American Railroad Daily

Chicago is seeing more than its fair share of rail news/events/announcements this week.

CSX's GENSET Locomotives

CSX celebrated its St. Patrick's Day celebrations with its "Green" Locomotive Technology launch in Chicago. Michael Ward, Chairman, President and CEO of CSX, met with local officials yesterday at the LaSalle Street train station to unveil the ultra-low emission GenSet locomotives that CSX will operate in the Chicagoland area. CSX will be among the first railroads to put these fuel efficient and environmentally-friendly locomotives into use in the state of Illinois, using them at the nearby Barr Yard in Riverdale in Chicago's south suburbs.

GenSet locomotives reduce nitrous oxide and particulate matter emissions by 80 percent and can create carbon dioxide emissions savings of up to 50 percent by monitoring engine idling and switching to a "sleep" mode after a period of inactivity. The GenSet locomotives will be used to switch rail cars at CSXT's yard located in Riverdale. GenSet locomotives are significantly quieter than conventional locomotives, achieving the most stringent noise level requirements for off-road capital equipment.

CREATE

Next up, the Chicago Regional Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE) public and private partners announced the completion of a $4.5 million railroad modernization project. The project improved the 40 year-old signal system and helped mitigate conflicting use of tracks among freight trains, Metra, and Amtrak along the Indiana Harbor Belt Corridor from Bedford Park to Summit. Construction began in April of 2008. This project is followed by a $14.2 million modernization project in McCook on the Indiana Harbor Belt which will improve freight train efficiency and increase speeds up to 40 miles per hour and has an estimated completion time in November 2009.

The $4.5 million project was 80 percent funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation and 20 percent funded by the freight railroad industry. Work was accomplished by CSX Transportation signal crews, with administrative oversight from IDOT.

AAR FORUM

Finally, the Association of American Railroads Announced this week that they will sponsor a forum during the North American Rail Shippers Association's annual meeting, which will be held May 27-28 at the Chicago Marriott Hotel. Class I chief marketing officers again will provide operational updates and field questions from shippers during the annual North American Railroads Customer Forum to be held May 27 in Chicago.

The third annual 2009 North American Railroads Customer Forum will include a panel discussion, moderated by AAR President and Chief Executive Officer Edward Hamberger, featuring seven Class I chief marketing officers. At the conclusion of the annual meeting’s afternoon agenda, the AAR and NARS will offer break-out sessions to enable shippers and senior railroad officers to hold informal discussions.