BNSF has increased capacity in 2012 to enable the railroad to haul one million barrels per day out of the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana. This increased capacity will allow the energy industry to continue the record expansion of oil production in the Williston Basin and to ship the new production to markets throughout the U.S.
RailAmerica, Inc., now has a new industrial development website that will help current and prospective customers who are interested in building or expanding a rail-served facility or developing transloading solutions. Additionally, this tool provides a listing of all locations accessible to RailAmerica railroads.
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) approved $40,000 from the Grade Crossing Protective Fund (GCPF) to pay for upgrades at grade crossings in Mason and Kitsap Counties. The crossings are located at the intersection of Old State Route 101 (SR-101) and Puget Sound & Pacific Railroad (PSAP) tracks near the city of Shelton and at the intersection of Provost Road and PSAP tracks near the city of Silverdale.
Crews have completed placement of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Central Corridor light-rail line's first traction-power substation just south of the Raymond Avenue Station. Fourteen substations, located about one mile apart, will convert alternating electrical current to direct current, which will power the light-rail vehicles using a system of overhead catenary wires. Throughout the next year, the 13 other substations will be installed at a rate of one a month.
L.B. Foster Company has completed of the sale of Precise Structural Products to Cianbro Fabrication and Coating Corporation. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Precise Structural Products is engaged in manufacturing fabricated steel products for the highway, bridge, transit and construction markets and providing custom fabrication and related services including welding, sawing, cambering, blasting and painting.
After more than one year of intense activity, Southern California's Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority says that all structural work has been completed on the I-210 Gold Line Bridge.
A portion of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) coastal rail line between Oceanside and Downtown San Diego, Calif., will be shut down as construction crews work to install a new rail bridge for the pedestrian safety undercrossing at Santa Fe Drive in Encinitas.
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded nearly $900,000 to the city of Indianapolis, Ind., to relocate freight rail traffic from the CSX Transportation mainline that goes through the heart of downtown Indianapolis to the nearby Indianapolis Belt Railroad. This project will separate passenger and freight rail operations, remove 10-12 existing grade crossings and improve safety while decreasing congestion and emissions.
United Transportation Union-represented employees of Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway and Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway have ratified new five-year agreements.
The Federal Railroad Administration and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT) have issued the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for two routes connecting the Hampton Roads area to Richmond and the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor in Virginia. The newly identified route south of the James River recommends a new, 90-110 mph alignment from downtown Norfolk through Petersburg to Richmond, while maintaining Amtrak's current service from Newport News through Williamsburg to Richmond.
