Railway Track & Structures - June 2008 - (Page 6)

I N D U S T R Y T O D AY whose employees worked four to 15 million employee-hours in 2007), for the second year in a row, the gold award went to Kansas City Southern Railway. Silver went to Metra, the Chicago commuter railroad, and bronze went to Canadian Pacific Railway (U.S. operations). Group C includes railroads whose employees worked less than four million employee-hours during the award period. Awards were given to Iowa Interstate Railroad (gold), Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway (silver) and Florida East Coast Railway (bronze). Group S&T is for switching and terminal companies and the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis took the gold. The silver award went to Union Railroad of Pittsburgh, while the Birmingham Southern Railroad received the bronze. Certificates of Commendation were awarded recognizing four railroads with continuous gains in employee safety improvements over a three-year period and showing the most improvement between 2005 and 2007. Certificates went to Amtrak for Group A, the Long Island Rail Road (Group B), Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (Group C) and Union Railroad for Group S&T. CN seeks STB EJ&E decision by December Canadian National Railway filed a 54-page request with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board seeking a timeline, including a December 1 deadline for a final decision on its proposed purchase of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway. The company is concerned that a dragged-out process will hinder the purchase of the EJ&E line. “The significant public benefits of the transaction have been put at risk by the lack of certainty regarding the likely date for concluding the review process and this proceeding,” CN states in the document. “The board is required, upon request, to impose time limits, and the time limits suggested by CN here are reasonable given the circumstances of this case.” CN's proposed timeline calls for a draft of the Environmental Impact Statement to be served by July 15, and the final EIS by November 3. The company is seeking a final decision on the purchase by December. “Opponents of the transaction have made it clear that they hope to use the environmental process not only as a means to facilitate a hard environmental look, but also as a means to stall the transaction until it dies or to impose onerous mitigation that would make the transaction economically infeasible,” CN stated in the filing. “ The board should not allow the mere fact of vocal opposition that presents no novel or intractable analyses to frustrate a transaction that would provide significant and national public benefits.” CSX National Gateway to improve traffic flow CSX Corporation launched the National Gateway, a $700-million public-private infrastructure initiative to create a highly-efficient freight transportation link between the Mid-Atlantic ports and the Midwest. When completed, the National Gateway would provide greater capacity for product shipments in and out of the Midwest, reduce truck traffic on already crowded highways and create thousands of jobs that directly or indirectly support the National Gateway. 6 Railway Track & Structures June 2008 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures - June 2008

Railway Track & Structures - June 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Grade Crossings Provide Interface Between Railroads, Public Grade-Crossing Equipment & Materials Guide Fastener Suppliers Getting a Grip Grinding Plays Part in Rail Maintenance Big Picture Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Website Directory Advertisers Index Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - June 2008

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