Still more Thursday morning rail news:
NJ Transit contractor says PTC will be complete by deadline
A contractor for NJ Transit’s installation of positive train control has assured the agency’s board of directors that it will meet the Dec. 31 PTC implementation deadline, despite a recent Federal Railroad Administration report to the contrary. NorthJersey.com reports that Terry Fetters, a project manager for Parsons, the lead contractor on the project, said NJ Transit met its August goal of having 50% of its required route-miles in revenue service demonstration, which allows testing while passengers are riding trains. Updated software has also arrived, Fetters said, allowing interoperability testing with Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor. Last month, the FRA said NJ Transit was one of two commuter railroads which could miss the PTC deadline [see “FRA says just two commuter lines remain at risk of missing PTC deadline,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 12, 2020].
MTA subway worker killed in yard accident
A Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway worker was killed early Thursday at a Bronx yard after falling and apparently hitting the electrified third rail, the New York Daily News reports. The accident involving the 40-year-old subway cleaner happened at about 5 a.m.; he was reported dead at the scene. No other information was immediately available.
Decision delayed on future of Anacortes steam train
A decision on the future of an 18-inch gauge steam locomotive that once operated in Anacortes, Wash., has been delayed to Sept. 28 by the Anacortes City Council. GoSkagit.com reports that on Tuesday, the council listed to competing proposals to revive the Tommy Thompson train, named for the former Shell Oil Engineer who restored and operated the train pulled by a former South Dakota mining locomotive from 1979 to 1999. California designer and vintage equipment restorer Bret Iwan seeks to buy the equipment and move it to Lincoln, Calif., where he would return it to operation, while the local Anacortes Railway Group wants to restore and operate the train locally [see “Digest: Northwest Railway Museum to reopen Train Shed,” Sept. 4].