The Federal Transit
Administration notified METRO that it has approved Houston’s University
Corridor Light Rail Transit project into the Preliminary Engineering phase of
the FTA’s New Starts program. METRO can now move forward with engineering
activities as publication of the Final Environmental Impact Statement and
approval of a Record of Decision are imminent.
Massachusetts Bay Commuter
Railroad Company said that as the result of a critical ongoing concrete tie
replacement project on the Old Colony Line, a new schedule for the
Middleboro/Lakeville, and Plymouth/Kingston and Greenbush lines will go into
effect on January 11, 2010. These schedule changes better reflect actual travel
times that have resulted following implementation of a 50 mile-per-hour speed
restriction, which is essential for safe travel on the line.
Denver’s Regional
Transportation District Board of Directors voted unanimously to enter into
contract negotiations with Phil Washington to serve as the agency’s new general
manager and chief executive officer.
To provide the latest
information about upcoming service modifications, California’s Santa Clara
Valley Transportation Authority launched a brand new Web page. The goal is to
make it easy for VTA customers to view the new bus and light rail schedules
with one click of a mouse. The detailed and visual information about service
changes can be found on www.vta.org/servicereductions. The new web page includes
a system map and a light rail transit map, specific route changes, and a
Frequently Asked Questions link. VTA’s service reduction will be in effect
beginning Monday, January 11, 2010.
The Bourbon County, Kan.,
Commissioners are working hard to get signals installed at a dangerous railroad
crossing, The Fort Scott Tribune reports. Since earlier this summer, the
commission has been working on getting signals installed at the railroad
crossing on 225th Street, one-quarter of a mile south of Hammond.
Levelland,
Texas, City and Economic Development officials recently broke ground on an $8.6-million
industrial rail park to be built in the 12,866-population town.
As part of the
Patrick-Murray Administration’s Massachusetts Recovery Plan, Governor Deval
Patrick joined Congressman John Olver and local elected officials in Leominster,
Mass., to announce the groundbreaking of the first rail improvement project in
Massachusetts supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Metrolinx purchased from CN
the lower portion of the Newmarket Subdivision in central-north Toronto for
C$68 million. The transaction gives Metrolinx end-to-end ownership of the
60-mile-long Barrie-Bradford GO Train corridor between downtown Toronto and
Barrie, Ont. – a first for the government transit agency.
Stella-Jones Inc. has
signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire Tangent Rail Corporation, a
provider of wood crosstie supply chain services to the railroad industry. This
acquisition will expand Stella-Jones’ capabilities within the U.S. railway tie
industry and provide the company with creosote manufacturing operations.
Tangent’s sales for the year ended December 31, 2009 are expected to reach
approximately US$175 million.
At the board meeting on
December 10, 2009, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Board of
Directors authorized $5.8 million for the construction of Caltrain safety
improvements. These improvements include modifications to railroad crossing
gates, installation of guardrails, fencing, pedestrian gates, emergency swing gates,
sidewalk, crossing panels and tactile warning panels as well as grading
modifications to crossings within the Joint Powers Board owned segment (between
Sunnyvale and Palo Alto).
The final waiting period
has begun for the Final Environmental Impact Statement paperwork required for
the Detroit Intermodal Freight Terminal in Detroit, Crain’s Detroit Business
reports. The terminal project, between Wyoming and Livernois avenues south of
I-94, has a $445-million price tag in 2006 dollars (for the preferred
alternative) and is designed to consolidate train and trucking infrastructure.
The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail
Transit district in California has received $2.5 million in federal funds for
preliminary engineering and environmental work on its planned commuter rail
line, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports. The funds were in the Fiscal Year
2010 Omnibus bill, which the Senate passed on Dec. 13, according to
Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif.
The struggling Bay Area economy just received a big boost thanks to the BART Board, whose vote also means BART customers will finally have a swift, world-class train-to-plane connection between the Coliseum BART Station and the Oakland Airport. After two decades of planning and debate, the Board of Directors voted seven to one to award California-based Flatiron/Parsons Joint Venture the contract to design and build the 3.2-mile automated people mover. The Board also voted seven to one to award Doppelmayr Cable Car, Inc., the contract to operate and maintain the connector once built.
High-speed rail is a glamorous idea — it’s fun to imagine a train streaking through the cornfields from Chicago to St. Louis in four hours. Less glamorous are some of the fixes that need to be made to Chicago’s notoriously slow freight rail system. Talk about projects like "signalize interlocking" and "grade separation," and eyes glaze over, The Chicago Sun Times reports.
After a closed session personnel discussion amongst the Board of Directors, the Chairman of the Board of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority Keith Millhouse announced that Metrolink CEO David Solow would change his role at the agency effective December 15, 2009. The Board of Directors and Solow have agreed that he will step down as CEO and for the balance of this fiscal year, until June 30, 2010, he will remain with the agency devoting full time to the interagency collaborations necessary for Metrolink to implement safety enhancements, including Positive Train Control, and interoperability agreements.
Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that the final Omnibus Appropriations Act that includes $126,432,544 in funding for several Illinois projects was approved by a joint House and Senate Conference Committee of which Durbin is a member. The House and Senate are expected to take up and pass the legislation before the end of the year. The bill will then go to the President for his signature.
An improvement in mid-Missouri has greatly improved Amtrak service across the state. Now, the Department of Transportation wants to go farther and faster with passenger rail service, local media report. A new 9,000-foot rail siding at California, Mo., allows Union Pacific freight trains to get out of the way of Amtrak traveling between Kansas City and Jefferson City.
The first quiet zone for Lincoln, Neb. — a six-mile stretch of railway where trains no longer have to blow horns before crossings — isn’t as quiet as it should be, some Lincolnites say, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. Trains along Cornhusker Highway were much quieter after the zone went into effect Sept. 18, but people have since told the city they’ve gotten noisy again.
The Grosvenor-Strathmore Metrorail station in the Washington, D.C., area will be closed from 10 p.m., Friday, Jan. 15, to closing, Monday, Jan. 18, while Metro undertakes a major track rehabilitation project on the Red Line between the White Flint and Medical Center Metrorail stations throughout the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday weekend. Normal service will resume on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 5 a.m.
Thirty-nine freight rail companies and users can make upgrades and expand capacity with a $24.5-million state investment from PennDOT’s Rail Freight Capital Budget/Transportation Assistance and Rail Freight Assistance Programs, Governor Edward G. Rendell said.