Rail Group On Air

This Rail Group On Air Podcast is part of our series featuring members of the Commuter Rail Coalition. This edition features executives from the Metra (Chicago) leadership team: Executive Director and CEO and CRC Chairman Jim Derwinski, Chief Operating Officer Bruce Marcheschi, Division Director Chicago Union Station Rich Oppenheim, and Director of Dispatching Greg Godfrey. They talk about the challenges of operating the Metra commuter rail system in the complex Chicago Terminal area, the nation’s railroad crossroads.

This Rail Group On Air podcast, the second of three and based on a feature story published on line and in the July print and digital issues of Railway Age, introduces Precision Scheduled Railroading 2.0 as envisioned by Sonia Bot and John F. Orr. PSR 2.0 takes Precision Scheduled Railroading to the next level, within individual railroads and across railroad and transportation “ecosystems.” It demands an entrepreneurial culture focused on business rigor, forging productive partnerships, safeguarding origin-to-destination traffic flow and increasing knowledge. Sonia D. Bot, chief executive of The BOT Consulting Group Inc., has worked at the forefront of technology, media, and telecommunications companies worldwide, and was instrumental in PTC implementation on CN’s U.S. lines. John F. Orr, a top-level operations executive for railroading and transportation ecosystems, is a fourth-generation railroader who rose through the ranks and became CN’s Chief Transportation Officer. With E. Hunter Harrison and his successors, Orr delivered PSR operations, and continues the mission today throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

The Coalition Against Bigger Trucks (CABT) works diligently to prevent the size and weight limits for tractor-trailer trucks to be increased from current federal limits. Public safety is at stake. Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono talks with Sheriff Donald B. Smith, who served as the 53rd Sheriff of Putnam County, New York, for 16 years, and Sgt. Andrew Matthews, a retired Connecticut State Police trooper and current executive director of the National Troopers Coalition. Both are part of the leadership of CABT, for which they serve as members of the law enforcement advisory board.

Bentley Systems Director, Product Management – Building, Electrical, Plant and Structure Eduardo Lazzarotto discusses Building Information Modeling and Digital Twins technologies, especially how they can be applied to rail transit station design to support social distancing made necessary by COVID-19, with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono.

Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono talks with the leadership team at BNSF Railway: Carl Ice, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Railway Age’s 2016 Railroader of the Year; Executive Vice President Operations Katie Farmer; and Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Steve Bobb. Sponsored by TrinityRail.

RT&S Editor-in-Chief Bill Wilson talks with Brightline Executive Vice President of Rail Infrastructure Mike Cegelis on how work is moving along on the Orlando Extension project.

Wabtec Transit President Lilian Leroux discusses the global supplier of transit vehicle systems’ role in supporting all forms of passenger rail as a sustainable, safe means of transportation with Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono.

Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono hostsCommuter Rail Coalition Secretary-Treasurer Steven Abrams, Executive Director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (Tri-Rail). Joining them is Joe Yesbeck, National Director Rail and Transit at T.Y. Lin, a global engineering, planning and consulting firm that partnered with Tri-Rail to bring the commuter railroad’s right-of-way to a state of good repair. Abrams also addresses complex negotiations involving Tri-Rail, Brightline/Virgin Trains USA and Miami-Dade County to establish commuter rail service on the Florida East Coast Railway right-of-way into Miami Central Station.

RT&S Editor-in-Chief Bill Wilson talks construction projects, maintenance and dealing with the pandemic with CSX Vice President of Engineering Ricky Johnson.

Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), as we know it today, is rapidly reaching an inflection point. The current version of PSR has produced measurable financial, operational and service improvements for railroads. Yet, some internal growing pains continue, accompanied by shock waves absorbed by shippers, non-PSR railroads, industry partners, advocates and policymakers. This Rail Group On Air podcast, the first of three, introduces PSR 2.0 as envisioned by Sonia Bot and John F. Orr. PSR 2.0 takes Precision Scheduled Railroading to the next level, within individual railroads and across railroad and transportation “ecosystems.”