(The following editorial
appeared on the Knoxville News Sentinel Website.) Railroads hold a unique
position in the American psyche, blending the symbolism of uniting the country
and the romanticism of a bygone era.
(The following editorial,
"Keeping the train on track," appeared in the Clackamas, Ore., Review.)
We support the Oregon Department of Transportation’s efforts to increase the
speed and efficiency of passenger rail along the I-5 corridor, a move that
could boost ridership and offset traffic congestion as the population grows in
the future.
University of California
San Diego has built a prototype laser to search for cracks inside rail lines,
the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. UC San Diego engineers are preparing to
test an experimental laser that looks for the kind of cracks inside railway
lines that are responsible for many of the 130 or so derailments that occur
nationwide each year.
Nordco Inc. has named Bill Straub President of the company’s newly formed Equipment Services Business Unit. Nordco Equipment Services incorporates the company’s Rebuild and Repair group in Oak Creek, Wis., and J.E.R. Overhaul in Arcola, Ill.
The Metro Gold Line
Extension is on track for a June 26 groundbreaking. But there’s still some
major business to be worked out to make sure the project, funded with $810
million in voter-approved dollars, is not derailed, the San Gabriel Valley
Tribune reports.
Amtrak is urging the
Federal Railroad Administration to be bold and unambiguous in its vision for
the future of the national rail system, including the Amtrak network, as it
develops a long-range National Rail Plan (NRP).
The Toronto Transit
Commission has awarded three major contracts to HDR/iTRANS for the following
services:
The South Florida Regional
Transportation Authority will launch its first-ever Bicycle Locker Program at
Tri-Rail’s West Palm Beach Station, beginning on June 14. There are 18
perforated-sheet, steel lockers that will be available, designed to accommodate
two bicycles per modular unit, with a diagonal divider and separate door
entries on either end (providing 36 individual spaces available for use).
The MBTA board has approved
a deal that allows the state to purchase a section of railroad track to expand
commuter rail service from Worcester to Boston through Ayer, but passengers won’t
be able to travel that route any time soon, the Telegram and Gazette reports.
The
Adams County, Miss., Board of Supervisors wants the Miss-Lou, including
Jefferson and Franklin counties, to exert as much effort as possible to save
the rail line that comes from Brookhaven into the Natchez port, the Natchez
Democrat reports. Board President Darryl Grennell said the supervisors will
take the lead in setting up meetings with the area’s federal congressional
representatives to see what can be done on the federal level, and he wants
representatives from the other local entities to participate.
Officials
from Union Pacific Railroad, the City of Harlingen, Texas, and Cameron County plan
to reduce blocked crossings by streamlining railroad operations at the Union
Pacific rail yard in downtown Harlingen.
The Illinois Commerce
Commission has given approval for the removal and replacement of a bridge over
the Rock River and the Illinois Railway tracks at Morgan Street in Rockford. The
existing bridge was constructed in 1916 and carries Morgan Street over the Rock
River and the Illinois Railway tracks. The structure was reconstructed in 1956,
but a bridge condition report issued in 2000 recommended total replacement. Included in the proposal submitted to
the Commission by the City of Rockford were plans to consolidate the Illinois
Railway tracks with the Chicago, Central and Pacific Railroad line near the
bridge project in order to improve safety and reduce costs to the railroads. The
rail consolidation plan will also allow for the retirement of the Illinois
Railway Bridge across the Rock River upstream from the Morgan Street Bridge.
The governments of Canada
and Ontario and the City of Toronto officially kicked off the start of
construction to revitalize Union Station and strengthen its position as
Canada’s premier inter-regional and intermodal transportation hub.
Business owners will soon
be able to submit proposals for more than $50 million of capital project work
to be completed by St Louis-area Metro over the next several years. The
majority of the funding for these projects is being made available to Metro
through the Federal Transit Administration from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act.
Ara Najarian, Board chairman,
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said: "Los Angeles
County received a double dose of good news June 4 from Washington, which I find
very encouraging. Senator Barbara Boxer said that the Obama Administration is
accelerating consideration of the subway extension project to Westwood by
having the Federal Transit Administration weigh our bid for federal funding for
the entire nine-mile segment rather than break it up in three phases. That’s
significant because it means when federal funding is secured we can build the
entire project at once, which would greatly accelerate the completion schedule
and help reduce costs because we beat inflation.
Amtrak expects to award a
contract next month to knock down two former stations north of the current rail
station in Rensselaer, N.Y., the Albany Times-Union reported.
SEPTA General Manager
Joseph M. Casey urged Pennsylvania lawmakers to resolve the state’s transit
funding crisis, highlighting the critical infrastructure repairs that would be
left undone without a solution.
(This column by Rep. Bill
Shuster (R-Pa.) appeared at RollCall.com.) America has the greatest
freight rail network in the world. Our system is the most efficient of its kind
and essentially relies on no subsidies from the federal government. More than a
century ago, America’s railroads ushered in the great advancements in industry
that sparked America’s emergence as an economic power on the world stage.
America’s railroads revolutionized transportation, gave promise to freedom of
movement and made business more efficient.
The Connecticut Department
of Transportation plans to apply for $400 million to $500 million in federal
grants this summer to upgrade the New Haven to Springfield rail line, the
Hartford Courant reports. Should the project receive funding, it would be a
potential bonanza for central Connecticut residents who use I-91 to commute to
Fairfield County or New York City.
It turns out that you can
fight CSX railroad – with a little help from your friends, according to an editorial
in the St. Petersburg Times. CSX, which owns tracks crisscrossing Pinellas
County, has a reputation for being difficult for local governments and
neighborhoods to work with. Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard ran smack into that
reputation for recalcitrance when he tried to get the company to change its
plans for repairing railroad crossings downtown.
