The state of Mississippi is holding a hearing to outline CSX Transportation’s plans to cap deposits of creosote in the West Pascagoula River and Bayou Pierre near the site of a former creosote plant, the Biloxi Sun Herald reports. The company is proposing to do the environmental work and needs a state permit to proceed.
The Maryland Transit Administration said that the rehabilitation of 17.5 miles of the State-owned freight rail line from Massey to Worton in Kent County is under way. The $1.5-million project, awarded to Bullock Construction of Easton, Md., began in mid-September and is scheduled for completion in early May, 2010. As of the end of November 40 percent of the work is complete. The project includes the replacement of some rail, more than 6,000 railroad ties and the installment of new ballast. The improvements will improve safety along the line and will reduce the level of maintenance needed.
The Florida State Senate passed
a rail bill 27-10, local newspapers report. It now heads to Gov. Charlie Crist
for his signature. Crist has said he supports the bill. The bill clears away
obstacles for construction of SunRail, a $1.2-billion commuter rail project in
central Florida, and shores up South Florida’s Tri-Rail with an extra $15
million in annual funding. The bill could also help the state win a $2.5-billion
federal grant to link Tampa and Orlando with a high-speed rail line.
Norfolk Southern has joined
the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit, membership-based organization
committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for the nation through
cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings.
Koppers Inc., a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Koppers Holdings Inc., has signed a letter of intent
to acquire 100 percent of the outstanding shares of privately-owned Cindu Chemicals
B.V. from joint owners Cindu B.V. and Corus Staal B.V. for an undisclosed
purchase price. The proposed transaction is subject to the negotiation and
execution of a definitive purchase and sale agreement, the completion of due
diligence, certain regulatory approvals, consultation with Cindu’s Works
Council, and other customary closing conditions. Upon completion, Koppers
expects to fund the acquisition primarily with cash.
Florida’s House of Representatives passed rail legislation
that would fund Tri-Rail, create SunRail, create the first leg of a high-speed
corridor and reduces tax-payer liability should a freight accident occur on
tracks that also operate passenger service.
A partial summary of the legislation as reported in the
Miami Herald includes:
The bill has cleared the Senate Transportation Committee,
Judiciary Committee and Transportation Spending Committee, it will be taken up
on the Senate floor this afternoon.
The recession is being blamed for pausing several Union
Pacific construction projects across southern Arizona and New Mexico. The
projects were meant to increase UP’s freight-moving capacity on its main line.
UP gave no definitive time table for when a new yard in
Pinal County, Ariz., a new rail facility in Santa Teresa, N.M., and
installation of a second set of tracks across Arizona would restart, but
expects all projects to proceed when the economy turns around. UP reported a
15-percent down turn in its rail traffic during the third quarter compared to
the same time period in 2008.
BNSF assumed switching and classification responsibilities
at the Dayton, Texas, Yard on Dec. 1.
Dayton Yard is about 40 miles east of Houston and functions
as part of the Houston Complex and consolidated terminal. Construction at the
yard started in 1996 with two tracks; the yard currently has 78
fully-operational tracks.
The additional switching and classification responsibilities
are a "big deal" for BNSF for a number of reasons.
"This really lets us establish a footprint in the
Houston area, more so than we have been able to in the past," said Marc
Stephens, BNSF’s general director, transportation. "In the longer-term,
this opens the door for possibilities of other business."
Dayton Yard’s role is to support the Gulf Coast chemical
network, to which BNSF gained access as a result of the Union Pacific/Southern
Pacific merger. Dayton currently operates manifest trains to Memphis, Tenn.;
Galesburg, Ill.; and New Orleans, where trains connect to eastern gateways.
BNSF now has 67 additional positions, a significant increase
from the yardmaster and 10 yard positions prior to Dec. 1. "We’re using
furloughed employees to fill the yard-related positions," Stephens said.
BNSF employment at Dayton now includes 12 lead jobs, three
utility positions, four industry assignments, one air test crew, six transfers,
seven relief assignments and extra board support, giving Dayton a total of
about 100 trainmen and engineers.
About 15 chemical company customers use BNSF in this area.
The yard also supports industry releases on Port Terminal Railroad; Bayport,
Texas; Beaumont, Texas; Bay City, Texas; Seadrift, Texas; and Lake Charles, La.
The yard operation breaks down into three components: classification
of intermediate connections, industry yard operations for the Dayton Branch and
storage for major chemical customers. The yard has capacity to store 3,000
carloads of plastics along with 1,000 cars in working inventory for the
classification and branch yards.
BNSF received $2.5 million in grant money to rebuild three
switch engines as part of an ongoing effort to improve air quality in the Puget
Sound area of Washington.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson
presented emission reduction grants during ceremonies at Bell Harbor Pier 66 in
Seattle. The grants, provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, will fund emission reduction projects that cover maritime, rail, trucking
and port activity across the Puget Sound region.
Officials speaking at the event discussed BNSF’s leading
efforts to protect the environment in Seattle. One example they cited is the
installation of electric cranes at the Seattle International Gateway.
Tracksure, a Bedfordshire, UK-based safety engineering
company, has secured a contract, awarded by ProRail, for its locking devices in
the brake system at a Rotterdam marshalling yard in Holland.
According to the company, Tracksure locking devices are a
unique and failsafe means of preventing nut loosening caused by vibration and
settlement; they offer infrastructure managers the dual benefit of dramatically
improving safety, as well as tangible cost benefits.
The marshalling yard is one of many such installations
across Europe and is operated in an environment where the demands on day-to-day
maintenance are critical. The yard features more than 60 separate brake
retarders and is amongst the biggest in Holland.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation said they have been granted early
termination of the mandatory waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino
Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976, as amended, in connection with the
previously announced Berkshire acquisition of BNSF. This regulatory action is
an important step in satisfying the closing conditions as set forth in the
merger agreement. BNSF and Berkshire continue to expect the transaction to
close in the first quarter of 2010.
Starting Dec. 7, Sound
Transit contractors will begin smoothing the surface of the light rail tracks
between Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The work will impact evening light rail
service through the end of the month. The work is expected to reduce the
high-pitched noise some residents near the tracks have expressed concern about.
It was a high-tech feat
more than a year in the making – all leading up to a moment that came with a
fairly simple act.
Lattes flow for commuters
at Tinley Park’s $5-million Metra station, an architectural gem. But the only
thing flowing at Cicero’s dreary train stop is the rainwater that blows through
the corrugated-metal shelter, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Construction to replace
the 80-year old Vandeventer Bridge in St Louis will result in the closure of
Vandeventer Avenue for approximately two months, beginning on December 7. Recognizing
that Vandeventer Avenue is a major thoroughfare for area commuters, Metro has
partnered with the City of St. Louis to plan a detour to keep traffic flowing
through that area while work to replace the bridge continues.
Enough people would board a
train in the Phoenix area’s suburbs that a future commuter-rail system would be
as popular as some of the busiest lines in the West, new studies have found, The
Arizona Republic reports. A trio of yearlong rail studies, in nearly final
form, indicates commuter rail could carry almost 18,000 passengers a day by
2030. Planners at the Maricopa Association of Governments say, based on the
findings, they favor a 105-mile, X-shaped system that could feature 33 stations
and cost roughly $1.5 billion. That’s a little more than the Valley’s 20-mile,
light-rail starter line. The commuter-rail network would use existing freight
track through downtown Phoenix, with lines from Queen Creek to Buckeye and from
Chandler to Wittmann. The northeast Valley, whose light-rail line lacks
funding, would remain without commuter rail.
(The editorial below appeared
in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
.) This much is sure: Light
rail will transform the city of Norfolk, Va. How, and to what extent, nobody
knows. But the ripped-up streets and chaotic traffic downtown will end, and
Norfolk will get back to the business of reinventing itself. This time, though,
the landscape will be fundamentally different, bisected and improved by a new
mass transit system. The experience of several U.S. cities offers some clue to
what the next few decades will hold in Hampton Roads.
By the end of next year,
the $288-million light rail line – more trolley than Amtrak – will connect the
eastern border of Norfolk with the western, linking Norfolk State University
with Harbor Park with City Hall with downtown businesses with the new library
with MacArthur Center with Eastern Virginia Medical School.
It will take time, but
those destinations will build significant gravity, attracting customers and new
businesses. Neighborhoods strung out along the Elizabeth River will become as
central to city life as anyplace. Stores will sprout around each station.
A few thousand cars will
be diverted off streets and highways by people taking the train. But until the
cost of commuting rises radically or traffic worsens massively, the primary
effect of The Tide will be on where people live and work.
Even as The Tide’s
opening gala starts to appear on municipal calendars, light rail’s opponents
still point to that impact as if it were some sort of secret, proof of depraved
intent on the part of city fathers. Changes to development and commuting
patterns were, of course, the goal all along.
"The way people use
downtown will change," Cathy Coleman, president of the Downtown Norfolk
Council, told The Virginian-Pilot’s Debbie Messina. "People will be in places
they’ve never been before.
Highways – which can cost
more to build, especially in an area like this – wouldn’t do that. And adding
capacity to highways is expensive, as every commuter in Hampton Roads knows all
too well. Once light rail’s tracks are laid, adding more capacity is both trivial
and cheap.
Think of light rail –
even a starter line like The Tide – as an amenity. Good schools, safe streets
and reasonable taxes will not individually attract many people or businesses.
But put them all together into a livable community, and over time, things will
change for the better.
It doesn’t have to stop
there, of course.
Add an extension to the
Navy’s facilities, to the Oceanfront or across the Elizabeth River, and the
transformation would reach well beyond Norfolk. Virginia Beach is looking for a
way to transform Virginia Beach Boulevard from a collection of outdated strip
malls into a place where people go because they want to. Chesapeake and
Portsmouth have taken painful note of Richmond’s failure to pay for roads and
see a commuting alternative.
Expect every step along the
way to be opposed by the same folks who rail against The Tide, who rail against
every penny spent on any amenity. Opposition to light rail isn’t a failure of
mass transit to make a difference in the lives of people who use it and live
nearby. Opposition is a failure of imagination, and Hampton Roads can dream
bigger than that.
BNSF Powder River Division
employees celebrated the Orin Line’s 30-year anniversary in honor of the first
unit-coal train that traveled the 116-mile rail line across the Wyoming prairie
on Nov. 6, 1979, according to the company newsletter.
Mayor Paul Winfield
returned to Vicksburg, Miss., from a three-day trip to Washington, D.C., where
he visited local delegates in a continued effort to wrest from federal sources
nearly $4 million to get the stalled Washington Street bridge replacement under
way, according to the Vicksburg Post.
The city of Lincoln,
Neb., is moving closer to closing J Street railroad crossings in the South Salt
Creek Neighborhood at Second and Third streets, the Lincoln Journal Star
reports. Closing the crossings would please Burlington Northern Santa Fe, with
which the city is negotiating to buy a railyard near the Haymarket for a new arena, if voters approve building one in the spring.
