Cuban Rail Caucus In Planning

Mark Walbrun Reports

Following our discussions at the TRB meetings in Boston, AREMA has agreed to sponsor the railroad technology tour of Cuba. The time period selected is Dec 8 – 14 (it will not be quite that long but we are blocking out time to allow for minor adjustments in the itinerary). Some of the committee chairs had asked to have plans finalized within two weeks of our meeting to allow for coordinating committee meeting plans with the time period of the trip to avoid conflicts.

Further details will be available shortly.

SPRC Fact Sheet Update

The Subcommittee's basic fact sheet on SPRC's in North American Urban Transit Applications was last updated in 2006.

An update is long overdue.

If you would like assist with this project please download and update copy of the current fact sheet by clicking here.

Please send you updates and suggestions to david.nelson@jacobs.com

Mid Year Meeting: SATURDAY JUNE 11, 2011

All members and friends of TRB Subcommittee AP070(1) are cordially invited and encouraged to attend the mid-year meeting to be held in conjunction with our parent committee AP070 at APTA’s Annual Rail Conference in Boston Massachusetts. The joint meeting will be convened Saturday June 11th from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at the Marriott Copley Place Hotel.

Please click here for the planned agenda.

Click here for minutes from January's Annual Meeting in Washington DC.

For complete information on the APTA Rail Conference that is being held from June 11 – 15. please visit the APTA conference website: http://www.apta.com/mc/rail/Pages/default.aspx

If you have any questions, suggestions or concerns contact David Nelson (617 532 4286) or david.nelson@jacobs.com

I look forward to seeing you in Boston

David Nelson

Chair Subcommittee on Self Powered Rail Car Technologies

Ottawa O-Train Extension Approved!

June 23, 2011: Ottawa city council has approved a $59-million plan to speed up O-Train service in the city. The city agreed on Wednesday to buy six new diesel trains and build a new track along the north-south line. The city says the change will lower wait times on train platforms from 15 minutes between trains to eight minutes. Council said it would also investigate the feasibility of extending the line southward, as far as Riverside South.

Click here for more info

Click here for business case report

May 24, 2011: Alain Mercier, General Manager of Ottawa's OC Transpo, recently outlined a C$59m expansion plan for the diesel O-Train service which includes the purchase of six new DMUs. The current fleet of three Bombardier Talent vehicles have been serving the 8 km, five-station line from Bayview Transitway to Greenboro since October 2001.

Mercier said new sidings would be built to cut the current headway from 15 min to 8 min. In addition, the three existing DMUs would be refurbished.

Current ridership is around 12 000 trips/day, nearly double the target when O-Train service started as a four-year demonstration project. Mercier gave no details on how the expansion, which could be completed in three years, would be financed but he said fewer new buses would be needed.

The full report will be released on June 14.

Click here for more information

Click here for CBC report

Stadler Rail Group opens U.S. subsidiary

Bussnang, Switzerland - Stadler Rail AG, passenger rail vehicle supplier of customer-specific

solutions, recently announced the opening of Stadler US Inc, to service customers in the

United States and support sales of all the Stadler products in North America. Stadler’s previous

success of selling 37 rail vehicles in New Jersey Transit, and Texas has led the

company to expand its presence in North America.

Click here for more information

RiverLINE Employees: Injury-free for seven years

Monday, April 25, 2011

The staff of NJ Transit’s RiverLINE diesel light rail system, which runs between Trenton and Camden, N.J., over a right-of-way shared with Conrail freight trains, recently celebrated seven continuous years of operation without a Federal Railroad Administration reportable employee injury.

NS Meets Florida Transportation Officials

March 25, 2011

South Florida Regional Transportation Authority

Local and state officials and other interested parties were briefed by a delegation from Sumitomo Corporation of America and Nippon Sharyo team concerning their new FRA-compliant DMU vehicle.

For more details click here