News
RLBA Aids Commonwealth of Virginia in Historic 350 Mile Rail Corridor Acquisition
In December of 2019 the Commonwealth of Virginia announced a historical $3.7 Billion agreement with CSX Transportation and Amtrak that will have passenger trains operating almost every hour between Washington D.C. and Richmond, VA by 2030. It will also vastly expand Virginia Railway Express commuter rail service and improve CSXT’s capacity, all while costing far […]
STB Decides in Favor of RLBA’s Client in Construction and Operations Exemption
Texas Railway Exchange LLC, (TREX) engaged RLBA as part of its effort to establish direct rail access between a bulk import/export terminal of Texas International Terminals, Inc. (TIT) and BNSF Railway, providing an alternative to the inferior reciprocal switch service provided by Union Pacific Railroad (UP). In support of TREX’s U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) […]
$1.5 Billion In Funding Approved for New Build Freight Railroad, Based On Study Performed By RLBA
What backers call the first greenfield freight railroad to be built in the United States since the late 1970’s has found $1.5 billion in funding, based on work that RLBA conducted. The Unita Basin Railway project, as it is known, has been debated since the early 1980’s. “A few things are different this time in […]
RLBA Assists In Acquisition of New Short Line Railroad
Deciding to buy a segment of a Class 1 Railway requires serious planning and due-diligence and those efforts must take place before the considerable process of completing the purchase transaction itself. RLBA can with every one of these steps.
RLBA Provides Buy-Side Due Diligence in Short Line Holding Company Transaction
In April of this year, 3i Infrastructure PLC (3i) consummated a purchase of Regional Rail Holdings LLC (Regional Rail), a decision supported with buy-side work conducted by R.L. Banks & Associates, Inc. (RLBA). Rob Collins, managing partner, 3i North American Infrastructure, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to partner with an established management team as […]
RLBA Helps Illinois Tollway Authority Gain Access to Canadian Pacific Right of Way
The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority’s decades-long project to provide western access to/from new terminals at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is complicated by a Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) right of way, which borders the same side of O’Hare. Thanks in part to two Verified Statements prepared by RLBA staff on behalf of the Tollway and […]
RLBA Completes Multi-Year, Mutli-Disciplinary Project on behalf of GE Power in Schenectady, New York
R.L. Banks & Associates, Inc. (RLBA) recently completed a multi-year, multi-disciplinary study of the internal plant railroad used to service the GE Power facility at Schenectady, New York. RLBA was engaged by GE following interest its management had in increasing the maximum net rail load of its multi-axle flatcars from 800,000 lbs to 1,000,000 lbs […]
RLBA Successfully Manages Over-the-Road Transport and Logistics of Two Subway Cars
R.L. Banks & Associates, Inc. (RLBA) was retained by the Loudoun County Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure (Loudoun County) to assist in the planning, procurement and execution of an over-the-road movement of two donated WMATA railcars from the Washington, D.C. Metrorail system to the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Training Facility in Leesburg, Virginia. […]
RLBA Completes Regulatory Review of Shortline Railroad
On May 19, RLBA completed a federal regulatory review of Howard Energy Partners’ (HEP) G.T. Logistics (GTL) rail facility in Port Arthur, TX. HEP purchased GTL two years ago and was unfamiliar with regulations in the rail space but was familiar with federal oversight from their experience in the oil and gas industry. After visits […]
Virginia Railway Express Turns to RLBA’s Railroad Operations Simulation Team to Provide Capacity Analysis
RLBA was engaged by Northern Virginia’s commuter rail service, Virginia Railway Express (VRE), to develop a rail network simulation model depicting VRE’s existing operation. RLBA railroad operations experts employed Rail Traffic Controller (RTC©), the gold standard of rail network simulation applications, to evaluate VRE, Amtrak, CSX and Norfolk Southern (NS) train performance under eight VRE […]