellaneous

2006: Another Record Year

January 1, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

Click here to read the January 2007 edition of The Cross-Tie WASHINGTON — For the ninth consecutive year, total freight volume on U.S. railroads as measured in ton-miles has set an annual record, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported. Meanwhile, for the fifth consecutive year — and the 18th time in the past 20 years — intermodal freight on U.S. railroads has set an annual record, according to the AAR. Total freight volume for the first 51 weeks of 2006 reached 1.712 trillion ton-miles during the week ended December 23, breaking the 52-week record of 1.696 trillion set during 2005. This year’s total was 2.6 percent above the total