The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) this week issued Railroad Operating Technology Cybersecurity Alert 2026-01. It is available online here.

Per the FRA, the goal of this and future alerts is to advise the industry of a cyber vulnerability that may impact the safety of railroad operating technology. An alert is designed to:

• Provide insight into the cybersecurity vulnerability and how it may impact existing/future railroad operating technology, including documenting the vulnerability description from a railroad technology perspective; and

• Offer suggested actions for the railroad industry based upon FRA's insight into the vulnerability and knowledge of industry use of potentially impacted operating technology, informed by industry standards, information from CISA/TSA and FRA's cyber safety analyses.

Going forward, FRA intends to publish Railroad Operating Technology Cybersecurity Safety Alerts to ensure the entire freight and passenger railroad industry is on notice of the vulnerabilities. FRA intends to publish these Alerts on its website and, as done with Safety Bulletins and other similar documents, FRA encourages broad dissemination of the Alerts throughout industry.

If you have any questions, please contact FRA’s lead for operating technology cybersecurity, Jen Gallagher here.

• Per ProPublica, the Trump administration is planning to use artificial intelligence to write federal transportation regulations, according to U.S. Department of Transportation records and interviews with six agency staffers.

  The plan was presented to DOT staff last month at a demonstration of AI’s “potential to revolutionize the way we draft rulemakings,” agency attorney Daniel Cohen wrote to colleagues. The demonstration, Cohen wrote, would showcase “exciting new AI tools available to DOT rule writers to help us do our job better and faster.” Read more here.

• Gateway Development Commission has notified contractors that construction of the Hudson Tunnel Project will pause February 6 if federal funding disbursements do not resume.

  Per Politico, the Trump administration has been withholding funds since October, ostensibly as part of its crusade against diversity and inclusion. But the freeze has widely been read — thanks in no small part to President Donald Trump’s remark that the project was “terminated” — as leverage and retribution in last year’s shutdown fight.

• Per Politico, the Senate is close to passing a deal to fund most of the remaining FY26 appropriations bills, including THUD. Under the agreement, the Homeland Security bill would be pulled out of the package and negotiated separately. Today the Senate is dealing with an objection from Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) over language repealing a provision allowing senators to sue the federal government if their phone records were seized without their notice. If the Senate passes the funding package sans Homeland Security today, the earliest the House could pass it is Monday, so the government would go into a partial shutdown over the weekend. During the last shutdown, FTA continued to operate on prior year appropriations but FRA staff were largely furloughed with the exception of safety operations.

MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND THE CRC BOARD MEETING, WELCOME RECEPTION, AND TECHNICAL TOUR
MARCH 12 & 13 IN SANTA FE, NM

Thursday, March 12

• Golf Outing - 8:30/9:00 a.m. start; return to hotel by 3:00 p.m.

• Welcome Reception at Drury - 5:30-7:00 p.m.

Friday, March 13

• Coffee - 8:00 a.m.

• Board Meeting, including lunch - 8:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m.

• Technical Tour - 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Dates to know:

February 26 – CRC Hotel Block closes. Link to Drury Hotel website here. Use group code 10170867.

February 27 – RSVP closes for Thursday Welcome Reception, Friday Board Meeting and Technical Tour. Email RSVP here.

March 1 – RSVP for Golf here. If you’re interested in golfing on Thursday, March 12 (weather permitting), Amsted Rail’s Gary Wagner is organizing a group to play at Black Mesa golf course. The weather in March could be 65 degrees and sunny or snowing, so mother nature will dictate on the day. This will be an informal outing, not including any pre-arranged transportation, and is not part of the Summit scholarship support program. 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Out of more than 160 transit agencies assessed nationwide South Florida Region Transportation Authority is one of only five agencies to have received this year’s Transportation Security Administration Gold Standard Award.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) commended SFRTA for its strong performance in the Baseline Assessment for Security Enhancement (BASE) review, where the agency achieved high scores across all 17 critical security categories essential for a strong transit security program.

Metrolink will once again offer free rides on Transit Equity Day, observed annually on February 4, in honor of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. Next Wednesday, riders may board without a ticket at any of Metrolink’s 67 stations and travel systemwide, including on the Arrow service.

At the behest of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, the U.S. Government Accountability Office is embarking on a review of railway noise. Specifically, the inquiry is looking at:

1. What factors contribute to railway noise pollution, and how much noise pollution can such factors emit?

2. What actions can railway manufacturers and operators take to reduce railway noise pollution, and what are the costs and benefits of such actions?

3. How, if at all, can the federal government reduce negative effects associated with railway noise pollution?

Coalition members with input on the above should reach out by February 10, before CRC meets with GAO.

Succeeding Mike Noland (above left), Dave Dech (center) has been named as the third president of the South Shore Line/NICTD. Noland, who is also CRC immediate past chair, will transition to an advisory role at South Shore Line when Dech takes the helm on March 16. Dech is currently executive director of Tri-Rail/SFRTA and CRC vice chair.

I’ve enjoyed every minute of my time here at the South Shore Line and look forward to retirement. Dave is uniquely qualified to take this railroad into a successful future and I will be cheering loudly from the sidelines.” ~ Mike Noland 

Read more here and here.

Jeff Gonneville (above right) is stepping into the role of Bureau Chief of Public Transportation at the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

“I am excited to join Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto and the entire Connecticut DOT team, and to contribute collaboratively to their mission of advancing and strengthening public transportation across the state.” ~ Jeff Gonneville

Gonneville joins the agency from WSP, and previously spent 23 years at MBTA serving as CMO, COO, and Deputy General Manager.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Winners of 2025 Combating Human Trafficking in Transportation Impact Award (USDOT)

• Major U.S. Public Transit Systems Suspend Some Services During Storm (New York Times)

• Keolis to continue operation of VRE following competitive procurement (news.keolisna.com)

• Achieving ‘Transportation Abundance’ Is All About Density (Bloomberg)

• Surface transportation bill will shape the U.S. transportation outlook (Smart Cities Dive)

• Tri-Rail director resigns as commuter rail line copes with budget cuts (Palm Beach Post)

• FY 2026 THUD Appropriations Act backs major transit and rail funding (Rail Supply)

• Despite increased funding, transit ridership hasn’t returned in most areas (Reason Foundation)

• Federal bipartisan bill incentivizes transit-oriented development projects nationwide (KSAT.com)

• Illinois legislators introduce bill to fund commuter rail bridge repairs (Trains Pro)

• NV’s first publicly financed rail transit could be to transport Tesla workers (Nevada Current)

• Coalition urges Congress to reject freight rail regulation in transportation bill (Competitive Enterprise Institute)