A Boca Raton, Fla.-based
short line and regional railroad company has been selected to restore freight
service on the Piedmont & Northern Railway in Gaston County, the North Carolina
Department of Transportation said, the Gaston Gazette reports.
When people got off
Illinois Central trains on South Main Street in Rockford, Ill., during the
early 20th century, they were welcomed by a handsome station, a beautiful
garden, a quaint cottage atop a limestone bluff and the sound of water
cascading over a dam in Kent Creek, according to a column by Chuck Sweeny in
the Rockford Register Star.
Seneca Group LLC has been
awarded a contract by the United States Trade and Development Agency to perform
a Definitional Mission to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to work with government
officials to develop projects in the railway sector that will generate U.S.
exports.
In a report issued at to
the Metra Board of Directors at its may 14 meeting, James G. Sotos, an attorney
hired by the Board to look into the possible financial improprieties by Metra
Executive Director Philip Pagano, said: "This investigation revealed
substantial evidence of financial irregularities and abuses carried out by a
person at the highest level of Metra who, as a result of that position, was in the
best position to perpetrate these acts. Other than Mr. Pagano, however, we did
not find evidence of any other Metra employees seeking to enrich themselves at
the public’s expense. On the other hand, we believe the rigorous control of
Metra implemented by Mr. Pagano, and the magnitude of his accomplishments for
the company clearly created a culture of trust in and loyalty to Pagano, which
seriously curtailed any realistic hope that he would be held accountable for
the financial irregularities that should have been obvious to upper management
personnel around him. Ironically, and tragically, it was Mr. Pagano who paid
the ultimate price for the creation of that culture."
The Alaska Railroad
Corporation Board of Directors is now accepting applications for the position
of president & chief executive officer of the Alaska Railroad. The
president & CEO position is responsible for the day-to-day management of
the affairs and operations of the corporation. The position reports directly to
the seven-member Alaska Railroad Board of Directors.
Eleven rail projects will
restore or expand rail service and enhance safety in 10 counties with a $12.9-million
state investment from PennDOT’s Rail Freight Capital Budget/Transportation
Assistance Program, Governor Edward G. Rendell said.
Société de transport de
Montréal must temporarily close the south entrance to Du Collège métro station
so that major renovation work may be carried out from May 25 to next August 16.
L.B. Foster Company and
Portec Rail Products, Inc., said that both companies have entered into a timing
agreement with the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice pursuant to
which L.B. Foster and Portec Rail have agreed, subject to certain conditions,
that they will not consummate L.B. Foster’s acquisition of Portec Rail before
July 16, 2010, without the Antitrust Division’s consent.
The new bnsf.com will be
officially unveiled on Monday, May 17. The new design is the result of months
of work and lays the foundation for continued improvement. Content, photos and
graphics on the existing site have been reviewed and updated. New features,
such as a virtual train tour, were added. An updated "Communities"
section offers information about BNSF’s role as a good neighbor and as a
steward in protecting the environment.
Stretching nearly four
miles from east to west, the rail hub near North Baltimore will be largest CSX Transportation
site for the shuffling of rail containers, the Sun Sentinel reports. Wood and
Henry County officials took a tour of the sprawling site sitting on 500 acres
running on the north side of Ohio 18, just outside North Baltimore.
A $250-million Amtrak
project to revive passenger service on Florida’s historic east coast rail line
is building steam, along with hopes it can revitalize station destinations such
as Daytona Beach, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The project could re-establish
passenger trains on the 350-mile route between Jacksonville and Miami,
originally forged by Henry Flagler in the 1890s but discontinued in 1968 as the
interstate highway system became the prominent transportation mode.
Los Angeles Metro Blue
Line passengers will experience travel delays of up to 40 minutes May 14-16 due
to construction of the Expo light rail line, which will connect with the Metro
Blue Line in downtown Los Angeles. Special Metro Bus service will parallel the
train route during the construction work.
The Board of Trustees of
the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority meets at 9 a.m. on May 18, at
RTA’s main office.
On May 13, Florida Governor
Charlie Crist marked the Federal Railroad Administration’s decision to approve
Florida’s high-speed rail. The FRA, for the first time in the country’s
history, issued a final Record of Decision for a major high-speed rail project,
the Orlando-Tampa segment of Florida’s high-speed rail program.
RailPros, Inc., recently
opened a Downtown San Diego office to better serve San Diego area clients. The
office is headed by Mike Ruth, P.E., and Joe Aroyo, P.E., who are managing
projects for SANDAG, CCDC, NCTD and other major San Diego clients.
Construction will begin
soon on what can best be described as "bridges" over Tysons. One will
begin in May on the Dulles Connector Road (Route 267) and cross over Route 123
to the northwest side of southbound Route 123. Another will cross I-495.
Another will be built in the median of Route 7 from just west of Route 123 and
into the median of the Dulles Airport Access Highway and the Dulles Toll Road.
Members of a governor’s
task force created to stop the abandonment of 233 miles of northern Maine
freight tracks expressed optimism in a meeting Wednesday about the chances of
keeping trains running on the tracks, the Bangor Daily News reports. Officials
said at the four-hour meeting that 20 private entities have expressed interest
in operating the railroad, but little else new was revealed, as the bulk of the
session took place in executive session.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board sold $492.7 million of Transportation Capital Projects Revenue Bonds to advance transportation projects managed by the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
The bonds were sold through competitive bidding. Seven underwriters submitted bids on the bonds. Goldman Sachs and Co. had the winning bid with a true interest cost of 3.247 percent. The bonds were rated AA+ by Fitch and Standard and Poor’s, and Aa1 by Moody’s.
The bond funding will be combined with other state and federal dollars to keep highway, rail and transit projects moving forward when the Commonwealth updates its Fiscal Years 2011-2016 Six-Year Improvement Program this spring.
The bond sale, recently approved by Governor Bob McDonnell, is the first issuance of the Transportation Capital Projects Revenue Bonds that were authorized by the Virginia General Assembly in 2007.
"Although our financial challenges and transportation necessities continue, this is a tangible example of how the Commonwealth is making positive strides by maximizing funding options for our roads, bridges, rails and public transportation," McDonnell said.
"Issuing these bonds will permit the completion of projects under way and will allow Virginia to start new project phases in accordance with our Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program," said Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton. "Virginia’s transportation system needs more funding to address the backlog of maintenance and construction on our transportation system. But, taxpayers must to be confident that we are using all available financing tools before we ask them to make additional investments in highways and rails. This bond issue is a step in restoring confidence in the integrity of Virginia’s transportation finance program."
Axion International Holdings, Inc., completed the first of two railroad bridges, constructed from 100 percent recycled plastic, at Fort Eustis, Va. The bridges, designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff, utilize Axion’s patented Recycled Structural Composite ("RSC") a thermoplastic solution consisting of nearly 100 percent recycled post-consumer and industrial plastic. Initial field test results confirm design criteria requirements.
The new short span bridges extend approximately 40 and 80 feet, respectively. Both bridges are designed to deliver a high-load rating of 130 tons, which is necessary in order to transport locomotives and freight.
Sound Transit contractors
plan to reopen the Olive Way exit ramp to Capitol Hill in Seattle from I-5
northbound the morning of May 13 at 5 a.m. as crews wrap up a major University
Link light rail contract on time and under budget.