Rail supplier news from TRAC, Benesch, Alstom, Nortrak and AmeriStarRail (Dec. 20)

TRAC Intermodal and Columbia Group announced that last week they’ve relocated the TRAC Bayonne Chassis Yard from Bayonne to Jersey City, New Jersey. The new facility is located near the GCT Bayonne Terminal. The move builds on the off-dock chassis model that has been implemented at the Port of New York and New Jersey. Given its proximity to the Global Marine Terminal, the new yard serving TRAC’s Metro Pool provides the drayage community with easier access and egress from the terminal and yard, TRAC officials said in a press release.

Benesch has acquired Tindale Oliver, a Tampa, Florida-based consulting firm that provides transportation, community planning and design, transit and public finance services. With the addition, Benesch further expands its presence and service portfolio in the state and across the country. Tindale Oliver brings over 30 years of local and national experience to Benesch.

Alstom has received a new order to supply an additional 98 double-deck M7 multifunction train cars to the Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Belges (SNCB). The order forms part of a framework contract signed in 2015 for the supply of up to 1,362 M7 train cars and is worth a total of 268 million euros. SNCB has ordered a total of 747 train cars to date.

Earlier this month, the fixation division at voestalpine Railway Systems Nortrak marked five years without a recordable injury at its Cheyenne, Wyoming plant. The fixation plant was constructed in 2007 and produces direct fixation fasteners, concrete turnout ties and the concrete Keyway Tie designed to be interspersed within wood-tie territory.

AmeriStarRail, a Delaware LLC proposing a private sector initiative that seeks to operate Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor service, has submitted a new AirTrain LaGuardia alternative to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. AmeriStarRail’s solution is to bring rail service to LaGuardia Airport via an AirTrain link to a new Amtrak/Metro-North/NYCT/AirTrain station on the Hell Gate Bridge approach at the Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. Station in Queens.