More Thursday rail news in brief:
— Canadian Pacific will expand use of Automated Train Brake Effectiveness testing in the wake of call from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada for better brake tests, a call stemming from the fatal 2019 derailment of a CP train near Field, B.C. The Calgary Herald reports that the TSB released details of a study involving CP, Transport Canada, and the National Research Council that found the ATBE process was 139 times more likely to detect faulty brakes than the current No. 1 test. That test was used before the brake failure that led to the February 2019 derailment of a train heading through the Spiral Tunnels on Kicking Horse Pace, killing three crew members. [See “Three dead in CP derailment in British Columbia,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 4, 2019.] CP spokeswoman Salem Woodrow told the newspaper that CP anticipates “it will be ready to file its submission for the adoption of the ABTE technology for its grain fleet later this year.” Automatic Train Brake Effectiveness uses wayside detectors to assess the operation of brakes on each car.
— Bombardier does not expect the COVID-19 pandemic to delay sale of its rail division to Alstom, Reuters reports. Bombardier’s comment on Wednesday came a day after Alstom said it would honor its agreement to buy the Canadian manufacturer for the previously agreed price of 6.3 million Euros ($6.7 million), despite the financial impact of the health crisis. The deal, announced in February [see “Alstom reaches agreement to buy Bombardier,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 17, 2020], is expected to close in the first half of 2021.
— New Orleans’ Regional Transit Authority will begin increasing service on Sunday as the city eases coronavirus restrictions on businesses. WDSU-TV reports that as of 3 a.m. Sunday, the system will reinstate service on bus and streetcar routes that had been suspended, and start operating on the Saturday schedule seven days a week. Fare collection, which had been suspended, will also resume at that time.
