Canadian Pacific Railway sold
its historic Windsor Station in Montreal as the country’s second-largest
railway continues to look at ways to improve its cash position in face of
declining volumes, the Montreal Gazette reports. CP said it had sold the
station and significant other related real estate, to Cadillac Fairview Corp.
Ltd. for C$86 million.
The city of Virginia
Beach, Va., has released the final draft of its comprehensive plan, which is a
blueprint for how the city will grow in the future, Inside Business reports. Included
in the plan is a section on light rail and how it could fit into the city’s
transportation master plan.
Frankfort, Ill., is
moving full speed ahead before the freight trains really get rolling along the
Canadian National Railway tracks in its community, the Southtown Star reports. Village
officials have been working with engineers and residents to soften the blow of
what is expected to be 28 daily freight trains.
Trustees recently
approved a quiet zone feasibility study detailing safety improvements at every
crossing from Harlem Avenue to 116th Avenue. It now goes to the Federal
Railroad Administration and the Illinois Commerce Commission for approval. Village
administrator Jerry Ducay said if all goes well with that approval process,
work could begin in the spring and be completed by this time next year.
Once all work is
completed, train engineers would not be required to sound the horn at each
intersection unless there is a danger present. CN is paying for all
improvements.
Ducay said he has seen no
increase in rail traffic and figures CN has been operating four to six trains a
day.
To date, the village also
has issued $400,000 out of a $2.7-million pot provided by the rail company to
landscape homes near the tracks to further reduce the noise level. Homeowners
are allowed to pick their own landscaping contractor, but must submit a plan
for approval and a building permit from the village.
To distribute the funds
among 300 homeowners, the village developed a four-tier system, with payments
ranging from $1,000 to $12,000.
"Our goal is to
spend $500,000 this season and gear up again in the spring," Ducay said.
"Most people will have all winter to prepare."
Even though the village
has five years to spend the money, Ducay said officials hope to use it all
within two years. Sound mitigation funds must be spent on landscaping walls,
fences, berms, trees, evergreens, shrubs, perennials and mulch or stone. While
some homeowners wanted a sound wall, it was not financially feasible, Ducay
said.
Funding levels for
Frankfort homeowners impacted by the Canadian National Railway:
Tier 1: $10,000 to
$12,000 for properties adjacent to the railroad tracks.
Tier 2: $6,000 to $8,000
for properties separated by ComEd lines.
Tier 3: $4,000 to $5,000
for properties separated by another parcel.
Tier 4: $1,000 for
properties separated by a street.
The Association of American
Railroads awarded the 2009 Environmental Excellence Award to CSX Transportation
employee Paul Kurzanski. A 30-year veteran of the railroad industry, Kurzanski
currently serves as manager of environmental remediation with CSXT in
Jacksonville, Fla. The award was presented at the annual Railroad Environmental
Conference at University of Illinois, Urbana.
Union Pacific and
CSX Transportation launched RailChem Connect, a coordinated rail service for
expedited transport of chemicals between the Texas Gulf Coast region and the
Southeast. The new RailChem Connect service is the result of increased
coordination and re-designed interline service by the two railroads for their
chemicals market customers. The service allows shipments to bypass smaller rail
yards for expedited transit between major hubs. These changes, along with
increased operations coordination between the railroads, increase reliability
of east- and west-bound service between Union Pacific-served chemical markets
such as Houston, southern Texas and Louisiana, and CSXT-served consumption markets
in the southeastern states. RailChem Connect offers more consistent transit
times, faster equipment turns and a shorter route than previously available for
chemical shipments in this corridor.
Following five years of
construction and coming in on budget with a flawless four-million-plus-hour
construction safety record, the Edward R. Roybal Metro Gold Line Eastside
Extension from Union Station downtown to East Los Angeles will open to the
public on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Standing with U.S.
Senator Arlen Specter, Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, Philadelphia Mayor
Michael Nutter, Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities Rina Cutler,
SEPTA General Manager Joe Casey, DRPA Board Chair John H. Estey, Board Vice
Chair Jeff Nash and others, DRPA CEO and PATCO President, John J. Matheussen,
announced an agreement that will result in Light Rail Service along Market
Street between City Hall and the Delaware River Waterfront initially serving
Pier 70 to the South and SEPTA’s Route 15 Trolley at Girard Avenue to the
North.
Will riders of the Chicago
Transit Authority’s Red Line trains be pulling into the Apple iTrain station
any time soon? That’s the question being posed after CTA officials confirmed
they were in talks with Apple over the technological giant’s plans to fork over
millions to refurbish the North/Clybourn station, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Steve Weber has been
named Vice President of Engineering for Nordco, Inc., where he will focus on the
development of new products. Weber’s extensive experience includes both
development of new product lines and maintenance of existing products. His most
recent position prior to joining Nordco was in the outdoor power equipment
industry.
Labrador Iron Mines
Holdings Limited has signed a Rail Co-operation Agreement with New Millennium
Capital Corp. regarding the reconstruction of the "Timmins Extension"
rail spur line that will run from the TSH Railroad main rail line near
Schefferville, Quebec, approximately 2.5 miles to LIM’s planned processing
center at Silver Yards and on a further approximately 13 miles to NML’s planned
processing center at the Timmins mining area.
On Oct. 26, Secretary Ray
LaHood convened the first meeting of a newly created U.S. Department of
Transportation Safety Council formed to tackle critical transportation safety
issues facing the department’s 10 operating administrations.
Front Royal, Va.,
Councilman N. Shae Parker verbally blasted representatives of Norfolk Southern over
the firm’s proposal that will involve the use of explosives for a construction
project, according to local newspapers. The railroad is offering to pay Front Royal $160,000 in exchange for
vacation of a portion of Depot Avenue and the acquisition of a temporary
construction easement on a 100-foot wide strip of town property.
The South Shore in
northwest Indiana is alerting passengers to the last in a series of planned
temporary weekend construction outages. The fifth and final 2009 weekend outage
is scheduled for October 31 – November 2, 2009. South Shore trains will not operate in either direction between
South Bend and Gary Metro Center beginning 2:30 a.m. Saturday, October 31, thru
3:00 a.m. Monday, November 2.
Union Pacific
and Norfolk Southern introduced Gulf Coast Flyer, a rail service for
the safe transport of chemicals between the Union Pacific-served southern Texas
and Louisiana regions and Norfolk Southern destinations across the northeastern
and southeastern United States.
The Mayors’ Council
on Regional Transportation in Vancouver, B.C., has approved a transportation
plan ‘supplement’ that will generate $130 million in new annual revenue,
allowing TransLink to maintain road and transit operations at current levels. The
decision will put further expansion of the transportation system on hold for
the time being.
Major signal and switch
modernization work being performed in Valley Stream by the MTA Long Island Rail
Road progressed on schedule, and the LIRR had a normal morning rush hour on October
26. On Oct. 25, the LIRR posted a video update on Facebook and YouTube that
illustrates the behind-the-scenes efforts undertaken by LIRR employees this
weekend to modernize the LIRR.
Passenger- and
freight-railroad operators are pressing the White House to scale back proposed
rules that would mandate billions in new safety hardware to prevent collisions,
warning that the financial burden could lead to cuts in passenger-train service
instead of the expansion President Barack Obama wants, reports the Wall Street
Journal.
Iowa Another $4 million has
been included in a federal appropriations bill to replace the BNSF bridge over
the Mississippi River at Fort Madison, The Hawk Eye Website reports. Rep. Dave
Loebsack, D-2nd District, said the money will come from the 2010 Homeland
Security Appropriations bill to repair and rebuild vital infrastructure in the
district.
In its ongoing effort to
enhance public safety, Metrolink Board Chair Keith Millhouse announced that the
agency has activated Automatic Train Stop technology at an additional 49
priority locations throughout its rail system. This ATS installation will
expand the number of locations of ATS inductors to 105 on Metrolink routes in
Orange County, San Gabriel Valley, Antelope Valley and Ventura County. The new
installations are also compatible with the Pacific Surfliner ATS-equipped
Intercity trains that operate on the Metrolink system. Metrolink received
expedited approval from the Federal Railroad Administration for the expanded
ATS program as another important safety measure while the commuter rail service
continues to accelerate the development and deployment of Positive Train
Control in Southern California.
The National Gateway
initiative will spur thousands of employment opportunities throughout the
Midwest and East Coast, creating growth and building the nation’s economic
competitiveness. The National Gateway is an $842-million, multi-state
public-private infrastructure initiative that will create a more efficient
freight rail route between Mid-Atlantic ports and Midwestern markets. Planned
improvements that will create job opportunities include raising bridges,
increasing tunnel clearances and building new terminals along existing rail
corridors to support the movement of double-stacked containers on rail cars.
