The Maine state legislature is now involved in the effort to save 240 miles of railroad tracks in Aroostook and Northern Penobscot Counties from being abandoned, according to local media. Representative Ken Theriault has introduced a bill that would put a $20 million bond issue to voters to buy the rail line owned by Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway.

Amtrak said that the replacement of the Niantic River Bridge would begin March 1. Town officials are making preparations by closing a section of the boardwalk, The Day reports. The eastern portion, which begins at the wooden boardwalk section and continues to the bridge area, will be closed until further notice.

Virginia Railway Express is expected to award a $2.5 million contract Feb. 19 to a firm that will study the environmental impact of extending the commuter rail line to Gainesville and Haymarket, Va., local media report.

On Feb. 16, a four-level parking structure opened at Whitby, Ont., GO Station offering customers 1,400 covered parking spaces and increasing the total to over 3,000 parking spots at the station.

The downtown Tulsa, Okla., area is now a quiet zone for train horns, officials said. The "quiet zone," or Downtown Sealed Corridor Project, which consists of five extended railroad crossings, requires railroad operators to not blow their horns in designated downtown areas except in emergency instances, the Tulsa World reports.

Officials are calling it Laurinburg's not-so great train robbery, The Laurinburg, N.C., Exchange reports. Someone stole about 800 feet of railroad beams and caused several train cars to derail. The accident occurred on some tracks between McFarland and Shaw Currie roads.

Beginning February 20 BART will need to run northbound Pittsburg/Bay Point line trains on a single track due to ongoing weekend track work for the Central Contra Costa Crossover Project. Single-tracking will take place on weekends only and BART expects to end this work in mid-May. Single-tracking trains may result in slight delays of up to 10 to 15 minutes on weekend trains going toward Pittsburg/Bay Point Station.

Track maintenance on the Orange Line in the Washington, D.C., area Feb. 19-2 will cause inbound and outbound trains to take turns sharing one track.

Association of American Railroads President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger said that freight railroads are at a critical point in their history as the industry is facing new challenges from over-burdensome federal regulatory mandates that could seriously undercut the industry's ability to aid in U.S. economic recovery